Plants & flowers (Self-care month Day 26)

I’m feeling pretty happy with myself this morning. I’ve just sent an assignment for my degree which is always a huge relief so starting my Friday on a very happy, positive note!

Todays self-care task is about plants and flowers. I’m not really great at looking after plants or gardening. I forget about them, they die and then I feel guilty. But did you know that some plants are seriously easy to look after? and they still look lovely! I have a succulent on my desk. According to feng shui, the top left corner of your desk is the area representing abundance and prosperity and so is a great place for a plant. I haven’t actually ever watered it but apparently once every 6 months is enough. The only other house plant I have is my orchid that lives at the side of my bed. After panicking this morning when the flowers starting falling off, a quick look on pinterest tells me that that is normal and when they have all fallen off a quick prune should encourage it to re-flower. Cont…

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Most Important Tasks

In my Leonie Dawson workbook that I filled out at the beginning of this year there was a page called

12 Zen Habits (From Leo Babuta at Zen habits.net)

They are all pretty useful and zen and go as follows

1. Set your 3 MIT’s (most important tasks) each morning
2. Single task (focus your attention)
3. Zero inbox
4. Process emails once a day
5. Exercise 5-10 mins a day
6. Work while disconnected
7. Keep your desk decluttered
8. Clear & declutter home for 15 mins a day
9. Stick to a 5 sentence limit on emails (make your words powerful)
10. Say no to commitments & requests not on your important short list
11. Eat fresh fruit & veg everyday
12. Follow a morning routine

I think we can all pretty much agree that these ‘Zen Habits’ are worth thinking about as we go through our days. In fact I have them stuck on the wall in front of me right this very second look

My favourite one is number 1. I actually do use this one every day now. Having 3 MIT’s is great because it isn’t overwhelming. It its an endless to do list. It is just what actually matters to you the most on that day. Sometimes there is time for more. Some days I have achieved my MIT’s by 11am and I have the rest of the day to frolic..or whatever. I take 5 minutes every morning to figure out what the 3 tasks are for that day that i definitely need to do. If i think of 4 i have to choose which ones are the most necessary to my day.

Todays MIT’s for example are

• Write blog post
• Go to appointment
• Start assignment

Today is pretty standard actually. Often my 3 MIT’s have something to do with self-care (appointment-actually for hypnotherapy) something for my business (today-write blog post) and often something to do with studying because there is basically always something I really need to do for that.

Other days, I know immediately that My number 1 priority is self care. Sometimes my MIT is actually to find time for a quick nap, or a bath, or just to read alone for a while. On days when I’m not feeling that great I know that that needs to be taken care of first.

Some days it is to do something fun with my family, to visit my grandma, to clean something, to business plan, to organise something for charity, to find time for yoga or a walk or to write in my journal if I haven’t done that for a while, to create something if i haven’t done that for a while.

You get the picture. I need to sit down each morning and actually give myself a few minutes to think about what the day holds in store for me and how I can work out when to do my MIT’s.

Why don’t you try it? Could you list 3 MIT’s today?

Peace out,

Imogen x

P.S.

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Evening routine

Following on from my post yesterday about creating a weekly routine I want to talk about creating an evening routine. If you work in the day or look after your family then evenings are sacred time. They are your important time for relaxing and regenerating. If you’re tired (I certainly am) then it’s easy to want to spend your evening in front of the TV. I understand that and I do that sometimes too. That’s fine now and then but what I want to suggest is that you also use this time for personal growth, hobbies, socialising, exercise, creating and self care.

What I do first is make a list of 5 or more tasks that I feel I don’t have enough time for, or areas of my life that are getting neglected. My list looks like this

• Crafting/painting
• Self care
• Socialising
• Quality time for my relationship with my husband
• Exercise
• Time spent in nature
• Reading

Now I work out how to fit this things into my evenings. I choose one per day, it doesn’t have to be rigid, for example if the weather is good I will go for a walk and tick off some time spent in nature. Sometimes I can’t get out for a walk on my own if I am on my own with the kids and I’ll have to work that time into another part of my week. Here’s how a normal week night could work:

At 7:40pm both children are in bed and I have cleared up all the pots and toys from the day. If i can go out I would go straight out for swimming, or to a friends for a cup of tea, out for a meal with friends, or for a short walk down to the river. If I am at home I could get the paints out or make something from my Crafts To Do board on Pinterest. On a Thursday, as I have said before I like to make time to pamper myself a bit (see Pamper evening post). On Wednesdays I make time to watch a film. If Mr.H is around it gives us quality time together which is something we can top up at the weekend. Generally, any one of these activities normally lasts from half an hour to 2 hours, which then gives me time watch something on TV then to read a bit before I go to bed. I very rarely go to bed later than 10:30pm. I would stay up longer and do more if I could but I know that if I do stay up longer I will pay for it in tiredness the next day.

I think everyone knows how much sleep they need and how much they can fit in to an evening. You have to use your intuition to figure out whether you are trying to fit in too much or if you are too tired to do much one evening. My belief is that this time is precious and often overlooked as a time to be productive in your hobbies or socialising. Why not try it for a while and see if you can pull another few hours of activity out of your day? For any more help or advice on creating routines and fitting more into your life then email me at imogenjhope@gmail.com

Much love,

Imogen x

Weekends; A to-do free zone

My weekends can be pretty hectic. Or they can painfully quiet. There never really seems to be much of an in-between. My main rule for my weekends is that any routine and schedule that is kept during the week basically goes out of the window. Which makes enough freedom to be spontaneous. It is perfect for when you get an unexpected sunny spell to go to the park or the forest. Or for when you run into friends and decide to go for coffee. Obviously some plans have to be made and kept even at weekend. And somethings have to be done at some point, for me that is studying. But as I say its so nice to have no pressure, to be free and to enjoy your time.

If you need any ideas of fun things to fill your weekend with I recommend The Wonderful Weekend Book by Elspeth Thompson. It is full of fun, weekend joy. Now I’m going to spend my Friday doing as much studying as I can in order to have some free time this weekend. I hope you enjoy whatever it is you are doing with yours.

Imogen x