[elisanns]

Starting a bit late, but you've got to start somewhere. I find that a combination of work stress and my natural anxious nature have really been getting in the way, both in terms of fitness and nutrition, but also in a more general sense. It's definitely a negative spiral I want to pull myself out of.

 

My focuses for this period are:

• Meditate every day, even if it's only for five minutes in the morning.
• Learn to take a step back and/or journal when the anxiety sets in, instead of writing off the whole day as a failure.
• Take time for hobbies, away (or at least alongside) endless hours mindlessly browsing YouTube.

[elisanns]

Today's results-

 

Meditation: Got in 15 minutes of meditation time this morning before work. Definitely helped calm me down since today was pretty jam packed.

 

Journaling: Ended the day on a sour note, but did some journaling and listened to music instead of going to bed super early or stress eating, which is my normal response.

 

Hobbies: Brainstormed a bit more for a story I want to write, and then worked on knitting a hat while watching nature documentaries. For some reason I watch horror movies when I'm in a good place, and nature documentaries when I'm in a not-so-good place. Something about them is just so soothing. As for the hat, it's only the second one I've ever made, so I've already made some mistakes, but it does feel like I've accomplished something.

[elisanns]

Well, today was...a day. A very busy, horrible day.

 

Meditation: I did manage to meditate this morning before work. Got in about 15 minutes and even managed to get myself nice and calm before starting the day off.

 

Journaling: I think I'm going to do that right now before bed, because I definitely have some thoughts stewing that I need to get down.

 

Hobbies: Boyfriend came over, so not much happened in terms of hobbies, but I also didn't have a ton of mindless screen time either, so I guess that evens out. Made a ton of progress with the book I was reading last night though, so that kind of makes up for it.

[elisanns]

Another busy day, but was semi-successful in my pursuit of not letting anxiety take complete control of my life.

 

Meditation done and done. About 10 minutes this morning was all I could really do, but it definitely made things easier. Plus I find it helps me become more alert faster than if I just roll out of bed and start my day (or hit snooze a couple of times).

 

Journaling I had to do a bit in the middle of the work day just to really get everything out. It helped me be able to set some issues aside and press on with the day.

 

Hobbies made a new candle! This one will be blood orange scented. It's the first time I'm working with this oil, so I'm curious to see how this will turn out. Everything always smells super strong...until you light the finished product and then it smells like nothing.  

[elisanns]

Meditation 15 minutes done this morning.

 

Journaling I was far too  to do any real journaling beyond a couple of lines, but I also didn't get so overwhelmed by stress today, so overall it evened out.

 

Hobbies Unfortunately missed this. I had to work until around 8:30 pm and was just too wiped to do much of anything. 

[elisanns]

Yesterday:

 

Meditation: 10 minutes

 

Journaling: No chance to do that as I had to work all day

 

Hobbies: See above. Boyfriend came over afterwards and we watched movies together, so that was a nice way to end a long day.

 

 

Today:

 

Meditation: I will do this before bed. I slept in, which I really needed.

 

Journaling: Nothing yet? But the night is still young.

 

Hobbies: Boyfriend left around 4:30, so I will be busting out the knitting after I clean up to continue working on my hat.

[elisanns]

Meditation: Managed about ten minutes this morning. I went to bed insanely early the night before, so I was ready to get up and do stuff by the time 7 AM rolled around.

 

Journaling: Did some of that first thing, just to get all my thoughts on paper. Saturday was very "go go go" followed by time with my boyfriend, which is nice, but it didn't give me time to truly process how busy and tired I was. No wonder I completely crashed at 8:30 on Sunday night...there was a lot happening.

 

Hobbies: I started writing the story I was planning out, and even got some meal prep in. I always find preparing actual meals pretty daunting. I'm not so great in the kitchen, but I also want to get in the habit of saving money and making food at home instead of relying on take out all the time. Plus, it is much easier to eat healthier and actually feel full...most of the take out "healthy" options leave me wanting to eat more half an hour later.

[elisanns]

Meditation: managed a couple of minutes this morning, but then had to move on to...

 

Journaling: I was weirdly anxious about starting my day, so when I couldn't focus I opted to write out some thoughts instead. 

 

Hobbies: Not a hobby exactly, but I tried a new recipe tonight. I probably won't make it again because it took longer than I'd like, but at the end of the day I'm glad I tried something new out. I wrote a little bit in that story I'm working on, but admittedly I would have done more had the recipe taken up less time. I also watched Shang-Chi, which I'd been meaning to see so I'm glad to cross that off the list.

[elisanns]

Meditation: got in around 10 minutes this morning. I definitely fell back asleep  guess I should make sure I fully wake up first before I go into meditating.

 

Journaling: was feeling pretty low after work, so I wrote down some of my concerns. Admittedly not all of them, but it was still nice to get some of it down.

 

Hobbies: I worked a bit on my story before getting to the journaling part. Maybe didn't get done as much as I'd hoped, but some is still better than nothing.

[elisanns]

Meditation this was a challenge this morning. There was lots of truck action outside and I definitely didn't give it the focus I could have.

 

Journaling was a big help today, particularly went I had a bit of a panic attack later in the afternoon that I felt the need to get over.

 

Hobbies: I did some more research into candle creation and may have found a course to take that was reasonably priced. I'm definitely trying to get better at this before I start making them for people to test out and report back.

[elisanns]

For yesterday:

 

Meditation: I got in a little bit before work, which was a nice way to collect myself since I got off early that day.

Journaling: I did get some of this in during the day because I was feeling a bit anxious.

Hobbies: Does cleaning count as a hobby? I got a lot of that done, which definitely helped my mental state. I did start a book I bought a few months ago but never actually opened.

 

Today:

 

Meditation: Got some in this morning. Wasn't at home, so I couldn't keep track of how long I meditated for.

Journaling: Today was a good day, and my mood didn't really make me feel like I needed to. 

Hobbies: Continued working on the hat I'm knitting.

[elisanns]

Meditation Did a bit this morning because I woke up absurdly early for a Sunday

Journaling Got in a bit after watching a sad movie. Wanted to get my thoughts out.

Hobbies Continued knitting and actually drew something for the first time in a while.

[elisanns]

Meditation done this morning. Actually woke up weirdly early for once, so I felt like I had some time.

 

Journaling Did this in the middle of the day when things were getting stressful at work

 

Hobbies Wrote a little bit of my new story and continued knitting.

[elisanns]

Meditation: Done this morning

Journaling: Done during my lunch break

Hobbies: Got a lot of reading done, which was very nice. Also took a bubble bath, which isn't a hobby really, but incredibly relaxing which is almost the same thing.

[elisanns]

Meditation Did that this morning and it went well for the first time in the last few days.

Journaling Did a bit this morning. I also may do a bit more tonight.

Hobbies I don't have the energy to write tonight, but I have continued to work on knitting my scarf, so I at least feel like I've accomplished something.

[elisanns]

Meditation Done this morning

Journaling didn't feel the need to do that today. So many people took today off work that not much happened to impact my stress levels.

Hobbies Boyfriends came over, we watched a few more episodes of Arcane. Did yoga after he left. All in all, a good night.

[elisanns]

Meditation: done this morning, went pretty well though I did fall asleep immediately afterwards

Journaling: About to do that now

Hobbies: Made another candle. Did some knitting. Watched the first episode of Yellowjackets.