We’re in the second nine weeks of school already. As often happens this time of year, I’ve allowed my mental health to slide. I spent my counseling session last Monday strategizing about how to stop it. How I would begin prioritizing me.
Because that’s what happens. Work gets prioritized over things that are
healthy for me. Food, meditation, exercise, hobbies, friends… All of them
take a backseat to work.
Sure there’s some self-care sprinkled in there, but typically it’s not
enough to help me stay healthy throughout the busy-ness.
Since then, I’ve been trying to set routines that allow for me to do things
that fill my soul. I’d been beating myself up about not getting up at 4:30 for
yoga and meditation. Now I’m up at 5:00 and I’m sitting for meditation. The 30 minute difference is still rough, but a bit easier to take than 4:30 for some reason.
After that I prepare breakfast and otherwise get ready. Sometimes I eat it
at home. Sometimes I save it for lunch instead. Yogurt, granola, raisins, honey roasted peanuts.
Then it’s off to work. On my bike. I’m super glad to have a bike commute, because I automatically get a little exercise into my day no matter what. And on the days that are hard, I can ride home really hard to work it out of my system.
At work I’m making it a priority to meet with my colleagues for lunch at least a couple of times a week. Before I would push through and work through lunch. Meeting up with them makes the day feel nicer. It feels good to get to know them more. It’s also nice to get a break from the students.
When I’m back home, I’m not taking naps as I once would. I hypothesized that naps could be making me sleep crappy, so then I feel unrested when I wake up.
I’m still waking up hard. But maybe just a little less hard. Too, without a
nap, 5:30 p.m. feels like 10:00 p.m. A little coffee is helping with that. But
by the end of last week I was feeling a little less sleepy around that time. So
I’m trying to feel all of that out more.
10/1/2019 
10/2/2019 
10/3/2019
But without naps, I’m getting a lot more done. Instead of napping when I get
home, I’m doing my drawing project for the day as part of Inktober. I’ve done a drawing every day this month (22 to date!). I’m so excited about the drawings that I’m planning on carrying the habit forward into 2020. I’m even making an art journal for the occasion!
10/17/2019 
10/08/2019 
10/12/2019
Once done with my drawing, sometimes I write in my journal. One night I felt anxious. Towards the end of writing, I felt noticeably less so. A good lesson that I need to do that regularly.
10/16/19 
10/18/19 
10/22/19 
10/19/19
Most nights, after arting, eating, and writing, I end up doing some work. Generally lesson planning. Usually for an hour or two, though sometimes I’m caught up enough that I don’t have much.
10/21/19 
10/11/19 
10/7/19
I’m only two weeks into the new schedule. Some things feel better. Some things not so much. I want to give it more time and tweak the things that don’t really work. The biggest thing is it would be lovely not to feel tired quite so much. Hopefully this schedule will help with that.
At the very least, I’m making a lot of fun art.