NST January 2022: Janus

apple_muncher

Beanie- take care of yourself. Hope you're ok.

abundant1972

Good Evening 🌖

As we enter the last week of January I have been reflecting on what has worked this month and what hasn't. I am happy that I set my main goals as being  achievable, and will carry them through into February with a few minor tweaks. 

i) 5K steps per day. Been under 2 days but made up for it on day after/before.
ii) 10 min mindfulness. Forgot yesterday - otherwise would have had a continuous streak - darn. There was a little voice in me (the perfectionist!) that wanted to scrap all the hard work and write myself off as a failure - but thankfully there is a new more well-balanced voice that congratulates me on my efforts - and that one day missed won't unravel everything I have done. 
iii) Gym 3/week. Again - had 1 week where I only went twice. I started to try and make it up the next week but soon realised I'd always be playing catch up - so that voice in me said, 'draw a line under each week and start fresh the week after'. Similarly - if I get there and can't face a full on work out due to sore joints or just lacking motivation, I don't beat myself up - instead I say, 'well done for making it to the gym - anything you do is better than if you had done nothing'... Obviously not out loud as that may attract some strange looks haha
iv) Gratitudes. Being on here has helped me to touch base with this each day, and a few times I have found myself thinking I am grateful as I am doing something, rather than it being an exercise at the end of the day where I am trying to think of things. It's a subtle shift - but I believe, a shift towards being more positive about life. 
v) Financial freedom . Whilst I haven't paid any extra off my debt this month aside from usual payments - I did set myself a goal to live off £80 (went a bit over on groceries due to N*ectar Card failure, and my fuel went £15 over budget). By sticking to this tight budget I have been able to play catch up and fill up some empty virtual pots I had previously dipped into. 

A few things I haven't got my head around are:

i) An elaborate morning/evening routine and getting enough sleep. I want to try and get to bed by 22:30 but I struggle - especially on work days as I put it off (bed time) and will play games or watch a movie until it's late, then suffer (I'm sure I'm not at my best) the next day. I've been doing the same on days off too. I've been having a think how I could re-arrange it all. On my days off I am going to make lunch time the 'main meal' of the day and sit down and watch a movie then... That way I feel like I have had  quality me-time. I then pack my bag for work next day/make breakfast/lunch so I am all set. Not sure how I tackle work evenings... Do I just set myself certain days of the week for movie nights or game nights? Then on work nights just try and have a restful evening and an early night? I will try. I just feel cheated if I have worked all day and then don't have a sit down/switch off with a movie and stuff - like I have been cheated out of a day. I guess that means I don't really love my job/look forward to going to work. No easy fix there. Maybe I need to focus on how doing it enables me to live where I live, buy the food I eat, go to the gym, etc. 

Does anyone have a tried and tested morning or evening routine that works for them? I am a bit rubbish in the morning so thinking I will do my gratitudes/mindfulness in the evening (plus walk if need steps). Morning might end up just being coffee + breakfast if I can face it + diary check.  

Today I am grateful for:
1) Two great films; Alice in Wonderland/Alice Through The Looking Glass. Loved them both
2) My batch cooked meal all ready to go when I got home. No effort required!
3) My little home - for peace and solitude. 

Spend day today as ordered a birthday card online. Came out my gift fund. 

Today = NSD number 18 still. 

Night all x

P.S Hope you are feeling better today Beanie. You need some of Apple's magic cream to put on your bruises!!!

lcc86

@abundant1972 covid ruined my morning routine so no advice for you there! Still trying to get it back!

NSD yesterday, spent time with my pony but didn't ride, just did some other stuff. Been getting back to basics this month and enjoying it. 

NSD today as well. Did send some money to savings as part of my weekly mini targets. I'm up to 16 but it doesn't really matter as I've overspent this month so I need to think of a better way of not doing this as setting targets of NSD's doesn't seem to keep me on track! Got a shopping delivery tomorrow and am definitely feeling the hit in terms of price rises as have spent more this month but haven't bought anything extravagant. 

Grateful for a nice team at work, getting some jobs done at home and feeling like I made the right choice moving job.

ldee2111

Just realised I’ve been absent since last Monday. 

The Monday where I was grateful for OH being out and me being master of the TV. 

The Monday that OH likely caught Covid and is now isolating at home while DS and I have moved in with Mum. 

The Monday that has meant our holiday next week may not happen. 

Grateful today for my third negative test (but I’ll be more at ease when I get to 5), for Mum taking us in, and for work keeping my mind occupied enough to dampen my anxiety a little bit.

apple_muncher

Abundant, my morning routine fulfills my need for some quiet time on my own before anyone else is around. I get twitchy if I even hear dh up and about!!! I come downstairs and put the coffee pot on (dh preps it the night before,bless him) and I do some stretching. Then I sit on the sofa (sometimes with a blanket over me as the heating prob hasn't kicked in yet) and do some reading. By the time I finish this, the coffee is ready so I get a mugful and sit back down and do a 3 min headspace. (I used to be able to do a 10min one and had done about 300 days straight, but then I realized I'd cheated and run it without actually doing it!). I might check the bbc news app and will prob look at my bookmarked mse threads. Then it's time to wake dc. I bring my clothes downstairs the night before, even when I'm not working (I do 3days) and usually get dressed once I know dc is properly awake and getting dressed themself.

I wake up at 6.05, wake dc at 6.40 and try to be gone by 7.10.

Of an evening, is there a series of books you like to read? I find that about 30 mins of paper (not online) book reading before bed helps me sleep.

As I read your review of the month, what struck me was just how much you have achieved. Gold star and a free pass for a spell on the chaise longue for you 😁.

beanielou

Thanks DEni 

beanielou

Thanks apple & abundant

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for fisiocrem and arnica, for a chat with a parent, for snowdrops starting to show, for my bed, for the pottery throw down.

DrCarrie

Abundant, I totally relate to needing some downtime after work. My job is so peopley, I need time to be alone. And it's pretty much all on a screen. I don't sleep well, about 6 hours a night, and I wake up at 5 regardless of what time I go to bed, which during the week is 9.15pm or there about. 

I find a bath helps, or sometimes a shower, if i want to wash the day away. I light a candle and listen to a drama on the radio, to drift off. 

I get up and make coffee, take it back to bed and then get up and either go for a walk,/meditation / yoga. I like to book end the day with me time. I find it really important to start the day with me front and centre it sets me up for the day agead and It makes me less annoyed about only having 6 hours sleep. I like rituals though, little moments of joy. 

NSD number 12

Grateful for 
- Meditation class this evening 
- food from the fridge 
- Nice day at work, in the hall office.

f0xh0les

NSD 15.  I made bread rolls for their burgers rather than going to the shops. 

Still testing negative after my thousand people a day, 6 day, people fest. Keeping on testing. Nobody is more surprised than I am.

Saw my lovely old men I volunteer with today - the kids call them 'mum's other men' (they are both nearly 80 and I adore them).  Tidied round, and did masses of washing up, but still have not finished, but I have tomorrow to do more of that.

Tonight is Quiz Night on 2, then reading in bed, being warm and snuggly. Rotten night's sleep last night - dh was fidgety.

My morning routine is no use to you at all @abundant1972 unless you are going to move a couple of kids in with you

I still have not descaled the kettle or coffee maker, nor deep cleaned the bathroom - they are jobs for tomorrow.

Vague meal plan written, I was in the pantry for quite a while stacking tins, so like is with like, and thought of a few nice combinations. 

Gratitudes - military rows of tins making a very orderly pantry, not having much of anything on tomorrow so I can steam ahead of myself, finding a 'spare' Xmas pud in the pantry, everyone being healthy, and DS3 and 4 asking for hugs on the landing.