When was the last time?

You took a day off and did absolutely nothing?? What do I mean by nothing? Well no dishes, cleaning, washing, cooking, visiting friends and family, cleaning the car, fetching the kids from school. A day when you could relax and catch up on your sleep, your reading, meditation, exercise. You could have a bubble bath and drink hot chocolate, or cocktails (your choice). No I can't remember a day off like that either.

A friend remarked recently that I was not able to relax and do nothing. They also said - it was because of a need to be busy ALL the time. And that was caused by guilt.

It's true I find it very hard to switch off - there is always something going through my mind. And you know what - it's usually just stuff - either stuff I am concerned about (otherwise known as worrying over nothing), what I have to do at work, what I have to do at home, what the kids are doing, whether or not I will find time to exercise today, what projects can I fit in whilst dinner is cooking, and a million other things that really I should just forget about from time to time.

How about you? Do you find it hard to switch off? Are your plans written down so you don't forget what you have to do, or are you (like me) relying on your ever active memory to constantly remind yourself about what you should be doing?

You may be wondering what this has got to do with overcoming the procrastination habit? Well it has everything to do with the procrastination habit. If you're work/life balance is out of line then you are going to feel stressed and unable to cope with yet more pressures of goal setting and goal achievement. What happens then is that your old habits kick in, those better eating habits you were planning on incorporating into your life disappear into the ether as you reach for whatever comfort food you indulge in. Or your reach for a cigarette or a glass of wine to calm you down. You dull the constant nagging with reality TV and before you know it, you are back to where you started...except it's not where you started at all. You've gained all the weight that you'd lost plus a few extra kilos. You're back to smoking 2 packs a day and you've forgotten to go to the gym this week.

We all need periods of quiet, we all need time to reflect on what we've achieved so far. We also need time to plan the next stages of our development, growth, changes, goals, but most of the time we are so caught up just doing stuff.

So what can you (and I) do about that?

1. Write down all those tasks you need to do tomorrow, next week, next month (not to be mistaken for goals) and then forget about them for today.
2. Explain to your partner, kids and any family members who may be around that you need some time out, and then go and take it. If you have to go and sit in a library or a coffee shop somewhere, do it. And finally,
3. Remember what it is like to be still, but you don't have to do this on your own. As I have said, I am not good at this, so I am heading over to a friends place later.  A group of us are getting together, we're having a pot luck dinner, we're going to watch a movie and then we're going to set the incense and candles going and we're going to treat each other to a massage. As professionals we're all buried deeper than a mine during the week - this is our one chance a week to re-discover the beauty of being still.

Enjoy your evening, I'll speak to you soon
Elle

(MMM1)

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