MSN LIFESTYLE – 24 September 2020
Bry is gone this week. And we’re doing well, the kids and I. But, without him to talk to before bed, I find myself looking on the internet for ideas and thoughts that might serve me well. I came across this list on MSN last night right before bed. It really gave me some things to think about as I fell asleep last night. And, again, that is often Bry’s role. But I can meet that need myself if I need to. That’s fine.
This is a list of habits that may not be serving me well, and that I could really reconsider. And I want to do this – I’m all in. Where can I change?
- Too much screen time
- Screen time before bed
- Focusing too much on yourself
- Too much news
- Binge watching
- Multi-tasking
- Emotional spending
- Not getting enough sleep
- Social isolation
- Breaking promises to yourself or others
- Holding grudges
- Procrastinating
- Declining to learn new things
- Not hydrating enough
- Mindless eating
- Eating processed foods
- Mouth breathing
- Not flossing
- Not having enough sex
- Not getting 30 minutes of exercise a day
- Spending too much time indoors
- Bad posture
- Not writing things down
- Fixating on the past
And some of these things I have already cleaned up in my life: Flossing, exercising 30 minutes daily, writing things down, etc.
Some of these things I have been working on all year: Keeping promises to myself and others, hydration, and learning new things and trying to new things, for example.
And some of these things I can pretty easily drop, cold-turkey: Bad posture, for example, I just have to think about it and maybe set up my work-space a little better, considering my posture. Screen time before bed, also. I just hadn’t thought about it before. I can get everything I need to get done on my phone an hour before bed, then not touch my phone or my computer until the morning. I can do that easily. I just need to think about it, and maybe tell someone else, out loud, so they can remind me if I forget. And there are a handful of those habits that I could drop pretty easily. That is kind of the third group of habits that I a looking at.
And then some of these habits on the list will take a lot more thought and work and patience and maybe even experience and education before I can drop them, if I decide that that will serve me best. Focusing too much on myself, for example. This ONE YEAR goal has really been about myself and my relationship with myself. And the reason for that is because it is really the only thing I can control. Am I thinking too much about myself, though? Have I pushed that line too far? That was not my intent, and not at all the intent of those I am learning from. The idea is that if I have a good relationship with myself, I’ll be of better service to others as well. This is a habit that could use some more thought on my part, though, right?
Today is FRIDAY FITNESS AND HEALTH MATTER. And I want to spend my time and effort this weekend specifically on that group number three, the habits that I can drop cold-turkey, with a little thought and a little planning. Specifically, 1) screen time before bed, and 2) posture.
“However often you have to look at a screen during the day, avoiding them in the hour before bed can be key to getting a full night’s sleep. The blue light of backlit screens disrupts the body’s internal clock, which can delay sleep and reduce its quality and duration.”
What does stopping screen time before bed look like for me? It looks like an earlier dinner, time with family, check my schedule for the next day and send any emails that need to be sent an hour before bedtime. That last hour can be spent singing to the children, catching up with Bryant, and preparing myself for the night.
How about posture?
“The benefits of simply straightening up can include alleviating migraines and chronic back pain, promoting weight loss, reducing stress on joints, increasing oxygen intake, and boosting energy and confidence.”
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And I am just barely scratching the surface, here. But it won’t help me at all to sit here and read this list and become overwhelmed by all the habits I have not yet changed that I want to change. Let’s start with these two, then let’s look back at this list the next couple Fridays.
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