It’s always good to have a little reminder to pause, breathe and practice some TLC, especially at this time of year 😉
I’ve been really busy over the last few months and it’s times like this when it’s important to remind myself to practice self-care so I don’t burn out again.
Here’s what I’ve been doing.
- Casual walks around the neighbourhood with the dog in the evening rather than long strenuous walks around a place I’ve had to drive to.
- Staying off my laptop and phone after hours as much as possible. I use the curfew function on my iPhone, which is set from 7 pm to 7 am on weekdays.
- Laying low on social media. A few months ago, I deleted Messenger from my phone, and I have recently decided to give up on Twitter.
- Eating nourishing meals. Since about August, I have been getting my weekday lunches home delivered. This has helped me get through the days in the office where I’ve missed lunch breaks, ensuring I’m eating healthy and sticking to my new gluten-free diet (for those in Perth, Western Australia, I highly recommend @wholisticallyhealthy).
- Listening to my fave movie podcasts, including @thecountdownpodcast (admittedly, they won’t be for everyone, but I’m proud of my local podcasting boys who never fail to make me laugh!).
- After discovering I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), I’ve started re-designing my life to live more gently. You can read more on HSPs here.
- Lots of reading. This year I have read 49 books (kicked ass on my target of 25!). It feels good to get back into reading, as reading makes me happy. You can see my entire 2021 reading list here.
- My fave read for the year: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ties with The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. When you read books written as beautifully as these it does take your breath away.
- My fave series: Arc of the Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Dystopian world-building and world-destroying YA fiction. Different from everything else. Brilliant.
- My fave non-fiction: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport. This book ( as well as Cal’s Deep Work podcast) is changing the way I think about and do work
- My least fave read for the year: Start With Why by Simon Sinek. Just why?! I read this book ten years too late…
- Before Christmas, I set an intention about how I wanted the next few weeks to look. The central theme of this intention was ‘calm’. All in all, that is how it turned out.
- I’ve started journaling again for the first time in years.
- I’ve embraced the art of doing nothing.
It’s so easy to use ‘being busy’ as an excuse (guilty as charged) but I’m working hard to kick that in the butt.
What about you? How do you rest and recharge? And How can you pause over the coming few days?
