It’s here!! Flowers! Sun! Blue Skies! HALLELUJAH. Spring, I love you and I am happy.
BUT I’m also feeling unfocused and adrift. I find myself staring out my (super dirty, boy, so they need a spring cleaning) windows with longing. The chirping of birds, the bright sunny sky, the shedding of layers – it’s a siren song, calling for me to close my computer and get outside. Oh spring: you give me a spring in my step, and a strong impulse to spring away from my desk.
Can you relate?
Perhaps like the bounciness the name spring implies, I have noticed that my own focus becomes a bit untethered this time of year. I feel rebellious, throwing all my routines out the window, telling myself stories about how I earned this break (um, hello, I just got back from a vacation), and how the work, meal prep, exercise can all wait (ummmm, for what?).
Meanwhile, of course, my to do list piles up, my goals move further out of reach, and so does my resultant stress, anxiety, and guilt about it. So, if you’re feeling similar to me, like the siren song of spring is pulling you off your game, here are some tips to rein it in.
Let’s go back to basics:
- Get it out of your head! Make a list of all the things weighing on you to do. I like to do 2, one with all the work items and one with all the personal items.
- More lists! Brain dump all the things you’d rather be doing! Gardening? The exhibit that opening at a museum, sitting in a park? Write it all down, make a comprehensive menu.
- Plan! This is always the way. Once you’ve gotten the swirling items in your brain out. You can Map it out and block the time. When are you going to cook that food for the week, when will you make that doctor’s appointment that’s hanging over your head? When will sit down to write your blog?
Taming the brain and getting all the swirling thoughts out of your head so you can make a plan is the best way to ensure that you can have a bit of everything you want in your days and weeks. This is always essential, but particularly so when external forces –like the weather–pull on our attention and focus. And, it’s how we tame the “I deserve this” stories that only sabotage us and our goals, which in turn undermines our confidence and fuels the (negative) stories we tell ourselves.
Now once you’ve gotten grounded with these tips, get yourself out the door and enjoy the sunshine. That’s my plan!
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