Wedding-based writers block

I've been punting on blogging in order to get things done for wedding planning. That is, after all, a time-sensitive item!

I feel very fortunate that Adam and I are both list makers and were finally able to sit down and take our gigantic list of to-do's, assign an owner, express preferences about what was feeling most urgent, and get going. After a few weeks of trying to work by committee while hardly seeing each other, it's been a great boost to be checking things off the list left and right.

But still, getting things done at work during the work day, and getting wedding stuff done on weekends/evenings (plus an excellent round of house-cleaning), means there's less to blog about.

And so you get this. In the spirit of Paul and Jyllian, I'm just going to write. So there.

At some point I may write about performance reviews (is there some trick to making it faster to document? Even very positive ones are quite a time investment). And I have most of a blog post about motivating oneself in fitness when you're not competitive, but that needs some serious editing. But that, too, is for another day.

A cure for a rough day (or: how productivity and workouts are related)

It was a long day, and not easy. I've been riding the edge of feeling vaguely overwhelmed for a few weeks, and today seemed to top out for a few minutes. In reality, it's not because anything is amiss or anyone has done anything wrong, it's because I'm trying to keep track of a lot of things and haven't been doing as good of a job as I know I can. As a result, anytime a new thing comes up, I'm dropping something else. And not always on purpose, as it should be.

First I'll say that the Getting Things Done process is an inspiration and I'm a big list-maker, so I know the first thing I need to do in order to get things back in order is make a list. Yay! I love making lists! I just wish there was a little extra time in the day to make the starting list. :) And if you have other tips and tricks for keeping organized, I'll take them!

But actually the reason I started this post was to talk about the resulting edgy feeling from the situation. It's annoying, like an itch that you can't quite reach. Except that it can be reached... with a workout. Be it a good cardio sweat, or a hefty weight-lifting session, a great workout is like a great meditation: clearing the mind, releasing the worries, and helping refocus energy. And even a mediocre workout is better than sitting on the couch. Extra bonus that it helps bring about a good night's sleep, and in the long run, helps all my clothes fit better!

Someday I'll have to talk about my workout journey. I was in no way athletic, into sports, or even very active as a kid, so it's been a long shift to being a somewhat fit person who enjoys workouts. But now exercise is something I greatly value. So, later: a list. Now: the gym!

Productivity through illness

I was sick yesterday. My head was pounding mightily and in such a way that I was thinking trepanning sounded like a brilliant idea. Since it was Saturday, I was able to take advantage of no plans and really chill out. That was great because I am feeling better today. Yay!

But it left me thinking about the fact that sometimes, when I am at the tail end of a cold, or feeling just slightly under the weather, I actually get really productive at work and am able to get through a huge chunk of my to-do list. This is just the things I need to do, not including meetings, which are much more difficult when my brain is foggy. Anyway, I've thought about this in the last few years and decided that it's because I'm too tired to get distracted and go into ADD mode, thinking of every little thing that needs to get done. When I'm not feeling that great, but not feeling that awful, I just look at my list of things that need to get done and start working through them.

It seems the barrier to more productivity when I'm feeling well is that I want to get EVEN MORE done. Which is really rather silly. Perhaps I need to bring a mind-stilling meditation to some of my to-do-list-handling at work (and at home, for that matter), and not get distracted by the other ideas that pop up.