The problematic life without problems

After I came back from my vacation early in June life has been difficult.

I struggled to get back into my usual routines. Getting out of bed was hard. Work was boring. Nothing made sense or gave me any form of joy.

In addition - or maybe as a result of this - I’ve also put on some weight.

Hallelujah!

Over the last 5 years I have created the most amazing life. I work for myself, I have enough clients to make a living and the work I do has become predictable and easy.

And that might be part of the problem.

I’m not inspired anymore.

Life without problems is great as long as it does not result in boredom. I want more from life, and I’m sure you do too.

So when you find yourself in a slump of late mornings, too little meaningful work done but too much coffee and Netflix consumed, how do you get yourself out of it?

Make a list of what you enjoy

What makes your life meaningful?

What are the things you always say you would love doing if only you had more time? Write them down. Put them in your calendar. Make an honest effort to do some of it every day.

For me it was scheduling the sauna at 8.30am.

Structure your day

We all have the same amount of limited hours available.

As you full of vigor schedule your joyful tasks you might notice that there is not enough time for everything. You need to sleep, and you need to work and cook and clean and eat and - let’s face it - use the bathroom once in a while.

I find it easiest to schedule 2-3 fun things and then arrange the rest around it. That way I have something to look forward to every few hours.

Work when you are at top

This might be difficult for you to do if you are expected at an office at certain times.

If you have the freedom to work during your prime hours, whenever they happen, you will notice that you can get a lot more done than at other times. As you crack out high quality at high speed without interruption you will end up with a lot of freed up time you can use for other things.

I’ve found out that most tasks take me half the time as they normally do when I work during my prime hours, which are between 6 and 8am.

Put yourself under pressure

Nothing makes you go faster than an approaching deadline.

Make it a game to get most of your work done in a certain time frame. You have a fun appointment at 10am, and you need to be done by then.

I want most work done before my sauna visit. So I crank up the speed. This early there is also no-one interrupting me, and I’m not distracted by social media etc.

This is why the sauna at 8.30 was essential.

It gives me a hard deadline for when I have to leave, and the time before are my prime hours. My goal every morning now is to get as much work done before I leave so I can relax sweating and bathing.

And if I don’t get anything else done that day, that is actually totally fine.

This method has changed how I approach my days.

Now I’m eager to get up, and motivated to get started on work. The earlier I start, the earlier I’m done and then I can do whatever I like with the rest of the day.

For now the slump is gone.

And next week will be a complete game-changer. I'm going to a week-long fulltime workshop in Theater Improvisation - and it scares me a lot. Wish me luck!

xo, Yvonne

🖊️ This week's publications

Still no essays written, but a few tweets here and there...

📖 Currently watching

Currently I’m obsessed with «Clean My Space» on YouTube.

Melissa Maker makes cleaning fun! And - she also makes most of her cleaning products herself, that is a plus in my book. Harsh chemicals be gone!

This week I have hoarded up on baking soda and white vinegar, microfiber cloths and ph-friendly all-purpose cleaner.

Procrastinating work is now allowed, as I‘m cleaning instead of working. You should see the inside of my fridge or my garbage bin. Squeaky clean!