Our August theme on Wit & Delight is about planting seeds—planning and organizing our lives round values we wish to foster, targets we wish to meet, and experiences we wish to prioritize. In that spirit, I wished to share a take a look at my very own private targets for the rest of 2022.
My private targets for the remainder of the yr are all about being actually intentional with my vitality and the choices I’m making for myself.
I hope this publish encourages you to take a second for reflection too. What would you like out of the remainder of your yr?
1. Dive again into work with renewed focus.
I’ve a renewed sort of vitality for the work I’m doing on Wit & Delight lately and wish to put extra of myself into it. My largest aim is to dive again into work with the identical sort of focus I used to be in a position to give earlier than I had youngsters. What this implies for me is exhibiting up each day, specializing in precedence initiatives, and eradicating extra duties that aren’t as essential.
I do know myself and my work targets rather a lot higher than I used to, and time with our children is a bit more versatile now than it as soon as was. We’re hoping to have an after-school sitter for the youngsters this fall too so I can as soon as once more have a real 9-5 schedule devoted to working.
2. Work *with* my mind—not in opposition to it.
To assist keep away from burnout, I wish to proceed to plan my days round how my mind operates finest. I’ve discovered my ADHD mind isn’t sometimes glad with gentle or long-term rewards, like checking steady duties off an inventory or engaged on a prolonged mission. As an alternative, it seeks out fast dopamine hits, which frequently come within the type of distractions from the work I must be doing.
As an alternative of combating so laborious in opposition to this actuality, I’ve tried to plan my schedule in ways in which nonetheless stimulate my mind, constructing in time for selection and artistic duties all through my days and weeks. Having an inherently inventive job helps as a result of I get these dopamine hits from inventive challenges, play, and discovery, that are all part of my job to some extent.
In the end, this shift is about focusing much less on issues I can’t totally management—much less “boiling the ocean”—and extra on the easy act of constructing issues, sharing issues, and discovering moments of humor and delight by all of it.
I’m realizing that there’s a lot on the market to get pleasure from after I can differentiate between what’s truly essential to me and what’s not.
3. Be actually intentional with money and time.
Wanting again on the previous few months of the spending freeze, I’ve discovered that I generally tend to attempt to discover fast fixes for issues. Normally, these fixes come within the type of spending cash or packing my calendar, typically in cases when neither is critical. When completed in extra, each of this stuff contribute to burnout in my life.
For me, being intentional with money and time means going slower in terms of making selections. It additionally means understanding that saying sure to a job, exercise, or buy gained’t really feel mentally heavy when it’s “proper” and aligned with my values. As I proceed this course of, there’ll hopefully be extra money and time spent on issues that I really get pleasure from. I’m realizing that there’s a lot on the market to get pleasure from after I can differentiate between what’s truly essential to me and what’s not.
All of those targets include one caveat: In instances after I don’t observe by on them, I gained’t beat myself up for it. I used to suppose that if I beat myself up for any given “failure,” I’d really feel motivated to do higher subsequent time. That sort of mindset would solely (unsurprisingly, on reflection) push me additional down right into a spiral. Because it seems, it’s a lot simpler to get again on observe after I’m not punishing myself for not being excellent.
Kate is presently studying to play the Ukulele, a lot to the despair of her husband, youngsters, and canines. Comply with her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.
