There's this internal conflict that hits around this time of year where there are simultaneous feelings of wanting to rest and recharge, but there's also a push to be productive and finish the year strong. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels it, right?
Maybe that comes from the end of the year reflection and, as I alluded to in my Monthly Focus post, the disappointment we may feel as we look back at the year and find we didn't accomplish the goals we wanted to.
With ADHD, I know I can fall into All-or-Nothing thinking easily. This tends to exacerbate this pull towards finishing strong and checking off all those projects that I let go to the wayside this year because of one thing or another.
Because of this, I’ve found that the idea of rest holds a lot of guilt or shame. And that has sucked! Especially when this time of year is when I make the effort to give myself the rest and relaxation I craved all year.
But I’m working through it as best I can.
On days I don't have clientwork due, I've kept my laptop closed as long as possible and won't even go downstairs to my office some days. It's been really nice, but at the same time it's not always easy to turn off Work Mode.
"Shouldn't I be doing something?"
"I could be doing more."
"Just one more thing and then I can stop."
I do love what I do. Editing podcasts and helping folks start planning their podcast ideas still lights me up after almost 4 years in business.
Aside from keeping my laptop closed as long as possible this month, I made sure to plan for plenty of white space in my schedule. When I say ‘white space,’ I’m referring to a design concept of leaving space between elements, but in this case, I leave the white space in my schedule between only the necessary events.
This means no planning anything extra or new projects unless it specifically relates to what’s already on the schedule. It’s a good practice in setting boundaries and saying “no” to things that would take a significant amount of time and energy. It’s also a way to make sure I have plenty of leeway in time to plan out the holidays. There’s always some last-minute gift that needs picking up or changes in plans that happen no matter how much I try to plan, so instead of trying to micromanage my schedule, I like to plan for the unexpected.
I found saying no to the usual seasonal socialization to be easier this year, considering the rising COVID numbers and very few people wanting to be social at this point anyway. For an introvert, holidays when I don’t see a whole ton of people have been an odd perk of the pandemic.
I try to keep holidays very simple and minimal. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of how holidays tend to break our routines or the high expectations that can lead to disappointment if the holidays aren’t “just” right. I tend to spread out my present planning over a few weeks, and this year I used a WIP in Google Docs to keep it organized. Whenever I find a pocket of extra white space in my schedule, I’ve been chipping away at it. As of today, the 21st of December, I’m about 85% done with the list and I need to wrap everything.
Since Mark and I can never wait until the actual holidays to exchange our gifts, I’ve already gotten the Panda Planner from Rocketbook I asked for and have been getting used to it. I’m riding the excitement of a new planning/organizing system and enjoying learning to adapt my current system to it, so I’ve also found myself wanting to be productive. Thanks, Hyperfocus!
I’m sure I’ll talk about it more on my Instagram Stories or in a future post, but I have really loved Rocketbook this year and even though I may not finish it in time, I added Rocketbooks to the Gift Guide I began writing last week.
Unfortunately because of the colds the 4-year-old keeps bringing home from school, I haven’t had a lot of time to finish it up and it may become my Favorites of 2021 List instead of a Gift Guide, since most of the stuff on it is stuff I’ve enjoyed this year anyway.
One thing I have found to be a relaxing addition to life is Friendship bracelets!
During a recent trip to Target, I wanted to get myself something fun just for me. One thing that made it difficult to feel relaxed was spending time on my phone. Even though I was enjoying scrolling social media more and playing a few phone games, my eyes really needed a break.
I was in the arts & crafts aisle when I came across a multipack of embroidery floss for $5 and I remembered how much I used to love making friendship bracelets when I was around 11. I grabbed the pack and brought it home and, before I knew it, I was cranking out bracelets. It’s been fantastic!
This has been one of my favorite ways to relax this month and I’ve been sharing them over on Instagram.
Check out my Instagram Story Highlights featuring all my Friendship Bracelets HERE.
As far as reflecting, I used a workbook I got from Introvert Media Lab last year to review my 2021 and I realized that even though I didn’t focus so much on growing my business as I would have liked to, I really couldn’t have. The effects of the pandemic on our time and energy, as well as childcare made a huge impact on us and I am actually very grateful to have been able to keep all my clients this year as I know we have all been stretched thin.
I’m probably going to reflect a bit more in the break between Christmas and New Years. There have been so many changes internally and externally that I realize it’s actually a lot to process. I’ll be talking more about it in future posts.
How are you recharging this season? Let me know in the comments or on IG 🙂 I truly look forward to hearing from readers so I can write more posts with you in mind!
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