Currently reading: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig (still - about 70% through now)
Accurate naming of posts, for one.
It doesn't have quite the same ring to it, I'll admit. The original plan was for me to have this up last week, and then last Thursday, then last Friday, and then yesterday , but despite having a fair amount of time to myself on several of those days last week, I completely forgot about it. And yesterday I was just too tired. [And then yesterday, the day I wrote this entire post, I just forgot to upload it, so we're pretending it's still Thursday.]
So how am I doing on the topics I brought up last week?
1. Do more yoga
2. Do more meditation
3. Get up earlier (combination of the above)
4. Check finances more
I have been doing more yoga. Not quite every morning, but I have been doing more stretching in general. At the moment it's really only for 5-10 minutes at a time, but it's a start. It can't be doing me anything but good and I should probably be doing even more. I've been doing a mix between neck stretches and sun salutations, but I should probably focus on my back a bit more. The neck has been a target because I just do not have any luck with pillows. My body seems to be really picky about what it can lie on without waking up in pain the next day, and most pillows do not fall into the "safe" category. Having a desk job however, and probably an ill-fitted bra because I like many women have not yet plucked up the courage to be fitted by a professional, is starting to be noticed by my back again, and it's really starting to get quite painful. I know a couple of yoga routines for the back that I really enjoy, so it's just a matter of putting it into practice. Whilst in my hotel room on Tuesday (I worked from there due to a terrible cold) I did a 25 minute lower body routine that was extremely tough but I felt great afterwards, which has inspired me to continue.
I haven't really done any more meditation. In fact, I think I did 4 minutes of it Wednesday before last when I decided I needed to do more and then absolutely none since. My phone reminds me of the need to do it every day, but I just swipe it away.
It's not all doom and gloom though. Both of the two above targets, whilst incredibly useful in their own right, were partly about me trying to get up earlier of a morning. Well, as it happens, that's been happening anyway. It's primarily due to the hotel I've been staying in the last two weeks, but I'm hoping that by the time I'm back in the other one I'll have made early rising a habit. I discovered last week that not only is breakfast included in the price of the room (which I knew already), but that it's included even if you order it to your room (so long as you order a specific one) for nothing more than the tray charge. I've indulged all week. You pick a quarter of an hour slot for it to arrive in, and therefore have to be awake before it comes. I've ordered it for 7:45-8:00 twice and 7:30-7:45 once. Therefore I've been getting up by 7:30 all week, much earlier than I had been in the weeks prior to my holiday (or indeed, during).
Even last Friday, when I had the chance to lie in - I'm visiting my parents in Liverpool at the moment and was told they'd wake me up at 8:40 if I wanted to have a lie-in - I got up just after 8 am. It was nice having a full hour to myself before having to be "at work" (logged on to the computer and online on the company chat programme). The same happened again today - working from home means I just have to be online from 9am. I woke up at 8, but given how tired I'd been last night thought that I'd put my alarm back half an hour and have a bit of a lie-in. It only took two minutes for me to decide that it wasn't going to work, and I got up. No lie-in at the weekend either - I've got a gym session at 9am on Saturday!
Who goes the gym at 9am on a Saturday? Seriously!
I have been doing a little better with being aware of my finances, even if I've not done any better with spending less (but baby steps!). I've checked my bank balance a couple of times in the last two weeks, and also done some calculations about money due in and out in the next month to see whether I could afford a couple of things I wanted to buy, rather than buying them and panicking afterwards. It's been useful, and I'm hoping that as I continue this will make me more confident financially.
For the following week(s) I want to work on:
1. Reading more
2. Being more aware of diet
3. Going to bed earlier
I've been reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for weeks now, mainly because I just don't do any reading on most days. I need to make it more of a routine, even if only for 30 minutes per day. I just don't read like I used to, and it's a shame. There's so many benefits to being well-read.
Being more aware of diet is something I actually started to do last week, paying more attention to what I was ordering from the hotel. It'll be tough from next week as the hotel I'm in from then doesn't really have any healthy options, but I'm making the most of being at home for an extra day - had a banana and strawberry smoothie for breakfast (homemade, w/ oats and flaxseed and chia seed in), planning on making some pulled pork and making lettuce+pork tacos once my new slow cooker arrives, and I'm also planning a couple of healthy omelettes, some sweet potato, mackerel and broccoli, etc...
Finally, going to bed earlier. I'm actually not doing too badly at this when at the hotel, but I need to keep it up the rest of the week. And even at the hotel, I could do a lot better. I get up shortly after 7 and I don't do well with lack of sleep, so I really shouldn't start getting ready for bed after 11:30, given that it usually takes me about 30 minutes to fall asleep. I should be aiming to get into bed around 11, make absolutely sure I am not on the computer (as I often am), and maybe read in bed for a bit. That sounds like a nice plan. Now let's put it into action!
Since this post was due up last week, there is already another post underway that may go up today. But it may go up tomorrow, who knows?
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