It's currently 4:05pm as I sit to start writing today and it feels like my day has just begun.
Even working at home (not really working) and working for myself, I find Mondays daunting. I give myself weekends to go outside, spend the day with my dog and boyfriend, and generally relax and reset for the week. Once Monday rolls around, there's a certain amount of pressure built up of all the things I want to get done.
I enter the week feeling ready to tackle my to-do list, but somehow it's still a struggle to check anything "work-related" off. Since the weekends are usually jam-packed with errands and adventures, lots of life maintenance falls to the start of the week.
The apartment needs to be spruced up, meals need to be prepped, and the work mindset needs to be re-entered. I try to keep Sundays as my Life Maintenance day, but of course everything takes so much longer than anticipated.
How can there ever be enough hours in the week to get everything done? It feels like a game of "pick 3" with a full list of 10 or more things that I want to accomplish.
Maintain healthy relationships
Keep a clean and tidy home
Give Pico plenty of enrichment and play
Prepare healthy meals
Feed my soul with hobbies and reading
Get work done and crank out quality content
Stay up-to-date on health, vet, and car appointments
Pick up groceries and anything we need for the apartment
Hit the gym, climb regularly, and do cardio a few times a week
Plan for the future and keep an eye on financials
Research content ideas, pitching to brands, and how to build a business
Go on adventures and visit new places
Work on emotional and spiritual health
Relax???
The list goes on and on...
I'm definitely in a state of overwhelm often and fighting it hard today. It sometimes feels like I can never keep up.
I almost just had a moment of wanting to give up on today since the "work day" was already almost over and we just spent several minutes circling the apartment looking for my boyfriend's headphones. I was going to hop into the kitchen and work on meal prepping until we leave for the gym in a couple hours. Instead I had to switch my mindset and remember that two hours is still a solid chunk of time to get things done.
The three priorities I have as daily habits right now (tracked in my Strides app) are:
Exercise
Edit videos
Write 300 words
Since I hadn't yet check off any of these, it felt like today was a wash. Then I remember I still have half my waking hours left. Yes, around half of those will be just for the gym, prepping food, and eating dinner. That leaves around two hours now and two hours before bed (if I'm lucky).
That gives me time now to check off my writing task and start editing. I can also push myself to get some editing done later tonight or work on going to bed earlier and starting fresh tomorrow. Either of these options are better that writing off today as a fail on my goals.
Bare Minimum Monday is 100% still a thing in this household whether we like it or not. It's nice to ease into the week with a little grace knowing that it's still setting us up for success for the rest of the week.
This writing took me less than 15 minutes and I've now gotten 1/3 of my goals for the day done. Gym is coming up and editing is the final push. Since I'm already over 600 words here, I'm switching gears to work on my Maui vlog.
If you're struggling with consistency (see my Day 4 post), know that you're not alone! We get better each day and make the most of each opportunity, even Bare Minimum Mondays.
Happy adventuring,
A
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