As you may know, I have become more than a little obsessed with routines and writing down the things I intend to do during the day in order to make sure I am staying active mentally as well as physically. This has also meant that I have started to challenge myself to make sure that I complete all the items on my list. Today has shown me that this can be quite exhausting.
My list for the day contained 22 things I had set myself to do, including exercise and stretches, writing for an hour on my novel, reading, practising the guitar, researching healthy eating and lifestyles in Men's Health magazine and going for a walk with the dog, to name but a few.
Because there were so many, it is very easy to miss one or let one slip and do another activity for longer. So today I challenged myself to do everything on the list and, if I could: and I managed to do everything and more. I also did housework, which wasn't on the list; I managed to take some time to play games on my phone (naughty, I know) which wasn't on my list; I also replied to some emails, which also was not on my list. Finally, I also had a very large argument with some friends on Facebook about why I wouldn't be clapping for Boris Johnson.
So now my list seems to have become a challenge, and I quite like the idea of that. It almost makes me want to add a few more items on to the list to see how far I can push this, but then I start to wonder whether this is simply taking things too far. Therefore I have decided to stick to making my normal routine list, challenging myself to get through everything on it and, if I can get a few more things in as well, then so much the better.
I will try to write a blog that mentions my routine and lists less tomorrow as that is all I seem to be writing about at the moment, a bit like being stuck in your house with a broken record. Instead, I think I will write about the things I am doing to keep mentally and physically active and give some reviews of the YouTube fitness videos I have watched. I may also talk about how writing can help you mentally, as it has with me, to cope with the rigours of doing nothing - which is much more mentally exhausting than anyone gives it credit for (doing nothing as in staying indoors).
So now I am off to bed to do some more reading and to make my list for tomorrow. At the moment, I am reading a book called The Volunteer, about a Polish resistance fighter who volunteered to go to Auschwitz to collect evidence of Nazi atrocities. Having survived that death camp and the forced marches and to eventual liberation, he was ironically executed by Russian authorities who had liberated him as an 'enemy of the state' in the purge of resistance fighters after the war. I know it's quite morbid, but it is still fascinating to learn about such an amazing individual, who had to cope with a lot more than we are having to. The next book on my list is a little less intense.
Therefore, until tomorrow - stay safe and stay strong.
Thanks for reading.
Sean.
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