what a busy week! because of all that was happening i can't really judge the new planner setup. next week looks much more open so i'll get a better handle on the method.
despite the amount of work, i've done pretty well with the supportive habits! only missed one square from the 6x7 grid. with how busy things have been i did sometimes feel it was a drag and chore to do All the habits every day on top of it all, just kind of going through the motions and occasionally trying to stuff in some of the habits at the end of the day...
there's a tweak i'd like to try but i'm not sure when/how. after the project? i'm aiming for 12 weeks and i've only done 3 so far. and i already did that one adjustment with the "doubled" spiritual habits. which, for the record, i can see the difference and i don't know... i like that i've "enforced" a project habit, but i'm not sure i like having only the meditation out of the two spiritual ones. morning prayer does something completely different, and without tracking it it's hard to remember.
which brings me to another observation/the tweak i'm considering - some of these supportive habits definitely don't need to be happening every day. it would be enough to solidly focus on a project 3-4 times a week. same for sinking into a book, instead of stealing snippets here and there. if i switched to/added this sort of tracking, i'd also definitely add an exercise habit. the things that would remain daily would probably be water, prayer, meditation, and going outdoors. everything else could be flexible and happen a few times a week.
should i just try setting up something like that for next week? i kind of already drew in all the grids using the previous system. so maybe i'll hold off for one more week and figure out how i want that to look, how these two types of tracking would work with the big task list planner layout? or do i just go for it? i don't think i'll be waiting to the end of the experiment, i feel checking in once a week is giving me enough data to work with. plus i can also revert the changes later if they don't turn out helpful.
as mentioned in the previous update, i did end up swapping out one of the spiritual items for a general "projects" category and the whole selection of habits feels much more balanced now. i finished spinning all 3 balls, almost finished plying. i'll skein them but idk about washing, might wait for another bit of hot weather. in the meantime i'll use the cooler mornings to tidy up the balcony, maybe plant some (late) bee and butterfly meadow wildflowers? anyway, all of it served me well during the 10-day heatwave! granted not many other things got done, but i felt human throughout.
i'm trying a new thing this week. i'm re-designing the weekly layout in my planner to include the habit tracker, so that i'm not monitoring two places at once. i'm slightly worried it will feel overwhelming this way, seeing 6 "tasks" each day without even getting to whatever else needs to happen. plus part of the redesign is having one long to-do list (well, two - the "need to get done" and "want to get done") instead of assigning tasks to specific days. my hope is it'll make me more flexible? historically seeing a "never ending" to-do list was very demotivating, but perhaps with the habit tracker squares filling up quickly it will motivate me to fill out the other tasks as well? if it doesn't work, i can go back to my previous planner spread next week and just tack on the habit tracker. though i must say it does look very neat in the new setup, i hope it works.
i mentioned in a journal post i'll be building a supportive habits routine:
the journal entry from may 16th
to recap, inspired by mind body mel on youtube and my abysmal experience traveling, i'm doing six daily things to keep me sane. originally:
one week in i already see a necessary tweak. generally things are going well, although i do feel a little mentally "busy", trying to remember to do all the extra things. they don't really have a natural place in the flow of the day. on one hand that keeps it interesting and less stressful - i can fit things in wherever and be flexible. on the other hand i'm constantly checking what else needs to happen. so i don't know if that needs fixing, i'll keep it flexible for now and keep observing.
i did notice that because of juggling responsibilities and healthy habits, i veg out more often in between/afterwards, whenever there's time. it's not "worse" vegging out than usual, mostly playing backgammon with some youtube in the background. so the brain's still working lol. i'm sure it's mostly because of the extra effort of trying to remember the new activities, i'm not sure if this will even out or not. but i am getting a little frustrated that for all the effort put in i'm not really "seeing" anything get done, if that makes sense. no "product". granted a "product" wasn't really the goal, but it does again draw my attention to the year's theme of contentment. one of its component ideas was "projects over distractions" and i'm not doing many of those. i've done some spinning and knitting earlier in the year and started on that hand-pieced quilt. i haven't done any art...
so the adjustment i'm considering in the supportive habits is swapping out one of the spiritual things, since i have two, for 20-30mins of arts and crafts. probably the morning japa, i can set intentions and pray whenever. and if i want some quiet me-time in the morning i can do the journaling or reading. i know from past experiments that making art is one of the keys to keeping me even-keeled but i thought that would be too much pressure for a "supportive" habit routine. the supportive activities aren't supposed to be demanding. but art doesn't have to be demanding either. i can just do my dogboy doodles or scrap paper collage and not show anyone, i guess? also, i did kind of hope/think the journaling would be enough for self expression. but i guess that's not the only thing about art that does it for me.
i do want to count other things in that category as well, like when i finally set up the balcony garden, that should count. maybe it's just "projects", and i'll know what i mean (creative/productive activity that's pleasant to do and has a visible outcome??) but then working on the website is technically a project but i don't know that it would feel like it counts. not tangible enough. material projects... physical projects... still brainstorming...
