It’s definitely been a long year for me, and I’m finding that every day it seems like I have less and less free time and energy to get things done. It’s sorely tempting to go dig up some motivational reading or podcasts to see if they’ll help, but honestly I feel like I’ve gotten as much as I’ll ever get out of self-help gurus.
So…what to do?
I suppose the best place to start is diet. I’ve been taking in too much junk sugar, and too many carbs, and not enough good proteins. The “ah-HAH” moment was Monday, around lunchtime. I was sitting at work, eating my lunch, and took an experimental sip of my eggnog shake from Mickey D’s. It tasted of…well, eggnog. So I was sipping it, and thought to myself: “This is it. This drink is the specific thing that’s going to shorten my life by five years. I just know it.”
The problem there – of course – is that fixing one’s diet requires time, effort, and diligence. I’m kind of short on two of those three, chronically, so this is a difficult proposition.
So, if my diet isn’t the golden bullet, how about exercise? Given that I never seem to have any time to work on anything anymore, when exactly am I going to do this “exercise” thing we speak of? Good question. We’ll come back to this, I guess.
Maybe I need to get more or better rest. Only…I’m sleeping fine, and sleeping more requires time I’ve already determined I haven’t got.
So, yeah. I’m remembering something I read recently. It basically boiled down to this idea: Career. Family. Friends. Your Body. In order to succeed at one of these four things, you have to give up two of them.
Ouch. What’s a fella to do?
Here’s the plan:
- Prioritize. What’s too big to do and clogs up the queue? That gets sidelined. Ditto for the insignificant stuff.
- Dietary tweaking. Nothing too in-depth, but even a minor improvement is still helpful. More salad, less pasta. Avoid sodas, get some cold-brew tea bags for my desk at work, and at home.
- Floor exercises. Fifteen minutes after work will get my cardio system up to speed and help me stay alert and energetic for the few hours of productive time remaining. It’s also, coincidentally, good for me.
- Relax. Worrying about things doesn’t help. Remember to breathe.
- Have fun with the creative stuff. I find that if it’s not fun anymore I stop doing things, and just worry about them instead. That’s no good either.
Go go go!