I’ve been finding it hard to get into gear with my writing lately and I have been walking the fine line between ‘distracting myself for a while and then returning to the project’ and straight-up procrastination.
Sometimes, I combine distraction, procrastination, and virtue by taking the dog for a walk. This is useful because it moves me, my brain, and Khalee all at once.
However, as always, there’s a sticking spot. Not a sticky spot – that would be a whole different issue.
In this case, it’s sunscreen.
I’m not going to argue about the need for sunscreen, I have had enough bad sunburns in my youth (when we would put on baby oil in hopes of tanning MORE) to know that I need it.
But, I hate sunscreen. Absolutely hate it.
It’s a finicky thing to apply. It’s hard to get off my hands. It makes a mess of my clothes and anything else I touch. And I know it mostly soaks in but there always seems to be some left on the surface for me to make a mess with. (and don’t even get me started on the fact that I am supposed to plan ahead and apply it 30 minutes before I go out – I just don’t have that sort of brain)
It’s worth it if I am going to spend a long time outside but it makes for an unpleasant workday if I just want to take a short walk and then return to my desk.
And yes, I could take a shower after my walk but I have usually already taken a shower by that point and I feel conscious about wasting the water. And, since I am the owner of a distraction-prone brain, I don’t necessarily want to add an extra task into my routine.
So, sometimes, I decide not to go for a walk because I can’t face the sunscreen at that point in the day.
TANGENT!
Today, as all of the above occurred to me, I veered into procrastination and looked up ‘easy ways to apply sunscreen’ and encountered this marvelous article full of hacks for sunscreen application.
I don’t really see myself applying sunscreen with a paint roller but I think it’s hilarious. I may, however, buy some makeup sponges for sunscreen application and see if it helps reduce any of the static for me.
One of the most interesting hacks, though, is the idea of practicing cow face pose* – gomukhasana – in order to put your sunscreen on more easily.
Now, I am all about anything that gets people motivated to move and to stretch and if easier sunscreen application does it for someone, I think that’s terrific. Yoga for Sunscreen Application isn’t a special video yet (I checked!) but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone developed one.
TANGENT!
Then, I got to thinking.
What other tasks do you do in your daily life that you could ‘train’ for by doing a specific exercise?
Yes, I know about functional fitness and how useful it is
And, of course, I have done physio rehab for specific injuries and tasks.
But I’m thinking of something way more specific and task-related – for minor annoyances in your day-to-day life.
For example, my ‘cupboard reach’ exercise from the Wakeout app might be making it easier for me to reach a little further into that top shelf of my cupboard. The logical thing to do might be to use a stepstool or to not store things that high but the idea of training for that reach is fun to me.
Perhaps another yoga pose could help you to reach behind you to put stuff in the pouch of the driver’s seat in your car?
Or a specific exercise could help you strengthen your hand to hold your hardcover book?
What do you think? What minor frustration could you deal with through a specific exercise?
Follow me on this tangent and add your suggestions in the comments.
Meanwhile, I’m off to take the dog for a walk – sunscreen and all.
*See it here: https://www.yogauonline.com/yogau-wellness-blog/yoga-pose-primer-how-get-cow-face-pose-gomukhasana
