Happy Monday! It’s the 1st of February, a new month for opportunities, discoveries, and new learnings.

Continue reading “Painting the town Red”

Just over 2 weeks ago, I committed to writing a blog post every day for 30 days. 

So. What happened?

The truth is I got to day 5, and I run out of steam. The excitement of the challenge died and reality kicked in. Now I’m all about motivation and positivity but the truth of the matter is my heart just wasn’t into the challenge. 

I like to evaluate and take learning from every situation so I challenged myself to consider what went wrong.

Commitment 

When I started the 30 day blogging challenge I blocked out time to write. I gave myself a 3 pm slot, I knew just after lunch I’d be full on food, energy and positive vibes and ready to write. The reality is when you’re studying like I am and you’re trying to fit writing in as well as other things that just get in the way. 3 pm turns into 4 pm, that turns into 8 pm before I knew it I was ready to curl up in the sofa and watch TV. So what could I have done differently I would have set a time in the morning so I write after breakfast that way if I needed to move it later there would be more time to work with.

Inspiration

I like writing about things that come up, I might go on a run and get a random thought or read something that sparks a random idea that I think would be great for a blog. So when I was forcing myself to sit down and just write on the top of my head, to tell you the truth, I just lacked inspiration. It seemed like a chore. The fun writing hour that I’d planned, turned into a dreaded hour of sitting down and staring at a blank screen. Next time I would put more time into planning what I would write have themes and use more prompts that could spark some inspiration.

Focus

As much as I love writing, and blogging I realise that I prefer the more fun side of social media like a quick post and caption on insta instead of writing something more formal. When I started this blog its aim was to share different parks to run to in London, to celebrate the joys of Mother Nature. So it’s really helped me reaffirm my vision for this blog so I will start this back up this week with a new park discovery. Being out in nature really helps me feel energised and full of life – watch this space!

Have you ever attempted a blogging challenge, how did it go for you?

Let me know in the comments bellow

Nadine x

Photo by Cristofer Jeschkeon Unsplash

We all live busy lives, work meetings, constant streams of emails, endless chores that build up. 

Do you find time to relax and unwind?

Or do you feel that you just don’t have time?

I used to struggle with rest, feeling almost guilty for sitting still, my brain would race with my ever growing to do lists. I’d feel unproductive as if I was cheating by stopping.

I have since found out that this way of thinking can be detrimental to health, having experienced burnout multiple times – you’d think I’d learn.

Here are a few strategies I have implemented to add more rest into my daily life:

Reconnect with Nature

I love to exercise! 

I feel so alive after a long run or a weights session at the gym. 

But it’s also important to have rest days.

At the weekend I tend to take a short walk in nature. 

Sometimes with music or an audiobook.

But often I let nature be my soundtrack and really zoom into the glorious sounds, sights and smells that God has blessed us with. 

I feel so energised disconnecting to connect.

Prioritise

Someone shared with me the phrase “keep the main thing, the main thing” – Stephen Covey.

To me this means being ok with saying no.

Not multitasking.

Using the urgent, important, not urgent, not important grid to plan out my day.

Making sure that I focus on the most important tasks first, but still finding time to do things for myself.

Recently I’ve started ending the day with a mindful drawing, or painting.

I love being creative and devoting time each day to do something mindless.

Be at one

I’ve also used meditation to help clear my mind.

By focusing on my breath and just my breath.

I feel more focused and refreshed to face my day.

Statistics show that practicing meditation can increase your attention span after only 4 days.

Imagine what would happen if you did it every day for a month or a year or a lifetime.

Zone out

Another great way to really rest and relax is by having a long bath.

Put the tech away and focus on you.

Light a nice scented candle, use your favourite bath bombs and for extra calming vibes use a face mask.

According to Dr. Mark Khorsandi “Stress causes the muscles of the body to contract, [and a] hot bath can relieve those symptoms and keep the muscles loose.” 

In fact stretching and moving about in the bath is effectively a low-impact workout that can burn 140 calories. Not bad.

I challenge you today to find time in your day to rest, even if it’s 15 mins to write down 5 gratitudes. What can you do to add more rest in your life?

Let me know if the comments below.

Nadine x

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Kaizen

Have you heard of it?

Continue reading “What’s your Kaizen?”