Getting back into routine after time away

The introvert hangover that I'm experiencing right now is probably the worst I've had in quite a while. If you've called or texted me and I haven't answered, it's not you, it really is me.

Last Monday, I started the week with a 4 a.m. Amtrak ride to Chicago, spent the day in meetings and then took the 4 p.m. Amtrak home. Tuesday and Wednesday were busy with conference calls, meetings and volleyball games. Wednesday evening, I flew to Florida to finish out the week with one of our main events on Friday night. Then, a 6 a.m. flight home on Saturday. I just now feel like I'm starting to recover. But I'm still not feeling very peopley.

There is nothing that makes me feel more out of control, though, than being out of my routine. The Type A in me has felt like this is a struggle bus ride that will never end. I've neglected my workouts, eaten all the things and had more alcoholic beverages than I care to admit. I haven't worked on my business or done any of the things that usually bring me a lot of joy. And I can tell I've been a Negative Nelly - time away from God and personal development has a way of stirring some bad things in my heart and shifting my focus to the wrong places.

And to be completely honest, I have to do that 4 a.m. Amtrak thing again this Thursday, so I considered staying in this out-of-control pattern until Friday, but that would mean losing 2 more days of productivity and quite frankly, happiness, and that's just not cool. I don't like feeling like a crappy human and really dislike this anxiety I've been fighting.

Obviously the first thing to do when you find yourself in this place is to make the decision to get out of it. Once I've done that, the rest usually starts to fall into place because I go to work on the plan. But it's not always easy and it usually takes me a week or so to feel like I'm really back.

So today, I set my alarm and took a shower when I got up. I know that sounds like common sense, but I work from home full time and there are definitely days where I roll out of bed and go straight into my office for 8 hours. But when I shower and get ready for the day like a normal human, it sets a tone for the day. I also put my shoes on because there is something about having shoes on that makes me feel productive. Oh and I almost forgot, while I'm in the shower, I listen to a personal development podcast. When I'm in this weird funk, I find that listening to someone talk about ways to be better in any aspect of life (personal or professional) helps so much. If you're looking for some suggestions, let me know! I'm happy to recommend my favorites... in fact, I may just need to do another blog post about that.

The next thing I did was pull out my planner and write down everything I need to do for the week. This includes my workouts, social media posts, email marketing prep, Facebook live - the things that you wouldn't normally think about writing down are usually the things you need to plan. How often do you schedule your workouts? I'm telling you from experience, if you don't make a date for those and hold yourself to it, you'll find yourself doing exactly what I did last week - skipping. It's also helpful to get everything down on paper because I find myself committing to things through my personal email or text message and if I don't transfer those to my planner, they get overlooked. (Now that I've written everything down, I realize that I said yes to way too many things last week - another fault of mine.)

I'm not really a to-do list person but when I'm trying to get back into a routine, I make a work list and a personal list. It helps to just brain dump everything that I've been thinking about. Crossing things off of a list also helps me feel like I'm getting back on track.

I also made a menu for the week for meals and had Instacart take care of my Aldi's shopping. Meal prep is so much more fun when you don't have to go to the grocery store! My goal is to cook dinner at home at least 4 nights this week but also to eat as clean as possible.

This evening, I'm teaching a class at the gym but have blocked another 30 minutes after that to do some stretching or may walk or go for a short run. I also plan to spend some time with my devotional and Bible and catch up on my business work list. I've also set an alarm for myself to get to bed early. When I go to bed tonight, I want the satisfaction of knowing I put in some good work today.

If you're a creature of habit like I am, do yourself a favor and plan out your day/week/month. Scheduling feels good to me - not having a plan leaves me feeling vulnerable and I tend to make poor choices. Even my downtime tends to be structured or scheduled, which may seem silly to some, but it helps keep me on track and feeling in control of my life.

I got an email today with this in it and it hit me - I thought it might be something you need to see, too.

"So today, I just want to tell that you're a strong woman and you can get through anything. I also want to remind you to not let your struggles define you, but simply motivate you to be the best you can be."

Thanks, Jamie Scrimgeour, for the reminder.

Happy Tuesday, friends.

xo,

jg