Those free days

I give a big sigh of relief not to be dashing around like a fart in a colander and catch up on my reading. It's to hot to do anything other than read today though.

Morris277 said:

Every possible thing I think, almost immediately slips away.

I find it helps to have a routine where there is a start time set for the things I want to do.

For example an alarm gets me up at the same time every day and I have set days of the week when I go to the gym and on other days if I feel lke it I will go then too - it will depend on how I feel physically.

Either post gym or post breakfast I will shower and catch up on news / social media / any websites I follow then have an alarm go off at 10am which is the start of my admin slot.

I'll make sure all bills are up to date, make any orders on my to-do list then once the admin is clear I will look at my list of projects and take the top one and see if I can make progress on it. If not I will assess if I need to order parts, search for advice etc and do that then move onto the next one I can do something with and just get stuck in.

At the moment I am repairing a bunch of old electrical items from the 1940s/50s/60s so have been stripping down electric fans, stripping paint / polishing them, replacing wiring & switches and any damage before rebuilding them. I also have some old table lamps where I have been rewiring and replacing damaged parts (mostly then need to have bits fabricated which can be fun) and turning them into functioning pieces of stylish decor again.

In the afternoon I have a 2pm alarm to start my language studies so I can keep these going and then allow myself a free afternoon to do whatever I want.

The evening is free for either watching TV episodes / films, reading or going out - all depending on what I made plans for in advance.

It helps that I am retired early and can choose this lifestyle but I there are often periods of 3 months where I renovate apartments for either profit or for an affordable housing charity I support.

This way I get to set aside time for progress on projects, my education and my health while still managing to have lots of relaxing time doing the things I love (reading and watching my favourite genres on TV).

Yes to the To Do lists. Some things on my daily list are small but it’s a great feeling crossing them off one by one. Of course, not all get done though. I get teased by my family about My Reminders but I don’t care!

Yes talking yourself out of it.. that’s so relatable. It’s hard to hold onto the motivation to do so many things. The brain always finds ways to convince you to stay stuck..

That’s so great ! I also struggle a lot with leaving the house, that feeling when you finally make it out is so beautiful.

I suppose I find it hard to rejoice in the small things I do. That the only actions that are worth something are the big grand ones that I can’t seem to complete.

I think where I’m unemployed and live alone, simply the lack of someone to bounce ideas off, debate with, bring my thoughts to life and listen to another perspective, makes everything I do feel just outside of reality.

I guess that’s an issue to be worked through, that I feel as though I barely exist without the assurance of another human.

Thank you for relating. It’s nice to feel some camaraderie!

Wow, it’s like you’ve reached into my head and written down how I’m feeling. I totally get what you’re coming from cause I’m exactly the same atm. Don’t really have much advice, but what I do for every day I’m off it to have a to do list, no matter how small, even like breakfast, loading the dishwasher, taking daughter to school…it makes me feel like I’ve done something, which to be fair I have, albeit small. I’m terrible actually getting out the house though, theres a woods 30mins from me which I’ve been wanting to go to for 8 years, and this week I finally managed to throw myself out the house…took an hour to get me motivated enough to go and to try and forget any anxieties, but I did it and feel like a big achievement….so even if you don’t do anything big, just do “to do lists” and it’ll feel like you’ve not just wasted your day

I think of things then talk myself out of them.

The only way I do stuff is by making a plan the night before. I have to know what I am going to do when I wake up, otherwise I just drift.

I find it more difficult on days when I am not working. I often write myself a to do list like I do for work. I might make a list when I think of things, then decide later which day I will do them.

If I have several days I spread things out. I often start the day with a walk. I then often have some housework/ ironing etc. to do. I might also decide to have a tidy of one particular room. I might do a hobby or watch something on the I Player. If it's in the winter I might plan what seeds I want to grow for next year or if at the end of the season check what seeds are reduced. When I have boring things to do I plan a coffee break after, maybe watching something on TV as a reward.

Well I suggest making your own commitments for those days. I am religious so for me my structure is at this time I get up, at this time I pray this prayer, then I go to mass at this time, then eat at this time, etc. 

It works for me, mostly. But yes those days without an anchor are difficult, you feel adrift.