Hitting the Reset of Button
I haven’t felt the best recently. I haven’t been sick - I just constantly feel like I’m tired and recovering from overworking, overplaying or overindulging. And when I’m in recovery mode, I don’t feel like I’m fully present, and therefore not able to really to give it my all in my work life or in my personal life. So, this month I’m hitting the reset button. For the month of June I’m making the following commitments to myself to do a bit of a cleanse in my life, which I have no doubt will help me to both feel better and feel more present on a daily basis.
1. Start each day with intention
I’m the kind of person who wakes up, hops out of bed, walks 13 steps into the next room, plops down on the computer in the home office and begins working. It doesn’t matter if I wake up at 5:30am or 9am, the first thing I do is work. This month, I’m committing to starting each day with an act of mindfulness, whether practicing meditation, qi gong, yoga or going for a run.
2. Follow Michael Pollen’s food rules
Recently, I’ve been really interested in the food revolution and moving away from eating processed foods. Michael Pollen recently authored In Defense of Food, where he coined the motto “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”, and followed that by breaking down the rules for his diet in a book called Food Rules. I’ll be practicing his food rules, which include things like, “Avoid foods you see advertised on television”, “Avoid foods that contain high fructose corn syrup” and “Leave something on your plate”. These rules will most certainly help me feel better, and it won’t hurt to drop a bit of pudge this month too!
3. No alcohol
I’m hopping on the wagon for the month of June. It will be hard not to crack open a brewski on the back patio while the grill is heating up, but it will be great to step away from fermented beverages for a month. Alcohol is a depressant, a sleep irritant, and an instigator of bad judgement, all of which help keep one from being completely present the next day.
4. Sleep
While reading the book Rework by the 37 Signals guys, the most surprising vignette was where these successful individuals encouraged the reader to stop burning the midnight oil and to sleep more. They argued that the best workers were the ones who greeted problems with the freshest minds. I’ve missed a lot of sleep over the last couple years, especially during my time with Shizzow, and could certainly stand to catch up a bit. My goal is to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night in the month of June, and I have to tell ya, that just sounds delicious.
Those are my commitments for the month of June. Most of the people I’ve mentioned these changes to have asked me why caffeine isn’t part of my list, and while I considered it, I figured I’m already making enough changes that I don’t want to add any more. I need to feel sharp in my work, and can’t afford to suffer through a week of brain-no-worky. I’ll at least cut back on caffeine, and replace my standard wake up medicine of Viso with coffee or tea. If I gradually wean off of caffeine, maybe I’ll find I don’t need that morning cup of coffee? We’ll see!
