When life is full of uncertainty, much like the last year and a half, what do you fall back on? I’ve noticed that my unconscious fallback in the midst of chaos, if I don’t have a plan, is to go toward distractions. Did anyone say online shopping? But luckily, I know a better, more satisfying way to consciously organize my day.
Since the pandemic has popularized work from home and tools for doing business are always at our disposal, expectations in the work world can create a random element to the workday. When are we expected to work? It looks like basically, whenever someone emails, texts, or communicates with us.
If we don’t check our emails or messages regularly, they pile-up so the task becomes so time-consuming, it can be daunting. During the time we are reading our messages, we are also receiving more, which our devices remind us of with beeps, bells and tones. Unless or course, we silence them.
That lack of defined work hours and sense of expectation of immediacy have created a culture of urgency and constant working. I have noticed that an undefined workday is not my most productive work style.
For a healthy structure to my day, one with a balance of inbreath and outbreath, of structured and free time, of work and play, my conscious practice is rhythms.
I have cultivated them over the years, so they are habits, something I don’t have to think about. They make up the skeleton of my day. When I awake, I get up and go to the rug in my bedroom to practice yoga and meditation. Through trial and error, I have found that If I let it go until later, I might not do it. In this way, I connect with my physical body and spirit and set an intention for the day.
Then I get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast. On weekdays, we eat oatmeal with yogurt, seeds, and berries. Then on the weekends, we mix it up, adding eggs and bread with salmon and cream cheese.
If it’s not one of the two days a week that I am doing childcare for my grandbaby, I head to my desk. That means my desk days which are for writing and taking care of business happen on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I have determined that to keep on top of the projects I am working on, I need about twenty to twenty-five hours a week.
That means I need to set aside at least seven hours of desk time on workdays. Basically, there is no time for distractions, so I don’t open emails from clothing retailers. I can open them after I have finished my hours of work, although the appeal diminishes when it is not a distraction, a way to avoid challenging aspects of work.
Since I have committed to this work rhythm, I don’t schedule a haircut or make a phone call or decide to pick up something at the coop until the seven hours are done on my workdays. In this way, decisions about my work time are made in advance, I don’t need to refigure my time daily. I have found that having a container for my work increases my productivity.
On the weekend, I can attend to all the other tasks I want to do. I can also complete unfinished business. At some point during my desk workdays, I take a lunch break. The earlier I begin my work, the earlier I am finished with it, which keeps my motivation high. If something keeps me from my seven hour workday, I can make up for it before or after my time with the grandbaby.
When I am done for the day, I shift to household tasks, take a walk, check out the stores or online sales and so on. When my husband finishes work, we usually take a walk to observe nature and process our days together. Then we prepare dinner.
After the dishes are done, I like to do the crossword puzzle and listen to the radio. Usually, we take in an episode in the series we are watching, sometimes I take a bath, and I always read a chapter before going to sleep.
I also think back on my day. A day that is more rhythmic than random, is a more satisfying one at the end of which, I usually sleep better.
Rhythms give everything there is to do a time and place, including relaxation when I am not working. My body falls into both modes with greater ease when they are a part of a balanced rhythmic day..
Having rhythms beats the niggling thought that I am getting behind, that I have things to do that I am not getting to, that I am waiting for an opportunity to present so I can do my work.
Rhythms provide that opportunity for both the work I love to do and have to do. In that time and space, amazing things can happen! I focus, get a lot done, and then let go of work and relax.
Besides rhythms of the day, there are rhythms of the week, the month and the year. For example, we cook a chicken on Sundays. The carcass goes in a pot to make soup for the week.
Seasons have their activities, too. Today, I am harvesting the last of the oregano in my herb garden to make a tincture (email jfrizlen@gmail.com if you want the simple recipe). Oregano is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.
Then I planted daffodil and crocus bulbs with my grandson. Planting bulbs in the autumn, reminds me that spring will come and when it does, the flowers will bloom and I will remember this warm autumn day.
Last Sunday, I brought some plants indoors and added yellow and orange accents to my home. Living in keeping with the day, the week and the season brings me in sync with the forces of nature.
Nature is not random. The sun rises and sets at a predictable time each day. Seasons come and go within a predictable range. Embracing rhythms, I find my focus, avoid distractions, and feel productive.
Knowing where I am headed gives me confidence. Bringing rhythms to children creates a sense of security, like a warm and fluffy comforter; it holds them.
In this way, my inner parent comforts my inner child, creating space to express my authentic Self.
Do you find comfort in rhythms?
