Hey guys!
We hope you had a fantastic week. As we have come to the middle of the last month of the year, we want to share some ideas on how we have been planning for the end-of-year break. Whether you’re taking a break from school or closing your office for the holidays, we hope this post resonates with you.
Before we start on the ideas, we just want to say bravo! on making it to the end of the year. Since we launched this newsletter, we have been sharing a lot about being productive and making the most of the time you have. This is an important concept throughout the year, but one thing we rarely talk about is how to enjoy the breaks and get some of the things done during these down days.
One thing I struggle with is adapting to new routines and schedules. I always struggle with the breaks in between semesters up to the point where I get anxious and need professional counseling. A few weeks ago, when everyone was getting excited to end the semester and take a much-needed break, I found myself back in this anxiety phase, and the last couple of sessions for the year with my therapist were spent trying to figure out the best way to enjoy my Christmas break.
After a couple of exercises, we finally pinpointed these anxiety attacks to one thing: “I am afraid of being unproductive”. With no set schedules for my weeks, my fear of breaks comes from the fact that I am afraid of waking up with no plan for the day. I am afraid that I’ll wake up and spend two hours of my day scrolling through TikTok, get out of bed to get something to eat, and spend the rest of the day lying on a sofa watching Netflix. At the end of my last sessions, here are some ideas that we came up with to combat this fear:
Have a plan for the day: Just because I am out of school does not mean that I can’t have a plan for the day. Because I am so used to having a plan for everything, my therapist encouraged me to plan my downtime. So, instead of waking up and scrolling Tik Tok mindlessly, I might put in my calendar that from 9AM-10AM: scroll through Tik Tok, 12PM-2PM: watch Netflix (and of course the specific series I am watching). This, therefore, eliminates the fear of being purposeless and not being able to account for my time at the end of the day.
Embrace the downtime: Another idea that we worked through was embracing the downtime. I am always so focused on the next phase, ie, the next semester, that I spend most of the break worried about creating the set routines that will make it easier for me to wake up for 8AM classes in January, for example. However, it doesn't always have to be this perfect. I am learning how to just live in the moment and embrace the downtime.
Spend more time with my support systems: Finally, I always feel like I am in a rat race because I am focused on individualistic goals and targets and neglecting the people around me. My therapist encouraged me to spend more time in conversations with my friends and family and take a break from brainstorming what I could be doing next. This has been super helpful in me enjoying my break so far.
💭 Some more thought pieces on this week’s issue
… adaptability, evolution and learning
How we can grow through the ups and downs of life?
Can you adapt to situations and can you see the cycles of repetions and make lessons: This takes to the third point of the this writing which is learning we have to see the repeating patterns and we have to some way quickly notice them and adapt which can be a greater tool.
Can you evolve with time: I think this goes to the the last point which is how we grow and evolve once we have adopted we now have to grow in these situations which sometimes I call the art of not clinging to cycles but rather fighting to move and outer grow the happenings.
Are we up for the long term ? You know with the points that l have said above and one thing that we can wrap up with is long term learning and we have to be able to evolve learning and we have to get everything in order.
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Thank you for reading this week’s issue of The Weekly Mindset. If you have not done so, please consider subscribing to this newsletter so you receive these posts straight in your inbox. Until next time, have a great and productive break.
The Weekly Mindset Team.