Creating Good Habits - THE PLAN

                 HABIT STACKING DAILY SCHEDULE

Monday through Saturday (Can I do this?)

Early Morning Habit Stack - PERSONAL

7:00 am - Get up

                Poop

                Read Bible

                Memory Verse (s)

                Cognitive Games

7:45 am - Shower/wash up  (wash hair wed/sat)

                Dress to shoes

                Brush teeth

                Brush hair

                Take morning pills/drink water

                Black coffee (if NEEDED)

8:30 am - Exercise - up to 45 min (stretches too)

9:30 am - Pull weeds/work in yard/water

10:00am- Hand therapy

                Drink water

10:30am- Black coffee (if hadn’t had it already)

                Look at weekly/daily goals list

                Look at prayer list/say morning prayer

                Mess with phone

Late Morning Habit Stack - HOUSEKEEPING

TUESDAY/THURSDAY PICKLEBALL 11-1

11:00am- Start laundry (if needed)

                Do one household chore - Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat

                Empty dishwasher (if needed)

                Load dishwasher (if needed)

                Order groceries (if needed)

                Run any quick errands

                Water front porch plants (if needed)

                Thaw meat for dinner (if needed)

                At the end, put clothes in dryer

                Eat a light lunch - salad or smoothie, etc.

Afternoon Habit Stack - PERSONAL AND ARTISTIC

(Saturday afternoons will be open to have company for dinner also)

1:00 pm - Drink water

                Check phone

                Hand therapy

2:00 pm - Creative/Art time - (nap if needed, ½ hr) 

                Write, paint, sew, music, hobby

                Listen to soft music

3:30 pm - Drink water

                Cook dinner

                Listen to helpful book

4:30 pm - Eat dinner

                Drink water

                Put away food

                Rinse plates/cookware

                Load/run dishwasher (if needed)

                Wipe counters

                Feed Cooper

5:30 pm - Hand therapy (if not done earlier)

                Gentle stretches to relax

6:00 pm - Spend time with Frank doing whatever

8:00 pm - Take pills

                Give Cooper pills

                Read

9:00 pm - Lights out!

                CPAP

SUNDAY -

Church

Start a list for next week

Look at appointments for next week

Hand therapy X2

Habit Stacking - I'm Not Sure About This

 I've been trying to create a morning habit stack (per "Atomic Habits" by James Clear) for the past couple of months, with mixed success. It started out good, then slowly degenerated into kind of a mess, because I wasn't clear and specific about time constraints. Some days it would go well, and some days it would get all jumbled around and out of order and sloppy, where I might be finishing up the stack in the middle of the afternoon. Part of me was satisfied just getting ANYTHING accomplished, because my mind is often a jumbled mess too. But a larger part has not been happy with letting myself get all loosey-goosey with my goal of creating good habits. Eventually, I want to have an afternoon stack also, so having the morning habits totally bleed into the afternoon has been a convenient way to not get any afternoon goals done. The creative habits. The ones I supposedly really want to do. Hmmmm.

So I've revamped my habit stack with time limits attached, and I created the other stacks I want to work toward, a little at a time, for the different times of day. Nothing is written in stone. I can always alter my lists to fit my lifestyle better. But it's a jumping off point. Creating habits is difficult for anyone. A habit is something you've done so much it becomes automatic. And I have a few actual habits, but not enough.

And here's the problem. My very being fights habits, loathes being told what to do and when to do it. I've fought myself and my chaotic ways my whole adult life. A large part of my personality IS loosey-goosey, wanting to be a free-spirited artist, doing whatever the mood dictates, whenever I feel like it, wherever the wind takes me. But another part of me, the sane and organized and mature part, the accountant in me, hates the chaotic side, because the controlled side knows that a free spirit rarely gets anything accomplished, has nothing to show for that freedom, and is not productive at all. Such a battle for dominance.

Why can't the two sides get along? When I worked full time for quite a few years, the organized side had to be in control to keep my job! But being controlled by an outside entity really takes its toll on the creative side. I couldn't figure out a way for them to coexist. I had to let go of creativity just to stop beating myself up for NOT being creative. During the last 7 years it became almost completely submerged, dormant. It's been a real struggle to reawaken it and let it come out again. For it to wake up, I had to let go of the controlled side and learn to live unscheduled again...and go through quite a bit of emotional upheaval, sorting through some heavy baggage.

Somehow I have to integrate the two halves of my personality, so that neither is in total control, but neither feels stifled or handcuffed. But how? How can I have some control over my life, my habits, my TIME, and still let that creative, fragile little butterfly flutter out to be free? It will take so much self-control, so much perseverance, and I just don't know if I have that in me. I've tried scheduling my time and creating habits before and it has been a miserable failure multiple times. Yes, I'm scared to try again. But here I go...the next installment is THE PLAN.

Doctor's Orders

 My last post was written only five days after I broke my dominant wrist playing pickleball (and admittedly, my first ever broken bone). Typing made my wrist ache, so I stopped doing it for a while. Now it's been six weeks, and the hand specialist says my wrist is healing nicely, if slowly as wrists have a tendency to do. He highly encourages me to do normal "light" activities as much as possible and without my (new, softer, smaller) brace while at home, like folding laundry. I specifically asked about typing, and he said that was a good thing to be doing, so there you go. Doctor's orders are to type.

But I sit here, not really knowing what to type. I'm out of practice. Because being creative was, although not out of the question, an iffy proposition (handwriting or painting was definitely OUT). The last six weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions and temporarily derailed ambitions. I went from optimism and determination to keep going no matter what, to frustration, depression, anger over the seeming unfairness of an injury that occurred just when I was starting to get my ducks in a messy but functional sort-of row. I would make a list and get a few things checked off one day, and be totally lethargic and depressed the next. Cheerful and philosophical about it being a fun challenge to do everything righthanded (that was me trying to trick myself into not giving up), straight to fatalistic and feeling like the stupid joint was NEVER going to heal (which was partly due to an unhelpful and less-than-forthcoming doctor giving me incorrect and incomplete facts about my injury, come to find out...and an uncomfortable brace that I hated).

I will admit to myself that I DID persevere, just not in a totally straight line. I still tried to eat healthy and I still did my habit-stacking and exercising more often than not. I got better at extended fasts. I even lost a couple of pounds...go me! Looking back, I can feel like the time was a period for some growth and not a total standstill, or worse, backsliding. I think if something like this happened again (Good Lord, please no), I would be able to handle it even better, with more grace and determination and maturity.

Now it's time to start moving forward again. I must readjust my thinking, my outlook on my recovery timeline, my goals, my near future. Renewed patience and perseverance, not to mention optimism and a cheerful attitude will be very helpful. Yep, I'll pray for that...and complete healing. Although I most likely won't get to go back to my beloved pickleball until possibly early spring, KNOWING the score and what I have to do to achieve success is so much easier to live with than uncertainty. Every single time.

I'm back. I'll be here more often. I'm ready to create again...not sure what exactly, but something FUN! Just you wait!

I Am...Becoming

 I am becoming what i want to be. The author of the book on developing good habits spends a chapter on positive self talk, and how important it is to convince your brain that you ARE what you're trying to become. He even says you should say it out loud to yourself on a daily basis, like in front of the mirror, because your brain will start to believe what your ears hear.

Now here's the deal. Not only is this another habit i have to try to add to my morning stack, so I'll have to literally put it on a to-do list...that just feels silly, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Not only do I have to try to develop this habit, but I am a very honest person and telling myself that I AM FIT and I AM HEALTHY is just pushing it too far for me. It feels like a lie. Maybe some day, but not yet.

So I've decided that I can come up with a statement that feels true, but still bolsters my belief in myself and my confidence in what I'm accomplishing. I can tell myself that my habits ARE becoming more consistent, that I AM trying hard, and adding more time and more effort. I AM feeling healthier, more fit, stronger, more flexible. Those things are true and help me stay positive. Yeah, I can do that.

And yes, telling myself that I'm an artist and a writer is true, and it really helps to remind myself of those things. I'll keep working on it.

Writing Prompt #2

This prompt is "Point of View, Setting," and I'm supposed to describe my bedroom through the eyes of an FBI agent who believes I have committed a crime.

FBI agent Agatha Christie (no relation) stopped in the doorway of the master bedroom to take in the full effect of the room before entering, as she was trained to do. There were agents swarming the small house, tossing the place, but Agent Christie was the first to assess the bedroom and she didn't want to miss anything. Even the smallest details could be important.

Looking around, she noticed that there was a heavy four-poster bed, probably a queen, that dominated the not-large room, matching dressers on either side with mismatched lamps on them, a bookcase, rolltop desk, with a flatscreen TV on the wall above it, and what looked like an office two-drawer filing cabinet in the corner with a printer on top. 

There were several "clutter catchers" in the room that would have to be gone over carefully, and a free-standing jewelry armoire that might have something interesting tucked inside, but at first glance nothing obvious stood out. Of course not, Mrs. Sexton wouldn't be so careless as to leave anything lying out, especially since it seemed, from the interrogation, her husband knew nothing about her dealings. This place was probably clean as a whistle, but they had to search every nook and cranny carefully, just in case.

As she entered the room and looked at things closer, the most interesting item to the agent was a small knick-knack shelf above the filing cabinet, filled with tiny tins, the kind that come with gum, candy, or mints in them. The woman had collected all shapes and sizes. The perfect place to hide small items vital to national security, and only a few were not totally covered in dust. "Sloppy, Mrs. Sexton," Agatha thought to herself. She must have been in a great hurry to overlook this "tiny" mistake.

Welcome New Readers!

 Well, here we are, just one little happy group! I'm so used to having just one (extremely supportive) reader, that it makes me a little nervous to have invited several more into my head. Don't worry though, my posts are usually short-ish, and I'm trying hard not to be sooooooo personal or negative. More positive, more creative...that's the goal. More writing practice, less therapy, lol. And if you think of someone else that you think will be willing to read it, please text me that information.

If you want, you can go back and read older stuff. I started this blog over ten years ago, but I have been sporadic over the years, to say the least. I write it more for myself than an audience, so no biggie. If you read it, great! If not, it won't hurt my feelings...I've gotten past taking it personally (mostly). Thanks so much for being my guinea pigs...uh, audience. :) My one request is that if you do read it, please leave a little comment. It really boosts my spirits!

Some of the posts will be writing exercises from a book Bailey gave me, "5-Minute Daily Writing Prompts" by Tarn Wilson. It's an easy way to combine this blog with some creative exercises. And occasionally you will get a look into my head...scary place! :o I have a tendency to go on a rant once in a while.

So there you have it. Most of the time I don't think about it too much before posting. I just sit down and start writing. Who knows where it will take us? Maybe someday it will actually have a theme!

Oh, Let's Try Another One - Prompt #5

This time, although I have trouble sticking with only 5 minutes, I will definitely keep it under 30. The prompt says to write a list of words that include the "oo" sound: like blue, tooth, smooth, etc. Then write a story using as many of the words as I can (the category is "poetry", but it says to write a story... not sure if I'm supposed to rhyme or not!

List of words: blue, tooth, smooth, tune, shoot, boot, toot, couth, youth, roof, tube, boob, lube, poop, loop, scoop, noose, moose, loose, tool, pool, rule, school, fool, noon, spoon, loon, moon

There once was a loon who was cool

He was the coolest loon in the school

He was such a cool youth

But he lost a front tooth

Now everyone says he's a fool. 

Hey, they didn't say it had to be good or anything!