Creating a clean work environment for my homework, as always, made me more productive. It also made for a more enjoyable evening because I wasn't worrying about the piles of clean laundry covering the space. I also took some time to clean our my underware drawer which sounds like a TMI and unimportant but let's be honest, if you're wearing uncomfortable underwear then the day isn't going to go as well and an organized drawer is always a good piece of mind. I also finally put away my Christmas decorations which were causing a clutter on my dresser. The space feels much more
calm again.
Journaling went meh. Even though the space was small to write about the things I was grateful for, it was definitely a challenge for me to fill it. I didn't use the other journal as much as I had expected to but it was also the first night getting into this routine. I did record some of my feelings on how it felt to have all my techonology away until the next morning by 8 p.m. I do have to say I did cheat for about 20 minutes into this and used my computer to study for my gov test that I took today. Tonight I will hopefully finish my homework in time to really take the full hour for relaxing activities.
To set the mood, I lit a candle with a calming sent (note to self: buy a lavendar candle because all the ones you have are too fruity or stimulating), turned off my big lights and lit my fairy lights, switched to instrumental music (which was turned off once I began to read), brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put on comfortable pajamas.
At first, I felt very anxious, I didn't particularly enjoy the coloring I was doing because I was subconsciously wanting to check my phone. I had to cut off a few conversations, one about some exciting news I just found out in realtion to a friend, to committ to the challenge so those were things on my mind for the first bit. As I colored I didn't feel very settled and skipped around in the new cities coloring book rather than sticking to one page. I need to go back to Europe and pay more attention to the colors of buildings. As I noticed these feelings I journaled again for a few minutes and then sat and enjoyed the Gershwin which was playing on my Pandora station. After the song ended I turned off the music and my fairy lights and moved to bed to read. It was at this point that I began to really feel calm and settled, to no surprise if I really think about moments in my past when I felt the most at peace. I read a solid two chapters of "Memoirs of a Geisha" before my eyelids were too heavy to stay awake any longer. Surprisingly I didn't feel the urge to check my phone as I fell asleep.
This morning my sleep wasn't as solid as I had hoped it would be. I was in and out of consciousness for awhile before my alarm went off. One downside of the current set up: the vibrating of my phone alaram was very loud on my dresser and it was hard for me to reach my phone to turn it off. I did wake up feeling more refreshed but spent much too long in bed checking social media. I did manage to pack my lunch, make coffee, and fill my waterbottle, things I've been struggling with this past month, all with only being 5 minutes late to get my carpool.
Tomorrow morning I want to try and not go straight to that but instead turn off the alarm and leave the phone and social media until I get to school in the morning. I give myself a solid 40 minutes before classes start at school to prepare for the day and that could be a time for me to catch up on what I've missed while I was asleep. At somepoint, I hope that I won't feel like I've "missed" anything just by going to sleep.
I've been more awake today and more focused at school. My mood has already improved greatly. The biggest surprise for me has been the number of people who have come up to me and said "that's really great what you're doing and how you're doing it for yourself." I didn't expect to have the support I am getting with this nor did I realize how many other people wish they could do the same. It just goes to show how fast our days are and how little we put into caring for ourselves.
XOXO
Gretchen
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