The week that started 6th January - LiLi Kathleen Bright

My definition of happiness:

Happiness is knowing what to do to combat low mood, and doing it.
LiLi K Bright, 30 Dec 2019

Definitely influenced by my – relatively brief, thankfully – history with depression and anxiety, since before December 2016 (maybe since late 2015 / early 2016). Which I got help with from August 2017 to June 2018. Even after depression, it took me until July 2019 to rekindle my love of reading to its former glory. That’s when I picked up The Bluest Eye in a charity shop.

And now it feels like maybe I could read 200 books in a year… 🤔

Table of Contents

Spaciousness

I’ve been practising spaciousness by focusing on one thing at a time. It’s something I find difficult. Things that are helping me:

Pomodoro technique
Headphones + Music for Concentration
Taking my breaks
- listening to The Circadian Code by Dr Satchin Panda
- writing these weeknotes
- doing the Writers Happiness Challenge
Standing and sitting in different places around the office
Writing down what I’m grateful for

I got a cold this week, which helped force me to create spaciousness in my weekend. I went for a walk, read about nutrition and wellbeing, ate lots of fruit & veg and rested.

OKR updates

One of my objectives for the year is:

Excellent life balance and improved wellbeing

I’m measuring that in two ways this quarter:

establishing 3 daily healthier habits consistently in February and March
excellent life balance, as measured by increased WHO-5 well-being index throughout February, leaving work on time, and feeling confident that I’m getting enough sleep, relaxation & reading time each day

Setting OKRs around health and wellbeing has really helped me focus on improving my knowledge and investing time & energy in changing my habits.

I know the area where there’s most room for improvement is movement. Reading Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s The 4 Pillar Plan helped me identify that. It was a sneaking suspicion I held before, but now I know that’s where to increase my efforts.

Trying to simultaneously remember that I am making improvements (went to a boxing class for the first time this week, and dragged myself out for a local walk despite a cold) and that there’s a long way to go. Time for another walk now.

I feel conflicted about being open about these things because of the ‘social reality’ evidence that talking about it makes me less likely to do it…

Maybe I can reformulate it:

I really want to achieve an excellent life balance and improved wellbeing, so I need to increase my physical activity to 90 minutes of moderate intensity activity every day.

Continuous improvement for daily healthier habits 😎

Monday

📖 Feel Better in 5: Your Daily Plan to Feel Great for Life by Dr Rangan Chatterjee
Started 3 healthier habits, each 5 minutes (Dr Chatterjee calls them ‘health snacks’)
- Breath, counting for my mental wellbeing
- Dancing, for my physical wellbeing, see below for the soundtracks I selected
- Gratitudes, for my emotional wellbeing
Work focus: I struggle with concentration, after the useful and inspiring video about focus that I watched last week I decided to practise
- One thing I want to do today, which I remembered from June 2019 (and, optionally, up to three other things, but only after investing in the priority, whatever that one thing is)
- Pomodoro technique (with real fun in the breaks(!) the importance of which I remember from August 2019) 🍅
- Continued with focus time in the mornings (8-10 and 10.15-12) & meetings in the afternoon

If you want to feel better and don’t know where to start, start with Dr Chatterjee’s Feel Better in 5

Tuesday

📖 The Circadian Code: Lose weight, supercharge your energy and sleep well by Dr Satchin Panda
Walking meditation, 10 minutes, using Headspace
Continuing: Health snacks x3 (danced twice)
Continued: Work focus (did struggle with this, with a couple of hours of lower productivity)
30 minutes for laptop & weeknotes (because it was a massive rush to get to bed in time on Monday, using screens until 10pm and I didn’t do my usual wind down). I’m trialling 15 minute timer, 10 minute timer, 5 minute timer; so I don’t totally lose track of time

Wednesday

Walked to previous bus stop. Uphill, no less
Walked for additional half hour (got off my bus two stops early), so I got some daylight
Boxing class for the first time – it was fun and real sweaty!

These are Spotify’s Top Workout & Wellness Trends – Plus 2020 Predictions to Help Kick-Start Your Resolutions

Thursday

Walked for additional 15 minutes (got off my bus two stops early again), so I also got some daylight in the morning
Danced for 20 minutes instead of 5 🙌🏿
Yin yoga class for 30 minutes
Did housework in the evening after I got home – usually I don’t have energy for that, but I had energy all day today! – washed clothes and plastic containers
Took Feel Better in 5 to work for a workmate to read

Friday

Finished reading The Circadian Code, as well as the novel I was reading (Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale)

Saturday & Sunday

Looks like weekends have evolved to watching Steven Universe whilst I eat breakfast. Because I’m reducing screen usage at night, cartoons in the daytime is the perfect combo.

Enjoying reading Dr Michael Greger’s How Not to Diet too.