My Realistic Expectations for February

February was a good month… Other than “failing” at my original focus and monthly challenge.  But, I also did a bit of soul searching and adjusting of my expectations of myself.

I used to read this blog called “A Slob Comes Clean” and one thing that she always expressed was that when things started getting crazy around the house, she would return to the basics (or survival mode, as she puts it), the one thing that was the key to keeping things from tumbling down in to the depth of clutter and mess for her was to run her dishwasher every night.  And that idea stuck with me since then.

Partway through February, when I missed a few blog posts and was feeling overwhelmed, I decided I should enact my own type of survival mode.  I decided to not attempt to create any new habits or take on any new projects, but just try my best to keep up with the ones that I was already struggling with, or even let go of some of them until I felt better in control.

So, what did my survival mode look like?  What did I do?

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I’m Away Again… So, What’s the Plan?

Remember last month when I discussed how when I go away for work, everything else just drops off the face of the planet?  Yeah… So, I’m away for work again, and that plan to have a plan in place before I went so I would be productive… Yeah, well that didn’t happen… But I’m writing this on Monday night, my first night away, so I’m going to put together a plan for this week right now… Let’s go over the five challenges that I discussed.

1. Exercise

The first issue that I was having was that I didn’t get any exercise while I am away… So I put together a mini fitness challenge for this week… Since it is already the end of Day 1, I left that as a complete rest day… And I know that on my travel day home (Day 7) I won’t be doing much of anything, so I left that as a complete rest day as well… Anyway, here it is:

2. Eating

This work trip is a little different than the last in that I’m staying at a work camp, not at hotels (meaning this site is more remote)… So, I get most of my food served to me from the camp kitchen, and I pack my lunch from the lunch fridge… It’ll be a bit of a challenge to stay away from the yummies, but I’ll try my best…  I did buy myself a selection of healthy snacks so that I wouldn’t be as tempted, but remember when I said I shouldn’t have a second plate at dinner… I didn’t re-read that until after dinner tonight… So, I had a second plate at dinner.  However, that second plate consisted of a green salad, so really that’s like a win, right?  Especially because I didn’t have any sweets after dinner.  In any case, with my challenge to keep a food journal going, I should be motivated to not eat the wrong stuff because I’ll have to write it down… Wish me luck!

Personal Challenge: How do I Keep Productivity Up While Away for Work…

So, did you notice me drop off the face of the planet there for about two weeks?  Yeah, I went away for work… And it seems that when I do that, everything else just stops happening… I don’t exercise, I don’t keep up with my writing, and I definitely don’t keep up on many of my goals… I haven’t even been reading many blogs, and definitely haven’t been commenting on them…

Work Travel Sucks the Life Out of Me…  

To be fair, we do work quite long days, but I should be able to at least get myself to do an easy 20-30 minutes of yoga or something…And I don’t eat well either… after a long day I am always really hungry… and then we eat at restaurants and I almost always order junk and over eat.  And after a long day, a nice big glass of wine or a cold refreshing cider always makes me feel good… so, I eat and I drink more than I should… and without the regular exercise that I normally get when I am at home, it doesn’t add up to feeling very good…

I have this grand idea that I will exercise, eat well and all the rest… but this last trip the only thing I was pretty good about is drinking enough water/tea to fill up my 8 daily boxes in my bullet journal.  I just get tired and lose all motivation… So I think I need some help.  And maybe an action plan.

I did have some luck last fall with exercise while I was away when I gave myself a fitness challenge.  Not resounding success, but some success…  So perhaps I need to get myself on a new challenge…