Hello! We're halfway through the year, can you believe that? Where has it gone, oh WHERE has it gone? I love reflecting on the past year at the beginning of a new year but I thought I'd take this opportunity to also look back at my first half of the year. So today for my Three Good Things post I'm sharing Three Things I've Learned in the First Half of 2018. I really like learning new things, especially when it comes to how I work because I spent a really long time ignoring myself and therefore a lot of time feeling really rubbish. Here's a quick little snapshot of some things
- Time off is IMPORTANT. This might sound weird but I've been practicing this. I've been working hard on remembering to have time off. I tend to work straight through most of Autumn, all of Winter and most of Spring without any real breaks. I promised myself I would have as much time off as an employed person would get in a year. OK, so I'm being a bit flexible with it. I've had to work through some of the bank holidays and I still have a lot of holiday left to take. I'm using it in bits. I've had two short weeks in a row to give me two long weekends and oh it's been beautiful. I'm able to come back and be SUPER focused. OK, sure I'm wishing I was still out on the sailboat that I spent the weekend on, but I am here and ready and filled with a special kind of energy. Most importantly? I feel INSPIRED. Inspired to create some more brilliant work, inspired to plan my next trip, inspired to work hard so I can afford to do little getaways like this.
- Take screen breaks as often as possible. I was in the habit of leaving my laptop at lunch time to go and watch some tv. Now I've been sitting outside on my lunch break either reading a book, or just resting. It makes the afternoons of staring at a screen much easier when I have that break in the middle of the day.
- I need my routine, but if I plan ahead I can be flexible. I love my routine because it makes me feel GREAT. I finally feel good most of the time instead of only once in a while. I know what is coming next, I know how much time I have to get certain tasks done and where they slot in (this makes booking in client work WAY easier now). My life is beautifully scheduled. I understand that for some people this would be an absolute nightmare but when I have a few days out of my routine I start to get a bit backwards. I feel a lack of energy, I get overwhelmed and my anxiety begins to creep back in. I'm back on the "surviving" boat rather than the "thriving" one I've come to get used to over the last couple years. I've found that as long as I plan for those times and how I will deal with them when I do have days out of routine, I am much more likely to cope with the lack of it and also, get back into it easier.
I've learned a lot this year. It was hard to choose just three bits, but I guess that's part of the fun, right?
Have you learned anything this year? How do you reflect on time gone by? Do you check in with yourself?
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