March Madness isn’t just basketball; these days, it is the phrase that best describes my life! After a somewhat chaotic four months, things have fallen back into place quite nicely. I’m not sure what did it, but at the beginning of March, I got my mojo back; I stepped back into the routine that has served me so well the past couple of years. With that, though, I’m finding that I have to use every hour wisely.
My roomie has started a great new job, but one with somewhat different work hours. With a shake-up in the norm, I’ve really had to work to stay on top of things. Take bedtime. Since I get up early, I have to be in bed early. It seems like just about the time I’m hitting my best sleep, she comes home and my dog goes bananas, waking me up. With the help of a white noise machine, melatonin and the passage of time, I think we’ve all just about adjusted, but I’ve had to work at it.
I’ve also moved my personal training sessions from Tuesday and Thursday to Monday and Wednesday. It’s always been a challenge for me to get up early on Mondays, but I like the new schedule better. I am finished with training early in the week, and it allows me a little more flexibility later in the week. For instance, Thusday through Sunday, I can get up a little later; if necessary, I can even exercise after work.
Then there was that time change! I know most of you like it being lighter later, but for someone who is an “early to bed, early to rise,” it is a scary time! I tried getting to bed a little earlier the week before, and perhaps because I was already working on my sleep, aka roomie’s new job, there were only a couple really painful days.
I think I mentioned that I was working at the gym six hours a week, but there’s that in the mix, too. Six hours a week isn’t a lot, and it’s a welcome break to the daily grind, but it has also required planning. I go two days a week after work for two hours, and one day on the weekend. Those weekdays I don’t have my evening “free time,” and I also have to do some meal planning and packing. But despite a little extra planning, it has been a great addition to my week. After all, it puts me at the gym, around motivated happy people, doing some really fun things. It’s all good.
Finally, I’m trying hard to prioritize things better. Just because it’s on a to-do list doesn’t mean it HAS to get done. I’m trying to do those things that I must do, schedule time with friends and/or free time and then know what can wait. This sounds like simple time management, and it is, but it’s not always something I’ve done well.
When I first went to Doctors Wellness Center two and half years ago, I went from being a “live by the seat of my pants” person to someone a little more regimented and purposeful. I was afraid that I was going to lose a neat part of myself, but I actually found quite a bit of freedom in being prepared. When I finished my weekly appointments with the nutrition counselor/life coach, I became a little less focused, and I suffered a small setback. I’ll wait until the end of the month to report, but I think March will find me down 10 lbs. and feeling great. I’m hoping it won’t take me too much longer to readjust and that this will be second nature, as it was before.