Two Weeks, Five Habits

We are about two weeks out from Christmas, just enough time to focus on five habits to retake control of my life. I’ll be honest, I do not feel great. Not in a the holidays stress me out kind of way (they do but that’s not the issue this time). It definitely is not that I’m sick, kind of way. I think it is, “You are completely burnt out and haven’t been taking care of yourself because it is a global pandemic and you’re just trying to survive,” kind of thing.

Last night, as I lay in bed both fully awake, but too distracted to focus on reading, I realized I needed to do something. The pandemic and all of the things that come with it aren’t changing for me anytime soon. I’ll be working from home, not traveling, and struggling with the same things for the foreseeable future. So it is time to set some manageable goals and try to get the things I can control UNDER control. 

Here are the five habits I will be focusing on over the next two weeks. Nothing is groundbreaking, so hopefully that will translate into sustainability.

1. Don’t eat before 11:00 AM or after 8:00 PM. I have never officially tried intermittent fasting before, and technically this isn’t one of the intervals. However, very frequently I don’t eat until 10:00 AM or later during the work week, so why not make it official. I want to make sure that I’m eating dinner as soon as I’m done with work at 7:00 PM, and cut out some late night snacking that has left me feeling gross.
2. Track my points and water. I use the WW tool for food tracking. Rather, I pay for the tool and have used it intermittently this year. I want to spend the next 14 days tracking everything, and getting back into that habit. The program works, IF you work the program. I have been hit and miss about drinking water and staying hydrated so I want to keep track and stay hydrated.
3. Get some sleep. I have started to struggle with sleeping again. Between stress and staying up late reading books, I haven’t been sleeping well in months. I am re-establishing my nighttime routine and making sure to turn the lights out at 11:30 each night, after a mug of sleepytime tea and at least an hour of reading. 
4. At least one session of Headspace daily. Headspace is an app that I adore and I am so glad that I invested in. The single sessions and the courses have been so helpful in the past. I intend to work on the sleep course in the afternoons and evenings. If I’m feeling particularly dedicated, I will try my hand at the productivity course in the mornings.
5. Move my body 30 minutes a day. This is something I struggle with all the time. However, I know my brain and my body feel so much better if I take a walk or do a workout. It’s pretty cold out there these days, but by my 12:00 lunch break hopefully it will be warm enough to take a walk with Remington. If not, I spent some time last night finding some quick cardio workouts on Youtube that I can do in the house. As much as I wish I could just lay around all day, I know that for my mental health moving has got to happen. 

So that’s it. Five not so huge habits that I am going to do consistently for two weeks. At that point, I’ll evaluate how I’m feeling and I’ll either keep going or make some adjustments. Either way, I will be trying to move toward a better feeling me.