Hands up who went into the bank holiday weekend with a ‘to-do’ list? I don’t think I was the only one. Keep your hands up if you tackled it!
I think I’ve said before that I tend to be ambitious with what I think I can do in my spare time. This weekend, however, my to-do list went out the window… I’ve been burning the candle at both ends recently (and in the middle, if that’s posstible) and my body just said ‘STOP’.
I’m not great at hitting pause. I always feel like I ‘should’ be doing something. Also there’s always something that needs to be done and the downside of living on my own, is that it’s me that does it. I usually don’t mind, but this weekend I said no.
My to-do list is epic (I’ve mind-dumped everything I want to do in my house this year, room by room, which includes painting the kitchen, sewing some curtains and making a mosaic front door number to hang outside). I’ve taken some tips from a workshop I did recently with Scribble Inc and added some pictures to make it more colourful, less overwhelming and less like a massive list.
There is some fun stuff on there, some things that won’t take long, some things I know I won’t do unless it rains and others I can’t do if it does. Nothing is urgent, but once I’ve made my way through the list, all of the odd jobs will have been tackled, all the rooms will be finished and it’s then a case of enjoying my home (and no doubt finding other things to do!).
I’d had plans to tackle the kitchen and possibly the shed over the long weekend. My body had other plans, however. It’s so easy to keep pushing through, to keep going, but it’s not healthy and I suspect will mean everything will just end up taking longer in the end
So instead of tackling my mammoth list, I made sure to get plenty of rest, stayed hydrated and ate nourishing food. Do I feel better for it? Yes, though I could do with another weekend off!
I remember when I was in my final year at uni; it was the summer of my masters. I kept pushing through for months, got through my finals, took a week off and promptly crashed. We’re not designed to go, go, go; to do, do, do. We’re human beings, not human doings. It’s OK to say no, push the pause button and smell the flowers. Life is about enjoying the journey, not just getting to the destination the quickest way possible.
THe next time you start to think about all the things you need doing, ask yourself ‘would I be better off taking a break and coming back to them later?’ Chances are you would (and they’ll still be there, waiting for you!). I know it’s not always possible to stop and just breathe, but life is so much better when you do.
Be nice to yourself, you only have one life, so do what you can to make the most of it.