At the beginning of the year I started my Happiness Project. Each month I'm focusing on a different area of my life in order to discover what truly makes me happy. My themes for the year are energy/vitality, work, love, money, friendships, leisure time, health/beauty, passion (blogging), London, attitude and knowledge. For energy/vitality, I broke down the theme into five resolutions for January:
- Declutter my home
- Take care of nagging 'to dos'
- Get better sleep
- Exercise better
- Take vitamins every day
Declutter my home
I did a huge purge of my wardrobe, and particularly my shoe collection, which ultimately felt really good. Most of my kitchen utensils and glasses went missing during my move, which I guess was a forced declutter in itself. There's now just the matter of some other unwanted bits currently lying dormant in boxes under my bed....
Take care of nagging 'to dos'
My mind always seems to clog up with intermittent thoughts of 'I MUST remember to do that'. After a while the little thoughts get a bit overwhelming and I start to feel stressed and upset. I decided to write a list of all these little jobs, and soon had a big list.They included such riveting jobs as posting birthday cards, arranging my council tax, registering my nectar card, setting up my home insurance, filing paperwork, transferring money into my savings and ringing the bank. In other words, all those non-urgent but niggling little jobs that clutter up my mind. I tackled a fair few during this month, and have been putting my new Joules diary to good use, writing a manageable list each week and then carrying the ones over that I haven't managed to achieve. Tackling just a handful in a week makes all the difference in freeing up your mind for more creative pursuits.
Get better sleep
My sleep pattern has also improved. At the end of last year I spent a lot of time rushing round and getting late nights, so it's been good to practise to take a different approach. First off, I bought two new sets of bed sheets to make sure my bed was as cosy and comfortable as possible. As the evening progresses I make sure I've got everything ready for the next day - packing my lunch and ironing my clothes. Sometimes I have a long hot bath to wind down, or else I lie in bed and read my book while listening to Classic FM. I also sprinkle lavender on my pillow and burn a scented candle before I got to sleep. It all helps to make me feel more relaxed. The result is that I've been averaging at least 8 hours sleep every night, and I feel much more awake and productive during the day because of it. Hurrah!
Exercise better
If I'm honest, exercise has been a bit of a slow starter for me. I've been having some health problems, which has meant a lot of tests, and I haven't felt well enough to run regularly. I've also struggled to find my routine. I struggle to get up early, and I don't find the motivation to run after work when I'm hungry and tired from a daily commute into London. I've been out a few times, and I walk every day, but I really want to start riding my bike and get more into running. I recently noticed my weight creep up to 10 stone, which is the heaviest I've ever been, so I'm trying very hard to nip that in the bud.This morning I went for a run at 7am and I felt amazing for it. I think that's the answer.
Take vitamins every day
Well, I marched straight down to Holland Barratt and bought myself some multivitamins and fish oil, which I've been taking every day. I can't say I've noticed too much difference, but I trust my insides are happier for it, so I'm trying to keep it up.
February
My theme for February is work. I chose to tackle this now, partly because our objectives are being set for the new financial year, but also because I tend to suffer from the post-Christmas slump about now and want to inject an extra boost of effort to get me through to Spring (and the warmer weather). As before, I've broken down the theme into five resolutions that I'm attempting to put into practice:
- Be solutions-focussed
- Work hard and be diligent
- Arrive at work for 9am
- Stay on top of my emails
- Keep a to do list
Wish me luck!
There's still a few days left to enter my blog giveaway! You could win Leon's fabulous Friends and Family cook book!
This is a great way to break down your goals. Good job on January and good luck with February!
ReplyDeleteI admire how disciplined you are about going to bed! It takes me for-everrr (1 hour yesterday, seriously I am the worst). But you've inspired me, so I have not looked at my phone for the last hour, but instead listened to some calming music and wrote a letter... baby steps:)
ReplyDeleteThumbs up for getting stuff done, too - it takes so much discipline to sit down and actually do these nagging chores after a long day at work! So, well done!
Good luck for February!