start again today no. 27: habit loops, burnout π©π½βπ, good news, notes π
Hey ππ½,
I woke up this morning with Monday thoughts. Luckily, I was rescued from myself minutes later by the sound of padding feet in the hallway.
A sliver of daylight beamed into our cave. 5yoβs big eyes squinted as he scooted for the bed.
I dreamed I was Spiderman.
he announced.
Snuggle me!
Future thoughts about work have been a welcome distraction from an unfamiliar and unstable present. They fill the space left by life before now; 6am workouts, 8am school dropoffs, 12P errand runsβ¦
They also prevent you from ever really being βhereβ so this week, I set out to layer myself-not-at-work back into my routine.
How do you retrain work brain? By letting go of an old habit loop:
β°Cue: wakeup
πCraving: get on hamster wheel/be productive
πΊResponse: swim for phone/laptop and commence productivity
πReward: feel productive and stressed AF
And building a new one (from no. 22): new one:
β°Cue: wakeup
πCraving: be present
π§ Response: still the mind then spend 30m reading
π‘Reward: start the day calm and fully charged
This morning, it worked. Snuggles commenced and continued until he broke free.
MOM. I canβt breathe! And I need to go watch Garfield!
Fearful, we spend more of our minds living in the past or future as this present stretches out indefinitely. Hopeful, we allow our minds to experience whatever is happening now by building new habits (or getting help from Spiderman), and let that be enough.
Here are a few things I enjoyed this week:
π§ burnout and the brain Association for Psychological Science, 14m
A recurring theme in conversations this week has been guilt over feeling blessed but stressed from people who still have their health and their jobs. Iβm not sure if Iβve seen an actual increase in articles on covid related burnout over the last couple of weeks or am actively seeking them out more, but appreciated this piece filled with studies and stats about the neurological impact of burnout and how to mitigate it. More on this:
to avoid burnout, work less and avoid productivity propoganda Bloomberg | Quint
β€οΈsome good news Youtube, 18m
John Krasinski wins quarantine
If you are an Office fan and/or need a pick me up and/or havenβt seen this yet, enjoy all the feels of this Office wedding reunion (starting at 7:18).
things I learned getting punched in the face Human Parts, 13m
πΆπ½ββοΈstop forgetting what you learned My Student Voices, 9m
Instead of taking notes or rephrasing the authorβs words into your own words, ask yourself questions that will help you practice recalling information.
I miss you, I love you, g2g 5yo is playing Uptown Funk for the 33rd time this weekend,
H
P.S. Come workout and raise money for a good cause during Monday night HIIT + Stretch classes.
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