Why being proactive is better for your peace of mind…

Aka, how I embraced and altered my disorganization…

(A series — part 1) — Part 2 coming soon.

(though, full disclosure, I am continuing to do so)

One of the major issues I’ve had in the last year is being completely disorganized. I’ve never been the best person with deadlines, but this year has been especially stressful. I was getting up in the morning, looking at the never-ending to do, and going to bed feeling like I hadn’t accomplished anything. I found out, after talking to another friend that being ‘reactive’ and trying to catch up constantly puts you in a state of mind where you don’t acknowledge what you’re achieving, because, quite honestly, you’re thinking about what’s ahead, not what you’ve done. I know that’s how I feel at least. And as heartbreaking as it is, I think that many of us have slipped a little in the last few years, and many of us are heading towards a burnout or a dissatisfaction we can — and should — avoid. So, I started working through it all, and I thought I’d share :)

Because, I’m not alone…

Since 2020, and the pandemic, and lockdowns started, we’re all feeling a little bit burned out. In short, though we’re all trying to stay afloat, we’re all engaged, there isn’t the same feeling of accomplishment, and I think that part of that is to do with the idea that we’re being reactive, not proactive. And why wouldn’t we? It’s hard to be proactive in the face of uncertainty.
I know that when I eventually caught CV19, three vaccines and two years into the pandemic itself, it made things even worse for me. But that week of high temperatures, exhaustion and miserable moping, one of the things I started to look at was whether I could change things. And I didn’t come up with a solution there and then, but in the months since, I’ve changed a few things.

I’ll talk more about them in part 2, but in short, I’ve moved to Todoist (affiliate link) and moved my household chores to a program called Tody (I’m guessing a cross between today and tidy), I’ve limited my calendar appointment spaces properly (so, though I’m self employed, I keep set hours now instead of doing it based on “my energy”, which usually meant 16 hours a day, six days a week, whether I was acknowledging my actual energy or not) and most importantly of all, my self-care is front and center, rather than snatched and taken during other prep work.

In Part 2, I’ll discuss how all this comes together, but if you have any questions, let me know.

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