Welcome to my second edition of ‘What I learnt this week’. I received some really nice and encouraging feedback on my first blog post, so I hope you’ll enjoy this one just as much!
Taking care of myself
This past week I focussed a lot on getting myself into a healthier work-life balance. Even though I cycle everywhere I go and do regular bootcamps, the increasing temperature made me start feeling really unfit.I know that over the few past months my eating and exercise routines have suffered a lot because of my busy schedule. That’s why I decided it’s time to make some changes.
I used to be really good in never skipping breakfast, but since I started freelancing (and networking a lot), I often leave the house without breakfast and live on coffee almost until lunchtime – not healthy at all!
Here are some of this things I’ve decided to incorporate into my weekly calendar:
- Getting up 30mins earlier to stretch my body with some yoga
- Preparing a healthy breakfast the day before so I can eat it on the go
- Adding swimming (and potentially open water swimming) into my workout schedule on Mondays and Fridays
- Stopping work while I have lunch and focusing on eating (or listening to a podcast)
Anyone willing to make sure I do all these things in coming weeks?
Gratitude and self-awareness
I was thinking a lot about gratitude and self-awareness this week. For example, I know that I’m not the most flexible person when it comes to changing my plans. I like my routine and I don’t deal well with unexpected changes. This week, lots of things didn’t go my way, but I managed to keep calm and react with a positive energy to all changes.
I also felt more confident about my work and believe in myself more to the extent where I am able to voice my opinions when I disagree with someone who seems to have much more experience.
It’s difficult as I still remember the feeling from my last job, where I was made to feel that I was really bad at my job, that I wasn’t working hard enough and that I’m just not good enough. But bit by bit, thanks to all the amazing and supportive people around me, I’m getting more confident and sure of myself!
And lastly, this week I was more than once reminded how lucky I am to have a job that I absolutely love and that allows me to do what I want when I want. A Job that supports my passions, allows me to meet new inspiring people and constantly challenges me to get out of my comfort zone. Every day is a new adventure!
Book corner
The past week I’ve been mostly listening to the Eat Sleep Work Repeat podcast and the episode Rest – work less to do more really resonated with me.
“Deliberate rest is designed to provide mental and physical restoration and to give you time to allow your creative mind to work. Structured time to rest is really valuable and helps think long term, helps with establishing priorities, helps having new ideas and helps to be better managers and leaders.
“Don’t leave rest to chance! Rest is something you need to take, put it into your schedule and defend it against the word that wants to distract you with a thousand other things, you protect it!”
Recently, as I’m getting busier, I’m getting to appreciate more and more the importance of active rest. It might sound counterintuitive, but taking more time away from the computer actually makes me more productive.
It’s important to put aside time for rest, exercise and inspiration. Make sure to have regular breaks in your calendar. It can be as simple as 10 mins to stretch your legs on a walk or some yoga or an hour to listen to an inspiring podcast. By working less, but being more focused, you’ll get more done and will be happier!
How about you? Do you plan your off time and take deliberate rest on regular basis? Do you prefer to take a short break more often or do you switch off for longer periods of time? Let me know in comments or tweet me at @lenkakopp.
