I woke up this morning, initially at 6:15, with the divine intention to go to yoga. After falling asleep after 2:30a (I worked till 1:30a), that absolutely was not happening. I fell back asleep, and woke at my much more normal time of 10a. When I woke up the second time, I felt better than I had in the morning in a while. My head was clear, my body was comfortable…I felt strangely amazing. I didn’t get out of bed for another half hour or so, because I was just so…ahhhhhh.
Due to my work schedule, sometimes I wind up sleeping until noon, and spend the next hour feeling groggy and internally kicking myself for sleeping so late. YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOUR WATCH FIXED. YOU COULD HAVE GONE TO THE GYM. YOU COULD HAVE WRITTEN SOMETHING. YOU ARE A WASTE OF HUMAN SPACE TODAY! (I imagine this internal voice sounds like Bill Belichick talking in hushed-but-still-infuriated tones after a loss, but in all caps, naturally).
So, why was this morning different?
Saturday, I had a coaching call with the lovely Ashley, and she helped set me straight. We laid out a plan for me to schedule my life as much as I could with my new Erin Condren planner, setting time for me to do things I really enjoy and WANT to get done, like writing, reading, and going to the gym. So yesterday, I spent about 20 minutes filling out my calendar for the week…writing for two hours here, reading for an hour there, doing laundry here, going to Zumba there. I think writing down everything I wanted to do and when I would do it, relieved what Doniree calls brainspace capacity. Apparently, it was affecting my sleep.
Over the weekend, I was talking to a friend of mine who also works in the TV business. When you work in TV, if you’re not thinking about the future and what you’re doing next, there’s probably something wrong with you. It’s programmed within all of us to think and brainstorm and dream.
At one point, I said something along the lines of the following…
“Man, sometimes people are like ‘Live in the moment, be present,’ and I’m like, SHUT UP!”
We both laughed, but it’s true. We’re overloaded with thoughts of promotions and projects and possibilities, and we secretly love it. At the same time, that takes up a lot of brainspace.
When I’m cutting a highlight at work, and the game is in the early stages, I turn into a bit of a robot. Headphones in, fingers dancing over keyboard, eyes focused on the pitch count or was he in the shotgun? or the inning or HE’S WIDE OPEN!!! or the guys on base or what the eff just happened there? On occasion, once the editing process is over and my work is nearly done, I lean back, shut my eyes, and nearly fall asleep. My mental process leaves me physically exhausted, even though I’ve been sitting in a chair for six hours, minus a power-walk/sprint or two to the studio. Funny how that works.
So, thanks to Ashley’s help, I’m looking forward to better sleep habits, getting more things done and having a fantastic fall, complete with apple picking, cooking chili, having a dinner party featuring said chili and pumpkin pie, possibly not having to work on Halloween (fingers crossed) and wearing boots despite the fact it’s still 72 outside. Fall has officially taken over summer as my favorite season.
PS Danielle LaPorte wrote about creating space for quality in your life this morning, and I just love her philosophy on everything. And how she calls it the Divine Law of the Ugly Chair.
Well, I just love this so much.