1- I’m starting to think more about 2021. Not because I see it as some panacea coming to save us from 2020 (be real), but because unlike 2020, at least we (somewhat) know what we’re in for.
Life is different now and will continue to be for a while, I suspect. 2021 will be about figuring out how to survive (and thrive) in this new normal that is hopefully temporary, but really who knows.
2- Evenings.
Turns out, strict adherence to my own no scroll policy has definitely improved our evenings. Are they perfect? NO. But they are better. And this is true even during a week when Josh has gotten home post-bedtime most days and at-bedtime other days.
3- Inbox 500. Just a confession that my email is currently out of control. My gmail in particular! Oops. Maybe it’s the effect of less screen time (one of my crutch habits was repeated email checking and sometimes deleting). Curious how long this will take to empty out; I will try to time myself!
4- WEEKEND PLANS: getting & putting up some Halloween decorations (nothing crazy) and figuring out which playgrounds we can go to during non-busy hours!! (8 am swings anyone?)
5- Thunder. BAH! I wanted to run outside this morning but I hear thunder already. I guess I will tackle Saturday’s LIIFT4 workout instead. Speaking of which – I’m on the last week of the program!! To be honest I’m thinking of just doing it again. I really liked it and feel like it made me stronger without being as all-consuming as 80DO! I do want to figure out how to add a 3rd day of running in. We will see . . .
Bonus 6 — PODCAST REC:
I really liked the most recent episode of No Stupid Questions: Why Do We Buy Things We Never Use? I initially thought I was immune to this concept but would say the most aspirational least used purchases I have are all beauty products. I do have a skincare ritual I conduct nightly now, but I have a pretty significant haul of makeup that is largely ignored.
(Plus I do have enough pens to sink a ship. Sigh! But that was because I was searching for Pen Nirvana and the collection is a mere side effect . . . I think!)
10 Comments
I have a long weekend, and I’m finding myself wanting to do some big picture planning and long term thinking to think about what this new normal looks like. Thanks for sharing all your efforts to reduce screen time. I’m working on that too, and it’s been really helpful to read about your process at reducing it too!
For your LIFT4 dilemma you could either combine the two 50/50 workouts or the 50/50 and HIIT workout or you could just drop one upper body workout a week so you get an extra day of running. Just some suggestions- I also love LIFT4 but also want to run.
Have a good weekend!
I agree about 2021… I’m pretty sure I will be WFH when I come back from maternity leave, or will request to if they bring people back to the office in 2021 since I’m immune-compromised. I’ve found I’m as productive or actually probably more productive WFH. The only downside is that we are not allowed to print anything!! I think that’s a bit of an extreme policy as I don’t deal w/ sensitive customer info, and I could have brought stuff home from work that I printed when I was in the office. So that has been brutal… but besides that WFH has been a good fit. We aren’t doing Thanksgiving, christmas or Easter with family but I wonder what we will do next fall if we don’t have an effective and widely adopted vaccine… Which I’m not optimistic about… I’m getting so much flack from my family about covid as many in my family are covid doubter so that is the hardest part about covid for me honestly…
Hope you figure out a way to balance the lift program and running. I also liked running 3 days/week and 2 day of strength training – you know, pre kids when I was actually doing real workouts! I’m hoping to get back to that kind of schedule, maybe a year after the baby is born? Or maybe it will be easier to fit workouts in when WFH in 2021… we’ll see!
Oh and don’t be too jealous about fall in the midwest – it’s currently snowing here in Minneapolis. Womp womp.
Re: Gmail – do you use tags/filters/multiple inboxes? I found I can blow through emails really fast if I have that set up. My fave is to use a “not to me” label – where I am not an explicit recipient in the TO field. That and a color tag for emails from key people.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/lifehacker.com/geek-to-live-essential-email-filters-190416/amp has some more great ideas.
Did you find Pen Nirvana? I do love a good pen – it’s a simple pleasure that brings me a lot of (nerdy, sensory) joy.
Me too! Please do a post on pens. I’m looking for the perfect pen. It has to be a needle point that doesn’t smear.
I’d get rid of the pens that didn’t make the cut and stock up on the ones you ended up loving. If your going to sink a ship with pens, they might as well be the pens you like best 🙂
I listen to No Stupid Questions also. My aspirational items is clothing. I just bought a bunch of cute tops on clearance at Loft online. I wear scrubs to work every day (I’m a nurse) and during Covid I haven’t gone anywhere so I really don’t need more cute clothes I won’t wear often. 🙄
i found the episode of no stupid question also interesting and asked myself to pause before making new purchase (which i haven’t done for a while). Skin care… ha… I’m still using up things I bought two years ago in korea. during the pandemic i’ve slowly going through old stash… and very satisfied to use them up. after I’m done with all of them, i’ll just use drugstore brands, they all work the same. hahah
https://jamesclear.com/diderot-effect
This was SO true for me