Tag: December

December Twelves For Christine
ADHD · fitness · goals · habits

December Twelves For Christine

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Initially, I thought that I would follow my pattern from the last two months and just pick 12 things for the 12th month.

But then I realized that I didn’t actually feel like trying new things right now. Instead, I wanted to find a gentle rhythm for this month.

So kind of picked an overarching goal. Two actually…

The first thing I want is to feel more relaxed as the month goes on instead of feeling more and more pressured.

Achieving that goal starts with paying a bit more attention to the things I have taken on, what my role in those things should be, and, most importantly, to remember that I don’t have to be available every hour of every day. *

So, paying a bit more attention can help me keep my work and my tasks in perspective and to ensure they are better scaled to my time.

The other side of this goal is to actively choose activities that help me feel more relaxed, and less like I’m being bounced from task to task.

I’ve picked three for December – yoga, meditation, journaling.

And I’m going to do each of those three things 12 times this month.

In fact, since December started last week, I have already done 30 minutes of yoga three times, I’ve done 10 minutes of meditation twice, and I’ve done two 30 minute sessions of Yoga Nidra. I haven’t done a lot of journaling, but there’s still lots of time left this month.

The second thing I want for myself this month is to focus on having as much fun as I can.

My approach to this one is a bit harder to describe but basically, I am looking at each day’s to-do list and making sure that it includes something fun. It might be the smallest thing, but I’m still making sure it gets in there and I refuse to make it my lowest priority task.

If I come down to a choice between something fun and something that feels like a duty or an obligation, then I’ve been looking carefully at that duty/obligation to ensure it really needs to be done at this point in the day, in the week, in the month or if it needs to be done at all.

I have successfully eliminated several tasks this way and increased my fun dramatically.

And if I can’t eliminate an obligation, I have been trying to figure out ways to make it a bit more fun or interesting. I made myself some excellent tea to take with me to run errands. I saved an episode of my favourite podcast to listen to while cleaning the bathroom. You get the idea.

*****

I’m not saying that the first week or so of December has been stress-free or anything but things definitely feel better because I am paying attention, doing relaxation activities, and choosing to have more fun.

I wish you some ease and relaxation this month and I hope you don’t have to work too hard to find it.

A photo of the full moon through the branches of a tree
We all know that phones don’t take great photos of the moon but I like how this turned out. Image description: a photo of last week’s ’Cold Moon’ full moon. This was taken before it was fully dark so the sky is nice purple colour and we are looking through the bare branches of a snow dusted tree to see the full moon in the sky. The moon itself looks like it has a thick halo around it. Part of my truck is visible in the foreground and in the background are a variety of houses with warm lights in their windows, snow on their lawns, and one in the centre has red Christmas lights on display.

*My ADHD is a HUGE factor in this. I have trouble assessing the scale of tasks and how long they will take, I struggle to know how much is ‘enough’ to contribute to a project, I lose track of how much time has passed or how long something has taken me to do, and I often want to respond to things right away so I don’t forget them. That latter thing often puts me on other people’s schedules instead of my own and that is NOT good for my brain.

PS – Now, I recognize that I am writing from a position of privilege here. I have sufficient control over my schedule, my finances, and my day-to-day tasks to enable me to take action to reduce my stress this way and that is not true for everyone. Please don’t take this post as ‘two simple tricks to make everything better’ – that’s not what I am aiming for.

fitness · habits · holidays · planning

Go Team: Give Yourself Some Space

Christine Hennebury

So, tomorrow is the 1st of December.

Whether you are just finishing up the end of the year or you are getting ready for the holidays you celebrate, you probably have some extra items on your to do list this month.

When you combine that with the ambient time pressure that December generates, you end up not only having more to do but you feel like you have way less time than you need to do it.

When that kind of pressure happens and something’s got to give, we usually sacrifice something personal like our fitness activities, our meditation, or any breaks we might take to look after ourselves.

I wonder if you can avoid that trap this year (or at least not get caught so firmly) by making some space for yourself in your own head…and hopefully in your own schedule.

Maybe you won’t have time for your usual fitness routine but perhaps you could make space for some stretches.

Perhaps there will be too many people around for you to meditate, perhaps you could take a short walk, or do some doodling, or anything else that will put you firmly in the moment, for a moment.

Or maybe you can even go the other way and instead of shortening your time for yourself, you can find a way to create space to add extra personal time to your schedule. Committing to some yoga first thing in the morning or some meditative colouring right before bed might help you feel more at ease during the rest of the day.

I know some of you are reading this and despairing that there is no way for you to keep up any sort of a routine and you definitely can’t add anything to your day.

If that’s how you are feeling, then I’d like you to create space by letting yourself off the hook. Try to avoid telling yourself what you *should* be doing or feeling this month and embrace the feeling of running around. Sometimes it’s the disconnect between what you think you should be doing and what you actually are doing that causes the most distress.

If you can say ‘December is utter madness and I am just rolling with it.’ things may go more smoothly.

Really, I just want you to be kind to yourself, whatever form that might take this month, or at any time.

Here’s your star for your efforts!

Image description: a large foldable paper star is hanging on a white door.​
This is my largest gold star, a large paper one that was a gift from my friend Catherine. Image description: a large gold foldable paper star decorated with spirals is hanging from a string on a white door.