Jess, This week I started to journal in the morning first thing as a way to empty my mind. It's from this book called The Artist's Way. The idea is to fill three sides of paper of stuff that is on your mind. You're not suppose to read over it at this point but just write whatever comes to mind even if it is " What's the point? This is stupid..." LOL! After one week, I will say it has been so worth the hassle and time. It's not a list of things to do nor is it necessarily a list of what I did but more about my feelings. Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you to do that for you.start journaling daily- this has always been hard for me, but I think it would be beneficial.
* read again- I love reading and i've let work and stress get in the way
* do what makes me happy- again stress from work has gotten in the way
* be in the moments with family- don't worry about work on the weekends or holidays- i've actually gotten pretty good at this. I don't bring work home anymore unless I absolutely have to, which is rare. I've drawn the line... I don't get paid enough to suffer my home life. I get done everything I can at work and leave it there. It's not worth my mental health.
I've also been there about drawing the line with bringing work home. I was good with that when I taught. You are right, you don't get paid enough. I'm working from home now and I have to make sure that I work within the typical 8 hour shift Monday - Friday. The exception is if home life interferes with work. Then I may have to work afterhours.
Sounds good to me. Whatever day works for you works for me.I'd be interested in a weekly review thread to re-cap how we think we did in the areas we are working on improving. Each person could choose their own categories. I might use: Exercise; Diet (healthy eating); Weight control; Mental/emotional. Would this be of interest to others? If so, I'd be glad to start it off on Sunday or Monday. Any preference?
This week I've gotten out for my walks in the morning and I listened to my spiritual podcasts during those walks. Both walking and listening have blessed my days. 5 days a week is a realistic goal for me. However, I'm totally going to try to get out there as many days out of the week as I can. This week it was 6 days. I walked 15.6 miles in 5 hours and 41 minutes of walking.