March felt like it lasted 6 years. April felt like it just flew by. I guess that’s a sign that we are getting used to isolation and the days are starting to go quicker. But there’s no question that I’m ready to see how we try to find a new normal. It will take time and this won’t be happening overnight. But I know that it will happen. And until it does, everything I do has to be something I can do at my house.
And figuring out monthly challenges while in isolation isn’t easy. Even though very few of my challenges require me to leave my house, there is a different mindset that we are all in while isolating. Motivation isn’t the same. It’s hard to plan but at the same time, most of us have nothing but time.
That’s why last month, my challenge was to try to get a better handle on how I was handling things. I could feel my life feeling out of control. And while there are very few things that I can control right now, I spent April focusing on what I could control. And those things focused mainly on things related to a daily schedule.
I do still need to wake up at my normal time a few days a week, but I was getting into some bad sleep habits with going to bed late and sleeping in if I could. Sleeping in didn’t mean I was sleeping very late, but I wasn’t getting up with my alarm. And that is a habit that I didn’t want to start. Sleep schedules aren’t easy for me to get into, but very easy to ruin. So I wanted to make an effort to be better about that. I haven’t been perfect this past month, but it’s been much better than it was in March. I haven’t slept later than my alarm, even if I was up too late the night before. Yes, that results in me being tired sometimes. But I’m working on fixing that too.
I also wanted to get better about when I was eating. With nothing really dictating my schedule, it was hard to get into a routine. Just like with sleeping, I am still working on this. I’m pretty much having 2 meals a day (which I don’t know if that’s good). I pretty much have brunch and dinner. I eat brunch after I do my little bit of work or my workout (depending on the day). And dinner is pretty much at a normal dinner time. I’m cooking a lot, which is a good thing. But I also want to get better about what I’m cooking and adding variety to my recipes.
I’m glad that I made my monthly challenge last month to try to get things back to how they should be. I needed that sense of control and regularity in my life. And even though I still have moments that I struggle, April was much easier for me to deal with than March.
And for May, I wanted to continue working on feeling better. But I did struggle again with what I could make my challenge to be. Doing something like picking up a new skill doesn’t feel right for right now. So I decided to make it another challenge related to being in insolation and the state of the world right now.
My challenge for May is to work on staying hopeful. I want to be hopeful that things will be ok. I want to be hopeful that we will be able to be out with our friends and family again soon. I want to be hopeful that I will stay healthy and so will the people I love. And I want to stay hopeful that I will get through this and soon enough it will be just a memory. It’s not always easy to stay hopeful, but I know I need to do it. I need to work on keeping a positive mindset as much as I can. And hopefulness will do that for me.
Hopefully, when I do my recap of this challenge, we will have a better idea of when things will be changing to close to normal again. But if not, I know that day will come one day. And it’s going to be so amazing when that happens.
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Recapping A Few Challenges From Last Month (or Getting Ready Stop Going Easy On Myself)
Almost Through A Year Of Monthly Challenges (or Picking A Good Challenge For November)
Struggling To Figure Out A Monthly Challenge (or Finding Myself Again)
Continuing To Work On Myself (or More Reflective Challenges)
Another Attempt At Mindfulness (or I Think I Need To Work On This Until I Figure It Out)
Getting More Productive (or More Monthly Challenges)
