Respond to emails. Make website UI/UX notes. Schedule EDM blasts. Finish social media plan. Check graphic designer’s work. Check intern’s work. My to-do list items get ticked off but just like an alligator’s tail, it gets severed but grows back. Something always comes up. (Schedule social media plan.) And then another. (Reply to stylist who sent a loan request.) And then another. By the time the clock ticks 2:00, I’m exhausted as can be. (There’s no getting used to daylight savings time.) The allure of doom scrolling is hard to repel. But the keyword is “try.”
We activate “our most powerful psychological tools” when we try, according to Dr. S Fenella Gupta. Those are resilience, self-compassion and hope. Success is tangible, but trying still gives results albeit invisible.
In an attempt to do things other than my day job (and hopefully recover from burnout), I’ve devised a last-quarter lock-in plan. It’s a list of things to do in order to feel more human, to get my soul back. So, yes, I piled on more items on my perpetually long to-do list. But these are for me. Has my attempt been successful and am I no longer burnt-out? Yes (slightly) and no. Kind of. Again, the keyword is try.
I’ve been trying to write more. It has proven to be a challenge, but for a good reason — more on that in just a little bit. I won’t give myself a pat on the back just yet, but I have added a couple pages to the story I’ve been working on. Don’t ask me how long it’s been unfinished though. I also published one essay here (about how we raise our daughter).
Here’s the non-excuse that’s really an excuse: I read three books in September. I aimed for one at the beginning of the month. Sounds like success to me. But it was proof that you can’t have it all at the same time. Somehow there will always be a trade-off.
I devoured Sunrise on the Reaping. It took me maybe three days to finish it. While Suzanne Collins is easy to read, her work also implores many opportunities for pause and pondering. SOTR has become my favorite Hunger Games book.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine was a joy to read. What a riveting, funny book. And the twist! I’d love to see a version of it on-screen.
I also had a good time reading L.A. Weather, a story about climate change wrapped up in a telenovela-like family saga.
While it took away time for writing, the hours spent on books did take a huge chunk of time away from my phone. My Opal report has been great. I’ve earned back 33 years of my life from that silly little gadget. I’ll take that.
I tried to move more last month. Not as much as I needed or wanted to, but it was a start. I wish I could say the same about slumber. The good kind’s still hard to come by. I reckon it will be a harder feat to win in October, what with the start of daylight savings time in Australia (which means I start work at 6:00 am).
There are lots to accomplish from my personal to-do list. But the keyword is try. And I’m glad I did and I’m grateful that I get to give it another shot this month.