This is me this week.
Hubs and I were on vacation last week (more on that in a future post) and this week’s re-entry into my regular life has been tough. I went to bed each night feeling stressed and overwhelmed, slept fitfully and awoke the next morning too tired to work out. So I’d reset the alarm, giving myself an extra hour (ahem, or two) of sleep. I bet you can relate.
All this did was create a vicious cycle of stress and fatigue. In my experience, the only way to deal with a vicious cycle is to break it. And that’s what I’m trying to do.
Last night when I got home from the office, I had one free hour before a scheduled phone call with a coaching client. I spent that hour downloading materials for a class I begin taking on Monday and writing a lesson plan for the ESL class I teach on Tuesday evening. Just the action of handling two quick tasks helped me feel a less stressed. The coaching call was a pleasure which helped me further unwind.
I have loads on my plate today and it was tempting to skip my morning workout, just as I’d done almost every other day this week. But last night I wrote a Facebook post owning up to my inertia and promising I would workout this morning. I didn’t post it because the folks who read it give a flip about whether or not I work out. I did it to create accountability for myself.
And so this morning, remembering last night’s FB post, I ignored the temptation to sleep in and I got my booty to the gym. I had a really good workout with lots of sweat. Once home, I had to do some final prep for a class I’m teaching this afternoon. I wondered whether or not I had enough time to prepare, but with a clear mind and endorphins flying around my brain, I completed everything in an hour and a half.
I constantly remind my coaching clients to practice self-care and to put themselves at the top of their priority lists. I finally remembered to practice what I preach.
What about you? Do you sometimes forget to put yourself high on your priority list? How do you break the inertia?
482gr8 