Planuary is going pretty well.
That’s one of the many upsides of deciding to have loose plans to do some planning over the course of a month, there are so very many ways for it to go well.
In my first Planuary post for 2024, I said that I was going to consider how I wanted to feel and then amble in that general direction.
For the first part of this month, I was just trying to keep things soft, to only take on the tasks that I was ready to take on. There were a few challenges involved in that process since a lot of people I encountered wanted to jump into making firm, long-term plans ASAP. I did ok with it though, doing what I could to be responsive instead of reactive and taking care not to let my scheduled get filled up with other people’s priorities.
Exercise-wise, keeping things soft meant sticking to the things I already do instead of trying to add anything new yet. I have been doing some thinking and some writing about how I want to feel physically and I am going to be ambling toward those feelings as time goes on.
Brain-wise, I want to feel like I have room to think. Ambling toward that has involved a bit more meditation, paying attention to my breath, making sensible lists, and taking lots of breaks. I’ve set up a few reminders to check in with myself throughout the week. And, I’m keeping an eye out for the very early signs of being overwhelmed and shifting things at that point instead of trying to tough things out.
So, basically, I have been being very gentle with myself as I moved through the first part of January. I don’t want to end up getting caught up in everything, having time move superfast, and then get dumped out into the next month without any sense of what happened the month before.
Yesterday – January 15 – was one of my check-in points and past me had a question ‘Do you need to add anything to your plans at this point?’
And I realized that I do need to add something – I’m ready for a little more structure in my days and in my plans.
In the past, that cue would have had me making charts and huge lists and specific timed plans. I wouldn’t have been able to follow them but the planning process would have felt great – like *THIS* was finally the plan that would turn me into the organized, orderly person I have always hoped to be.
But as Planuary Christine, the one who is aiming for softness, the one whose ADHD medication is working well at the moment, I know that I am not looking for rigid structure. I don’t need charts and plans and huge lists.
I just need a few fixed points in my day, a structure that includes all kinds of softness within it – like a couch with lots of comfy pillows.
Up until now, the metaphorical pillows have been in a pile on the floor – useful, soft, and comfy but there has always been a risk of them sliding all over the place.
By putting the pillows on the couch, I’ll know the overall shape of my pillow pile but I can adjust individual pillows as needed.
Yes, I may have run too far with my metaphor there but I stand by it.
Actually, if I had a pillow pile, I would be snuggled down into it – whether or not it was on a couch – but you get what I mean.
Given the nature of Planuary, I’m not putting pressure on myself to decide what all of the fixed points will be BUT I have specifically set aside some time later today to think about it.
That feels like enough structure to get myself started.
