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serindeI had put off thinking about most lifestyle arrangements until after moving, because how do you know what things will look like til after you're settled; and then until after all the California trips were done with, because ualeaualeualeualeaue; but all that's done and the apartment is mostly settled (although there was enough of putting that off to warrant a separate post), and although yes the stress is ramping up at work and I Don't Wanna Think About Being Virtuous, the fact is that I know I will feel better if I realign things. So, herewith, the long mental burp.
* Not getting enough sleep. whoooeee
* ...so not getting up on time/barely getting out the door
* ...and not having the right amount of puttering time in the morning
* Not getting enough regular exercise which both leads to twitchiness, and being more hungry (yes, really), but also is making me more likely to injure myself randomly[1]
* Spending too much money
* Not working on my own projects (e.g., sewing, creating this class I'm supposed to be teaching ha ha, getting the last bits of apartment work done, throwing parties)
These are all pretty obvious, and have correspondingly obvious solutions (and many of them entwined). HEY STOP GOING OUT SO MUCH is a nice place to start, although it's vague enough that I can and have often rationalized my way around it, so I may have to set a firm boundary like "don't go out more than 2x a week" or the like. This will also help me ride my bike to work more; I haven't been riding it in on days when I know I'm going out after work, because I am not ready to let it be locked up in public, and that plus our very variable weather have kept me from doing so more than a couple of times. (The other half is to put on my big girl pants and deal with riding in inclement weather. May require additional equipment.) And, of course, this will help the frittering-money-on-ephemeral-
Even when I haven't been going out, I have been fahddling around until way later than I ought to do. If I keep getting up at 6:30 (which seems reasonable), I need to be in bed, by which I mean "turning the light off", no later than 11--and 10:30 would be better. The issue here is that I spend more time than is necessary goofing off[2] on the intarwubs OR dithering around the "hmm hey what do I really feel like working on la la la let me pick up this book I have read 5,391 times before". Dumbest of all is when I waste 45 minutes just deciding what movie/TV to watch in the background while I knit--stupid, stupid brain. So, I think the answer here is to, first, set up an alarm at 10:30 (let's start there) as the Wrap Up What You Are Doing notifier; and then force myself to recognize when I'm in the dither zone and have a defined alternative course of action when that happens. E.g., "if I spend more than 15 minutes dithering then the evening's activity is Burn Notice and embroidery project".
I do enjoy my morning fahddling time, with the coffee and the internets, but I think I need to return that time to writing or yoga or minor household chores. (This morning is internets, but it's writing while on the internet, so that's okay.) If I'm writing, that's okay for the coffee, but for the other choices they are incompatible. So, I acquired a really good travel mug yesterday, and on mornings I am not writing I will make the coffee later in the morning and carry it to work. This may be a harder habit to break, but we shall see.
The final matter is my weight; I know that the menfolk are quite pleased with my current incarnation, but I'd really like to skim off those top 10-15 lbs, which will open up some of my favorite garments to me. Restoring bike and yoga per above will help considerably, since my over-efficient metabolism demands serious exercise to actually *lose* weight. I've started logging intake again (using a better site with an integrated app) and I'm going to set myself a two-drink maximum when cocktails are happening.
I think none of these are crazy, and I think all of them are beneficial both in general and for my stated goals. Now, let's see if I can do them.
[1] Yes, I also injure myself randomly when I DO exercise. Shut up.
[2] And I mean useless goofing-off, not actually answering people's email or anything: falling down the rabbit hole of TV Tropes or Know Your Meme or similar stupid-ass shit.
* Not getting enough sleep. whoooeee
* ...so not getting up on time/barely getting out the door
* ...and not having the right amount of puttering time in the morning
* Not getting enough regular exercise which both leads to twitchiness, and being more hungry (yes, really), but also is making me more likely to injure myself randomly[1]
* Spending too much money
* Not working on my own projects (e.g., sewing, creating this class I'm supposed to be teaching ha ha, getting the last bits of apartment work done, throwing parties)
These are all pretty obvious, and have correspondingly obvious solutions (and many of them entwined). HEY STOP GOING OUT SO MUCH is a nice place to start, although it's vague enough that I can and have often rationalized my way around it, so I may have to set a firm boundary like "don't go out more than 2x a week" or the like. This will also help me ride my bike to work more; I haven't been riding it in on days when I know I'm going out after work, because I am not ready to let it be locked up in public, and that plus our very variable weather have kept me from doing so more than a couple of times. (The other half is to put on my big girl pants and deal with riding in inclement weather. May require additional equipment.) And, of course, this will help the frittering-money-on-ephemeral-
Even when I haven't been going out, I have been fahddling around until way later than I ought to do. If I keep getting up at 6:30 (which seems reasonable), I need to be in bed, by which I mean "turning the light off", no later than 11--and 10:30 would be better. The issue here is that I spend more time than is necessary goofing off[2] on the intarwubs OR dithering around the "hmm hey what do I really feel like working on la la la let me pick up this book I have read 5,391 times before". Dumbest of all is when I waste 45 minutes just deciding what movie/TV to watch in the background while I knit--stupid, stupid brain. So, I think the answer here is to, first, set up an alarm at 10:30 (let's start there) as the Wrap Up What You Are Doing notifier; and then force myself to recognize when I'm in the dither zone and have a defined alternative course of action when that happens. E.g., "if I spend more than 15 minutes dithering then the evening's activity is Burn Notice and embroidery project".
I do enjoy my morning fahddling time, with the coffee and the internets, but I think I need to return that time to writing or yoga or minor household chores. (This morning is internets, but it's writing while on the internet, so that's okay.) If I'm writing, that's okay for the coffee, but for the other choices they are incompatible. So, I acquired a really good travel mug yesterday, and on mornings I am not writing I will make the coffee later in the morning and carry it to work. This may be a harder habit to break, but we shall see.
The final matter is my weight; I know that the menfolk are quite pleased with my current incarnation, but I'd really like to skim off those top 10-15 lbs, which will open up some of my favorite garments to me. Restoring bike and yoga per above will help considerably, since my over-efficient metabolism demands serious exercise to actually *lose* weight. I've started logging intake again (using a better site with an integrated app) and I'm going to set myself a two-drink maximum when cocktails are happening.
I think none of these are crazy, and I think all of them are beneficial both in general and for my stated goals. Now, let's see if I can do them.
[1] Yes, I also injure myself randomly when I DO exercise. Shut up.
[2] And I mean useless goofing-off, not actually answering people's email or anything: falling down the rabbit hole of TV Tropes or Know Your Meme or similar stupid-ass shit.
