Category: planning

a small quilted cloth with two pumpkins on it with other Halloween images around the edges Christine Reports A Clear Increase In October Fun
fitness · fun · planning · play · self care

Christine Reports A Clear Increase In October Fun

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

I tried to make the title of this post sound as un-fun as possible so… how did I do?

As I write this, I am more than halfway through the month and even though I have been ridiculously busy* I am happy to report that I am having more a lot fun than I usually do in October.

And that’s definitely due to the fact that in my post two weeks ago I took the time to write a list of seasonal things I wanted to do that would maximize my fun this month. Creating that that post gave me a good container for my thoughts about the kind of fun I want to have in October AND it guided me to make plans early enough to make things happen.

Here’s an update on each item from my list of 13 in the initial post:

  1. I have already planned a ghost story writing workshop and a spooky storytelling event later this month.

I taught the ghost story writing workshop on Sunday and we all had a great time.

The spooky storytelling event will be on October 28 and you can join us online if you wish – let me know if you want the registration link.

Plus, I added an idea-generating writing workshop and an oracle card making workshop to the list of things I am offering this month. I love teaching workshops so that’s extra fun for me.

  1. I’ve planned a couple of artsy-craftsy Halloween events with my community arts organization so I’ll get to be creative and hang out with lots of other people who love this season.

The other bonus is that I will have extra places to wear my costume and I will get to make some cool decorations for my house.

And in addition to those events, I also bought tickets to see Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors – a dear friend of mine is in it so it’s going to be extra fun for me.

I also bought a ticket for an online lecture called ‘Seasons of the Witch’ which promises to be very interesting.

Sidenote: I also bought a book called Season of the Witch: A Psychiatrist’s Case for Magic by Ellen Vora, MD and I am finding that very intriguing, too. I’m not really that far into the book so I can’t address the strength of her arguments or anything but I’m very interested in the ideas she’s working with. I’m also reading Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House and I can endorse the argument he is making so far – dolls and puppets can indeed be very creepy. (Since I can’t include tone in a blog post and I want to be clear: I’m making a bit of a joke about the second book. I just found it funny to pretend that he’s trying, in a horror novel, to convince us that dolls and puppets can be creepy.)

  1. I have already assembled my Halloween-themed collage/junk journaling supplies so they’ll be handy all month.

I’ve spent a couple of evenings moving bits of paper around but I haven’t actually finished my collage yet so I’ll share it later.

Meanwhile, I would not have gotten around to this at all yet if it hadn’t been for this so  I would have missed out on that relaxing creative time.

Lists = More Fun. Imagine that!

  1. I’m making two zines – Advice from Monsters and (Some) Ghosts are Helpful – which will let me combine drawing and writing and some silly spookiness.

I’ve made a list of monster advice and a list of ways that (some) ghosts can be helpful and I have experimented with a slightly different way to fold a zine.

I’ve also drawn some practice ghosts and some practice monster eyes, monster horns and monster teeth.

The actual zine part isn’t complete yet.

  1. I’m on track to finish the ghost story that I’m writing (it’s about a haunted mirror that someone picked up on the side of the road.)

This one has moved slowly because of the aforementioned busyness but I have a fair bit of writing time this week so things will pick up.

  1. I’m slowly putting up Halloween decorations all month.


This is ongoing and as I mentioned above, I am also making some new ones!

  1. I’m making a bit more time for my favourite spooky podcasts/YouTube channels – including taking slightly longer walks and doing slightly longer workouts so I can finish an episode.

So far so good with this one and I am also using Halloween-themed background music and ambience channels** to add to my fun while working or creating cool stuff.

  1. I’m using my Seasons of the Witch Samhain Oracle for journaling prompts.

This has been SO INTERESTING.

I have used this oracle deck before but those times I was mostly just thinking about things in the moment. Drawing a card and reflecting on any possible personal meanings has been really cool. My mind likes it a lot.

  1. I’m doing some practices from Yoga for Witches by Sarah Robinson – I know that title sounds like it could be flippant but I am finding it to be respectful to Yoga and to pagan practices.

I haven’t done many of these yet but, like my writing, this is a good week for it.

  1. I’ve got big plans for making soups and breads and cookies.

I’ve made two batches of chocolate chip cookies and two pots of soup and they have all been delicious.

  1. My Halloween costume is already in the works.

It is still in the works!

  1. I’ve added Halloween music to my playlists.

Last week, my oldest kid (24) and I had a great time rating the relative seasonal appropriateness of a bunch of Halloween songs while I was driving him to work.

Yes, we did find that a lot of fun.

Note: Monster Mash is fun and seasonally appropriate but Flying Purple People Eater is not particularly Halloweenish.  Also, do the words flying and purple apply to the eater or the people it eats?

  1. I’ve already started wearing all of my Halloween themed clothing.

I have indeed! And I just dug out more from storage.

I’m wearing a ‘Haunted Harvest Festival’ tshirt right now and several people have been disappointed to learn that it’s just a shirt, not an actual event.

What do you think a Haunted Harvest Festival would entail?

Is the Festival haunted or is it the Harvest that has gotten all spooky?

(Yes, I do take any opportunity to follow my curiosity)

____________

So, with another week and a bit until Halloween, I have to conclude that advance planning, making lists, and deciding to have more fun (without pressure to fully do every part of every plan) does indeed result in a clear increase in October Fun.

And, as suspected, increasing my fun levels has been great for my mental health and my overall wellbeing.

How is your October going?

*I really need to have a serious look at how I organize my schedule but that’s a whole different post!

**In my last post I shared some podcasts and YouTube channels that focus on spooky stories so this time I’ll share a few links for spooky season ambience.

A video called “Cute Lo-Fi for Ghosts” and the still image shows a cartoonish drawing of a sheet ghost in a graveyard at night with tree trunks in the background. The majority of the image is blue/black but the ghost is white and there are white scribble accents here and there. White text at the top of the image says “Halloween Lo-Fi No AI”
A video called “October Magic Ambience” from the Dead of Night channel. The still image shows a digitally animated corner of a room with stars and moons on the wall, and a stack of books with a teacup on top, an antique dresser decorated with stars and moons, a carved Jack O’Lantern, a blanket with ghosts and witches on it, a sleeping cat, and a bunch of Halloween knick-knacks and on the right side of the image is a window that is slightly open that is decorated with a string of mushrooms.
This ambience video is called Vintage Halloween Art and is by Art for Your TV by 88 Prints. This channel would be to put on a screen as a ‘decoration’ in your room and the images change every so often. The first image is a sepia-toned drawing of a witch and her cat flying on a broomstick over a village at night. There’s a church and houses with their windows lit up and there are a bunch of trees at the bottom of the image. The full moon is in the sky but it is not casting much light.
This music/ambience video is called (No AI) The Toy Shop. Text at the bottom of the image reads “The Toy Shop: Hand-painted Art. Original Music. Ambience.” The image is of shelves in a toy shop with all kinds of wooden toys, dolls, and puppets on them and in front of the shelves are a series of marionettes hanging from the ceiling with their feet near the floor.
A playlist called “something wicked this way comes; a playlist for writing spooky stories by candlelight” The still image shows two hands emerging out of the dark background, the back of one hand is towards the camera, and we can see the palm of the other hand. There is a human skull on the bottom right and we can only see the left side of it because it is facing towards the left in the image, it is poorly lit so it isn’t highly visible. The words “Something Wicked This Way Comes” in a gothic font are overlaid on the image.
A playlist from Alex Rainbird Music called “spooky season 🎃 • a haunting indie/folk/alternative playlist” and the still image is of a person with long hair in dark clothes standing in what looks to be a forest with fallen leaves all over the ground. They are looking downward at the pumpkin they are holding at waist height.


A photo of a purple flower Christine goes from back pain to back at it.
ADHD · fitness · goals · motivation · planning

Christine goes from back pain to back at it.

Christine Hennebury2 Comments

This time last week, I had to work hard to focus on the good.

At that point, I had spent three days dealing with some lower back pain that had kind of come out of nowhere.*

That was annoying, obviously, but what was really frustrating is that up to the first day of back pain, I was on a 40 day exercise streak with the Hybrid Calisthenics app.**

For the first time in ages (maybe ever?) I was finding it easy to exercise, I was generally enjoying each session, the whole thing felt very purposeful, and I was seeing and feeling some results.

But then I had to break my streak to care for my back.

Part of my brain immediately went into story mode (a professional hazard for storyteller/writer types) and told me that a) I would have a hard time picking up where I left off and I might have to start again b) that I was probably going to put my routine aside and not remember it for ages c) if I did start again, I would have lost my momentum and it would take a lot of effort to convince myself to exercise.

Now, I’m not saying these are sensible thoughts but I have to admit that none of those scenarios are out of the question.

In fact, each of those scenarios is a very familiar groove and there was a definite risk of me and my ADHD brain slipping right into one of them.

This time, though, I was very determined not to let either of those stories come true.

Even though my back pain continued (with slowly diminishing intensity) right through this past week, I kept checking in with myself about when I’d be able to get back to my routine.

On Friday, I could feel clear improvement and Saturday was better again and Sunday was practically normal.

And on Monday morning, I asked myself the question I was asking daily before my back pain started:

“Am I exercising this morning or this evening?”

(A strong contrast with the question I would have asked myself during previous programs: “Am I exercising today?)

And, here’s the real victory as far as I am concerned:

It was EASY to get started.

I didn’t hesitate or try to negotiate with myself.

I didn’t have face any resistance at all – I just decided on morning and got started.

I felt a little rusty and my first set of each exercise was kind of slow.

But I did it. Carefully. Intentionally. With good form and while paying close attention to my back.

And I feel good. – physically and mentally – about getting back at it.

Now my worry is metaphorical – I don’t want to risk breaking my arm patting myself on the back.

😉

This photo is largely unrelated to the text except that I also had to take a break from walking Khalee for most of last week. My back was so uncooperative!

A dog looking at grass with a series of large mushrooms on it.
A photo of Khalee looking at some surprisingly abundant mushrooms on a a green space near our house. Don’t worry, I didn’t let her step into the faery ring. Image description: Khalee, my light haired medium sized dog is looking down at a series of large mushrooms amongst the green grass. She is wearing a blue kerchief and looks quite jaunty.

*My lower back is unhappy from time to time but it is usually short-lived and not quite this intense.

**To be clear, my program is two exercises a day for three days, repeat, active rest. I did not do 40 days of intense exercise in a row – it was gradual and had rest days built in.

Getting back to it…again
fitness · motivation · planning · running

Getting back to it…again

Tracy I1 Comment
A graphic featuring the text '5K' alongside an icon of a person running, set against a yellow background.

I’m probably not alone in having stops and starts in my fitness routines. My favourite themes over the years have been about starting small, doing less, getting over injuries with small steps. And that’s where I am again after deciding that I would not participate in winter running this year. It’s been a long winter. I got out there today after a four-month hiatus.

Since I’ve never really managed to stick with a consistent running routine for more than a few months at a time since just before the pandemic, I feel as if I am starting at the beginning.

Today was the first nice day of nice spring running weather, where I could run in shorts and a t-shirt. And so I chose it to be my day one of the beginners running program, Couch to 5K.

Couch to 5K is probably the most widely used learn to run app. It’s a nine-week program designed to get someone from not running at all to running for 30 continuous minutes over the course of three runs a week for nine weeks.

It starts easy and that is just what I want after a long hiatus. Week one has three runs the same: 5 minutes warm up walk, and then 8 intervals of 1 minute of running followed by 1 1/2 minutes of walking, and closing out with a 5 minute walk.

I’m going in with beginners mind because despite having many kilometres under my feet, I feel like a newbie. And I’m open to learning something new about what I can do and how I can do it.

I have let go of what I “used to be able to do,” and am focusing on what I can do today.

Will report back at the end of April!

A clear plastic rectangular box with two stacks of index cards inside it Index Card Fitness Planning
ADHD · fitness · goals · planning · self care · trackers

Index Card Fitness Planning

Christine Hennebury

I think I have found a workaround for one of my most annoying fitness challenges and, oddly enough, it involves one of my favourite offices supplies – INDEX CARDS!

If you have been reading my posts for a while then you know that I find it difficult to set big picture fitness goals because I’m not sure what I want my endpoint to be.

I mean, I want to be stronger or have more ease in my movements (especially after the challenges of the last few years) but I don’t really have a way to measure that except for ‘feeling stronger’ or ‘feeling more ease.’

Both of those things sound good in principle but I know that my ADHD brain will send me into endless loops of ‘Was that enough?’ ‘Do I feel better or worse than yesterday?’ ‘Am I putting in the right effort here?’ and I won’t find much fun or much satisfaction in that whole process.

Meanwhile, though, I also don’t have a lot invested in more measurable things like being able to reach a particular speed when walking or lift a certain weight or do a specific number of reps. Those things don’t really resonate for me and I know that I will just get kind of meh about them over time.

And even though I understand intellectually that additional consistent exercise will be helpful, some part of my brain is not really buying into the idea and keeps insisting that effort today is not really going to add up to anything and I will just be wasting time that I could spend reading or writing or doing something fun.

But, at the same time, I know that I am wrong about that and I keep trying different ways to jumpstart a fitness plan.

Last week, I did some thinking about how I could encourage myself to take on a longer term exercise project that would let me see my efforts all along without having to choose some sort of specific result to work towards.

I want the process of exercising to be so routine that any results will just be a sort of by-product of the activity rather than being the point.

Eventually, I figured out that I could choose to commit to 100 workouts.

I wouldn’t have to pick a specific type of workout or a specific length of workout and I wouldn’t have to accomplish anything specific, I would just have to pick something and do it.

And even my somewhat-belligerent-on-this-topic brain has to admit that I will definitely see and feel some differences after 100 workouts.

Once I had decided on that number, I wanted to find a way to track it and maybe make some notes about the various workouts I tried.

And that’s when I came up with the index card solution.

I love index cards for notetaking, for planning, and for art so they are a very friendly material for me – which is a good start.

One of the reasons I enjoy using index cards for those things is the fact that they are relatively small so I can’t take on too much. That seems like a good approach for these workouts too.

Friendly and will prevent me from taking on too much? So far, so good!

The other benefit of index cards in this context is that if I write one index card per workout, I will be able to see those workouts adding up over time as I move toward my 100 card target.

So, here’s the plan I started late last week:

  • Open a brand new package of index cards and put them in a container that will hold the blank cards and the completed ones side-by-side.
  • Workout 100 times in the next six months.
  • Write about each individual workout on a separate card and keep it in the same case.
  • Watch my progress and feel good about the whole thing.

And it truly has been ‘so far so good’ – I have done four workouts* and filled out four cards and it feels manageable and useful.

In fact, I feel exactly like I hoped I would – that the index cards are the point of the whole thing and any results are just a bonus – and I think that’s a good sort of feeling for me to have about this project because it keeps my brain from looping about the specifics.

Let’s see how this goes, shall we?

*Next week’s post will be about how I chose what will count as a workout. 🙂

To do lists
advice · challenge · fitness · goals · habits · planning

To do lists

elan.paulson

If, like me, you’re a habitual maker of lists, you know how enjoyable it can be to make one. I want to tell you about the two kinds of lists I tend to make.

The first type is a detailed, four-quadrant list that is legibly handwritten in a spiral notebook. It’s a strategy I learned from leadership training years ago: draw two lines bifurcating the left and right, top and bottom of the page. Top left: IMMEDIATE to-dos. Top right: TODAY to-dos. Bottom left: TOMORROW to-dos. Bottom right: LATER THIS WEEK. Now there’s four lists! 🤩

This 4-list system has helped me triage competing demands and deadlines in a busy life schedule. As the top half got completed by the end of the day, I’d feel that little list-hit of dopamine. More satisfaction would come when tomorrow’s items were ALL scratched off and became today’s.

My second style of list is a scrawl of half-expressed ideas onto the back of a mail envelope, program flyer, or receipt. These lists get folded and stuffed into my pockets or become bookmarks, only to be discovered later, partly deciphered partly forgotten.

Over the past few months I have not had the discipline of a tidy schedule. My flâneuse-style wandering has reflected in my list-making. I tried to make a type 1 list, but items didn’t easily sort when my “today” and “tomorrow” have been so fluid. Instead, the type 2 lists catch my daily thoughts before they dissolve, little messy scraps that reveal how I am figuring out what shape my life takes next.

A handwritten list on the back of a Saje sales receipt: CAAT, 4-piece snaps, unemployment (CHECK!), City of London, MOI.
List Type 2: A handwritten list on the back of a Saje sales receipt: CAAT, 4-piece snaps, unemployment (CHECK!), City of London, MOI. What does it all mean? I hardly know myself.

Adam Grant has a WorkLife episode on procrastination where he suggests writing a to don’t list to make visible what’s might be delaying one’s progress and help get yourself out of your own way. That’s not a bad idea, especially when big life transitions mean the work of processing hard feelings, managing stress, and trying to find small wins.

So I’m giving a type 3 list a try. Moving into my next life phase, which doesn’t yet have neat time-bound quadrants, I write neatly down the centre of the page:

  • Don’t be hard on yourself.
  • Don’t fail to appreciate what you have.
  • Don’t seek certainty at the expense of your joy.
  • Don’t not trust yourself. (Double negative, but you get it.)

This third type of list has turned out to be important, not because it tells me what I need to do but because it reminds me who I want to be.

a photo of a tree in fall colours on the side of a suburban street Christine managed 8/10 for October. How will she do in November?
ADHD · challenge · fall · health · planning

Christine managed 8/10 for October. How will she do in November?

Christine Hennebury2 Comments

I know, I know! The tension is almost unbearable!

On October 7, I made a plan for 10 activities for the 10th month and even though October included a storytelling festival, a week of rain, a week of being sick, and quite a bit of volunteer work, I still managed to do 8 out of 10 activities. 

Here’s what got done:

  • Flail along with a Zumba dance video – Rating: BIG FUN.
  • Do a yoga video that is longer than 30 minutes – Rating: Hard to stick with it.
  • Do a meditation session that is longer than 10 minutes – Rating: No problem!
  • Do a strength training session with exercise bands – Rating: Enjoyable! I’m going to stick with it.
  • Write in my journal while on the floor – Rating: My body liked it.
  • Spend at least 20 minutes stretching – Rating: Loved it! I’ve made it a regular practice.
  • Try a kickboxing video – Rating: Pretty fun. I’ll do more.
  • Plant bulbs for next spring – Rating: Satisfying! I didn’t plan all of the bulbs but I did some and I’m happy about it.

I enjoyed all of these activities and I was really glad I chose them.

I was also really glad that I had the slight pressure of having publicly committed to them.  Without that commitment, I might have let a few of them slide and that would have been a shame.

I really feel that pushing myself a little bit to get these things done added to my fun this month. 

I actually did many of the exercise-related ones more than once and I have gotten back into leaving my yoga mat unfurled on the living room floor so I can stretch whenever I watch TV – a beneficial habit, for sure.

As for the ones I didn’t get done?

I’m happy to report that I don’t feel badly about those at all. 

I may not have been able to…

  • Meet someone for a walk instead of for tea
  • Walk to a meeting

But that was because of circumstances, weather, and timing, it had nothing to do with my interest, willingness, or motivation. None of my meetings happened to be within walking distance and I ended up having to cancel my plans to meet for a walk instead of for tea because I was sick. 

So with a satisfying success rate for 10 things for the 10th month, I’m now considering 11 things for the 11th month (a.k.a. My BIRTHDAY MONTH!)

There are some repeats in here but I’m cool with that.

  • Journal while sitting on the floor once a week
  • Practice those three tricky TKD patterns for at least 30 minutes (total)
  • Try a calisthenics video
  • Continue the stretch band strength training program from October 
  • Go swimming 
  • 30 minutes on the rowing machine
  • Plan a personal retreat day
  • Rake up some of the backyard leaves (I’m leaving some for the bugs!)
  • Do a 30 minute yin yoga video
  • Do at least one 10 minute meditation per week
  • Find a way to elevate keyboard for a standing writing session

Have you got any extra activities planned for November?

fitness · planning · play · rest · self care

Self Care September

Christine Hennebury

I know, I know.

Thinking about self-care amidst the chaos of these times might feel a little ridiculous, somewhat of a distraction, a bit like you are gazing inward when you need to be looking outward.

And, yes, some people might take it to an extreme, focusing only on their own needs and buying a ton of unnecessary products in the name of self-care.

But most of us aren’t like that.

In fact, many of us could probably use a nudge to remind us to take care of ourselves.

After all, how are we supposed to do the important things we are here to do if we’re worn out, frazzled, and just churning through endless to do lists?

So, please let me remind you that it is ok – in fact, it is necessary!- for you take care of yourself, to be kind to yourself, to meet your needs, to rest, to connect, to get away from the push to be bigger, better, more. *

You can take care of yourself for your own sake – after all, literally no one benefits if you forgo self-care. It’s not as if you sacrificing a brief rest means that someone else automatically gets that time.**

And you can do it for the greater good. It will be hard to be part of the solution if you are too worn out to deal with the challenges we are facing – alone and together.

Yet, even when we KNOW that self-care is a good idea, it’s hard for us to take that time, to make that effort.

Luckily, Action for Happiness has a whole calendar of small steps that can help you take good care of yourself this September.

And hopefully it can help you build even stronger self-care habits from now on.

Here’s the calendar:

a calendar of self-care tips from Action for Happiness
Check out Action for Happiness for more versions of the calendar as well as links to other resources. Image description: a calendar of daily tips for self-care. Each calendar block is either light blue, medium blue, peach, or red and the edge of the calendar is decorated with cartoon drawings of people doing self-care activities like meditaton, exercise, speaking positively to themselves, etc.

And here are three self-care tips from Action for Happiness in a video presented by Vanessa King.

A video from the Action for Happiness YouTube channel. The still image shows Vanessa King, a woman with her dark blonde hair pinned up in the back but with sideswept bangs in front, she is slightly smiling, and is wearing a red and white patterned shirt.

So, whaddaya think? Want to give Self-Care September a whirl?

*Ideally, you would have other people supporting you in this/taking good care of you but this post is about ‘Self-Care September’ not ‘Mutual Support May’ or something. Note: Mutual Support May should totally be a thing.

**Yes, I know there are exceptions to this. For example, if you pull a longer shift caring for your sick baby, your partner can have more time to sleep but that’s a short term benefit. It won’t actually be helpful in the long run if you end up getting sick because you are overtired or if you become so resentful that it creates friction in your relationship. Ultimately it would be better for you and your partner to alternate break times so everyone can take good care of themselves and each other.

Two small white cards with quotes on them Christine and the ‘just right’ loop
ADHD · motivation · planning

Christine and the ‘just right’ loop

Christine Hennebury

For the record, I am not Goldilocks and I don’t know any bear families but I did have oatmeal for breakfast so there’s that.

This is not so much a post as a bunch of slightly under-baked thoughts but I wanted to put this out there in case it is helpful to someone else who gets stuck in these kinds of loops. 

*****

So, I often find myself kind of stuck because I want to get things just right but I don’t know what ‘just right’ looks like.

It’s not that I am a perfectionist, per se, because the idea of doing things perfectly hardly ever comes into it. 

The problem is that I am always sure that there is a better way to be doing things or that I don’t have all the information I need or that I will be wasting my time if I proceed without being 100% certain that I am doing things in the best way.

Do I know that this is largely nonsense?  Definitely. 

Do I know that starting is often the best way to get started? Totally.

Do I know that I can change things as I go? Of course.

Do I still get stuck in an unconscious loop of ‘not yet’? Way too often. 

Am I trying to redirect that loop? Glerg. I am, I swear I am…once I recognize that I am in it, of course.

This kind of looping thinking happens to me in all kinds of areas of my life but, as I am sure I have talked about before,  I think I loop through it the most when it comes to exercise. 

I keep thinking I need the right plan. 

I keep thinking I need more time. 

I keep thinking that I’ll waste my time if I start without all of the information.*

I keep thinking that there’s no point in getting started if I am going to have to just start over once I get more information. 

See, again with the nonsense. 

Unless I have VERY specific goals with VERY specific outcomes, I probably don’t need a very specific plan. 

And as long as I pay attention to my form and I don’t overdo things right away, the details of my workouts and exercise sessions are less important than the fact that I fit more movement into my schedule.

So if I walked longer yesterday and then I use my rowing machine today and do some bodyweight exercises on Wednesday and swim on Thursday, it all gets me closer to being someone who has more energy, who moves with more ease, who is more up for the routine physical challenges of her days. 

And once I am that person (again), perhaps I will be looking for some specific plans and exercises to help me develop my skills or abilities in certain areas but for now I can just go with what works for me at a given moment.

In lieu of a specific plan, I can make things easier for myself by:

  • making a list of possibilities for myself so I can minimize the pressure of thinking of something to do when it’s time to exercise. 
  • make sure I have exercise clothes ready for when I want to get moving. 
  • put ‘exercise’ on my to do list and consider when it will best fit into my activities for that day.
  • make a few notes about how each exercise session made me feel so I have the information/encouragement my future self needs.
  • Being kind to myself about the nature of this whole process – there will be stops and starts, I will need to make adjustments here and there, and all of that is totally ok.

This would be a great spot for a satisfactory conclusion but since this is a bunch of under-baked thoughts, I’m going to leave any conclusions for later. 

PS – If you ALSO get stuck in these kinds of loops now would be a great time to let me know.

*All what information? Oh, I don’t know! It’s not a LOGICAL loop, it’s just a loop.

Planuary is a state of mind
ADHD · fitness · goals · habits · health · motivation · planning · self care

Planuary is a state of mind

Christine Hennebury

I’m pretty happy with how Planuary has gone this year.

I’ve managed to make some plans, test out a few ideas, and do some structured thinking about how I want to roll out some projects.

I haven’t actually taken a lot of action yet but actions are not the focus of Planuary anyway!

So, here are a few updates:

Journaling

Reflective journaling is going pretty well. I’m not getting to it daily yet but I am moving in that direction.

But if I don’t get to it in the morning, I need to find stronger ways to remind myself about it at other times of the day.

A dog is next to an e-reader on a bed in a dimly lit room. The device is glowing and lighting the dog’s face.
This photo of Khalee has nothing to do with my post but I thought it was funny because it looks like I interrupted her while she was reading. Image description: my dog, Khalee, is lying on her belly on my bed with her head raised. The room is dim and my ereader is glowing next to her, lighting the side of her face, and it kind of looks like she has turned from her book to look at the camera.

Yoga/Pushups

I did my yoga practice most days last week but my choices were hampered a bit by the fact that I woke up one day with a wonky knee.

So now I am working on my knee and my upper body and I am putting the ‘incorporate pushups’ part of the plan off for another week until my knee is less weird.

5 Extra Minutes of Movement

I have been doing pretty good with this one. I added 5 minutes of deliberate extra movement four out of seven days this week.

My knee is playing a role here but in two of those four days I chose extra seated movement so clearly it wasn’t the only factor on those other three days.

Maybe I need to say I will get 5 extra minutes of seated movement during the next week and see if that shift opens any mental doors to moving daily.

Next Steps

Since this is my last Tuesday post in January, this is technically my last Planuary post.

However, like the post title says, Planuary is a state of mind.

I want to keep this reflective, curious approach going throughout the year so I am figuring out what that practice might look like.

Last year, I decided that I didn’t really want to plan anything for the whole year, I just wanted to take it month by month and I’m sticking with that idea for 2025.

But I do want to keep checking in with myself and revisiting my ideas/plans/practices in a more structured but still Christine-friendly way.

So, I am starting with these questions:

How and when will I decided what is important for a given month?

How will I keep those things top of mind?

How will I record/reflect/track the details and feelings involved?

When and how will I write about them?

___________

Updates as events warrant. 😉

ADHD · fitness · goals · habits · planning · self care

Christine’s Planuary (Part 3)

Christine Hennebury

In my posts so far, I have mentioned two fitness/wellness related ideas that I want to develop throughout Planuary and I have had another one pop up over the weekend.

Here are the updates:

Reflective Journaling

My plan for jumping right into reflective journaling did not work…so far.

I really thought I was on to something with moving my journaling to the beginning of the day and creating a strategy for voice dictation and copying and pasting but then I had the most jumbled week in which ever single aspect of my schedule went right out the proverbial window.

A woman on a desk while papers fly through the air
Perhaps this photo illustrates how someone sabotaged my schedule last week? Image description – a woman is crouching on a desk while papers fly through the air around her

Honestly, if you had written my planned activities on pieces of paper, threw them in the air, and then turned on a fan, the resulting schedule could not have been more erratic than the one that last week generated all on its own.

I’m just glad that I am at a point in my life and in my medicated understanding of my ADHD brain that I didn’t end up blaming myself and going into a brain loop that would have also thrown this week into a jumble.

ANYWAY!

The issue here was that my plan hinged on taking time early in the day to do my journaling and then I didn’t have a single day in which I could follow my usual morning routine.

I did manage to journal on two days but that was only because I ended up with unexpectedly long waits in my car on a couple of occasions.

So, clearly I need a plan for relatively ordinary days and one for days when my morning has a different shape.

And perhaps I need to set a reminder for early afternoon asking if I have been able to journal yet.

I’ll circle back to this again next week.

Pushups?

And this is probably the part where you are wondering about the pushup plan.

That hasn’t happened either – and that’s ok because this is Planuary not Do-All-The-Things-uary (Instant forgiveness for the win!) but I am still moving slowly towards the plan.

The word Planuary written on an index card
A white index card with the word ‘Planuary’ written on it in capital letters and with golden yellow sparkles/dots surrounding it.

I have looked at a bunch of different pushup plans some of which I could immediately discount because I know what my brain is like. *

But there are two plans that are top contenders – this one that Sam sent me from Training Tall and this one that I have had bookmarked for ages from Buff Dudes Workouts but I will probably end up taking the stuff I like and making my own Franken-plan. **

A GIF of Frankenstein’s monster saying ‘Good Evening’
Theoretical depiction of my pushup plan greeting me. Image description: a black and white GIF of Frankenstein’s Monster moving his head upwards in greeting with text reading ‘Good Evening’ at the bottom.

And, of course, I had planned to start by picking a yoga practice to do daily and then add the pushup plan in afterwards.

I haven’t picked the yoga practice either but I have refined that plan instead.

I am going to do one of these four practices each day, depending on my time and inclination.

The first two are from Yoga with Adriene and the second two are from Heart and Bones Yoga.

Yoga For Neck, Shoulders, Upper Back | 10-Minute Yoga Quickie

Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Relief – Yoga With Adriene

Thoracic Spine and Shoulder Relief

Yoga for Thoracic Spine (mini class)

So, there are some steps forward on that Planuary plan, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Planuary Idea #3

I have fallen into a classic Christine/ADHD thinking trap, again.

I want and need to move more (because my body is feeling pretty cranky) but my brain keeps trying to figure out the ‘best’ thing to do instead of just doing something.

It keeps telling me I need to make a big plan before I start AND that I don’t really have the time or information to make that plan so I should start later.

And it also likes to toss in information about my various obligations during the week and how I will need to work around them (gee, do I really, brain? sigh!) and how I need to figure out the perfect time of day to workout so I don’t waste time or get my work plans derailed.

And it also reminds me that I walk the dog every day and that I do TKD twice a week so I am already doing *something* – which is true but doing those things is not addressing the body crankiness so I need another layer of activity, no matter what my brain is saying.

This is why I always say that my Go Team posts are just as much notes to myself as they are to anyone reading them.

I have literally been writing daily posts about how to avoid these kind of brainloops (among other things) and, yet, my subconscious was busy with all of this foolishness.

SO, I am shutting that down. I’m being kind to myself about it but I am still shutting it down.

I’m starting with 5 minutes of extra activity a day right now and I will add to that as I go on.

And, frankly, while 5 minutes is my low bar amount, I will probably often end up doing more because I know my obstacle is getting started, not keeping going.

The Current Plan

Yeah, that seems like a lot of things but they are all kind of small – 5-10 minutes of journaling aloud, 4-18 minutes of yoga, and 5 minutes of additional movement daily.

Even the longest version of that is only 35 minutes a day and it doesn’t even have to happen all at once.

And, of course, this is Planuary so the plans can (and probably will) change.

That’s just part of the process!

*For example, there is no way I will work up to 50 wall pushups before moving to the floor. I would end up spending more time fighting my brain to get started than I would actually doing the practice.

**The fact that I am neither Tall, nor Buff, nor a Dude means that the names of those sites/channels crack me up every time I look at them. I consider that a bonus, really.