#lockdow

In It Toguether (2021)

Dir. Sophie Russell

imagine being lockdown with this guy... JUST IMAGINE...

This week I have been getting through Atomic Habits by James Clear. I know I’m probably the last person on earth to get amongst this motivation turned psychological guide to building habits, but after putting it off for what feels like two years, I finally decided to see what all the hype was about. 

After starting my own 100 day challenge last year, I discovered so many useful tips among the pages, along with comforting realisations that everyone experiences similar failures and road blocks on the way to their versions of productivity. 

Upon finishing the book, I found myself feeling almost overwhelmingly relieved and at the point where I psychologically was able to give myself a break for not kicking huge goals (or any goals) over the last two years. The book outlines how our genealogical makeup can influence our ability to build habits, and basically every other behaviour we have for our entire lives. This little nugget of information alone has changed my entire thought process in terms of structuring any plan that I make for the future. 

That, alongside the constant discussions related to the pandemic, lockdown fatigue and burnout that have been ongoing over the last year or so, have given me space to really investigate my own mental health, and the causes of the occasional breakdowns or periods of unease that I often have. 

So, how does any of this relate to my 100 day challenge? Well, to be quite honest, I’ve been struggling to build the habits and follow the rules I have set for myself over the 100 days. While I might get through a few steps daily, I have been really struggling mentally, and sticking to my daily ‘to-do lists’ is something I have been finding difficult to do. While I haven’t been beating myself up for so far failing to follow my simple and easily achievable rules, I have also been looking for reasons why I haven’t been able to implement them, when previously, I have been a serial list follower and over achiever on my daily tasks. 

I definitely feel as though I, alongside my colleagues and other essential service workers, have been experiencing lockdown fatigue, burnout and now the overwhelming stress surrounding reopening back to normal, and all the potential outcomes that may have for us. I can say without a doubt, that I have been experiencing serious episodes of anxiety, and has recently been manifesting via procrastination of tasks, which takes away my feelings of productivity and achievement. 

However, as much as I enjoy productivity, and admit that the overwhelming impacts of the extended lockdowns experienced by Melbournian’s have been negative, one thing that I have found is that I am increasingly questioning why we (as humans) are so obsessed with productivity? Without deep diving into the psychology of capitalism and consumerism, I can’t help but notice that trends like toxic positivity, incessant productivity and ‘small business motivators’, constantly reinforce the ideals that to be worthwhile as a person, we have to be happy and always achieving some type of perfection. 

For this reason, I really enjoyed Atomic Habits. While I know that for my mental health, constantly being in pursuit of perfection and productivity is detrimental to actual progress, Clear outlines ways that tiny moments of progress every day is more conducive to great leaps of progression than a single big action or event may be. Similar to the joke “how do you eat an elephant?”, to which the answer is “one mouthful at the time”; Clear demonstrates that conquering and perfecting smaller, simpler steps day by day and repeating those actions, is what creates a habit and slowly leads to the success of a goal. 

Throughout the book I noticed a number of processes that Clear described that I already had implemented into my life. I won’t bore you by going through every single one, but one thing I do constantly, is live in a state of review. I have four questions of review: 

1. Am I sleeping enough?  2. Am I eating well and drinking enough water? 3. Am I exercising effectively and regularly?  4. Is my immediate environment clean and a healthy place for me to exist in? 

I always find that if one of these four areas is slightly out of balance, I am acutely aware, and can then start to work back towards a state of relative equilibrium. 

With all this being said, I still stand firmly in the belief that constant productivity does not always coincide with success or progress. From my experience, I like to combine the productive patterns and habits with the strength of my intuition. Listening to yourself, your body, and mind, is key in all areas of life, especially health. Combining these two structures is the best way to reach a happy medium across the board. 

The best part of life, is realising and understanding that we are all still learning. I believe the most important part of the review process is understanding that sometimes, a process that has previously worked and succeeded for you, may no longer be working. Accepting the need for change or restructure is therefore the best way forward. Not being too hard on yourself for these realisations is part of that process. 

My favourite quote from Atomic Habits was actually sampled from Tao Te Ching relating directly to identity, but I think it definitely applies to our lives as a whole. The quote reads: 

Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard.  Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry.  Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death.  Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life.  The hard and the stiff will be broken.  The soft and the supple will prevail. - Lao Tzu. 

So to end this incredibly long tangent-esque post, I will say this - be easy with yourself. Treat yourself kindly, talk to yourself nicely, shower or bath mindfully, do things and create practices around things that make you feel good and healthy. You will become kinder to yourself, and in turn to those around you. 

I am contractually obligating myself to you, dear reader, whoever is reading this and come this far, to challenge myself to do three things each week. 

This week, I am challenging myself to: 1. Take myself on a breakfast date; 2. Journal and meditate once a day for at least five minute; 3. Read the news for 10 minutes each morning. 

Thank you all for reading, and I’ll catch up with you all in my next post!  G xx

Content Consumption: 

What I’ve been reading:  Atomic Habits - James Clear The Girl From Munich - Tania Blanchard The Power of Intuition - Angela Martin

What I’ve been watching:  Miss Fischer’s Murder Mysteries You  Midnight Mass

*sees about 10 buildings, cars blowing horns, a dead tree, a flying polythene bag, dust everywhere, the only green thing in sight being the dress of a clown on a poster*

The OPEC meeting with non-members — dubbed OPEC Plus — has decided to meet monthly to review the production cuts of just over 7 million barrels per day imposed to restrain the decline in oil prices due to the pandemic recession, which has cut the demand for fuel. On top of that, Saudi Arabia has been keeping 1 million barrels a day off the market as part of voluntary cuts on its own.