Nearly 10 months since our last blog post! And Tasnima and I have returned! What’s there to say? So much, yet it feels like a 1 year bender. 2020 was like a punch in the face kinda year. Global pandemic, economic crisis, protests (violent and peaceful), ongoing race, gender, political wars happening simultaneously. All of this, inflamed by our soon-to-be ex-President DT. Lots of people died and still continue to get caught in the clutches of corona, hoping to escape the grim death this virus can bring. It’s been a really intense year to say the least. Yet, here we are! I hope to kickstart 2021 with more enthusiasm, appreciation (for all of you guys, and just life in general), education on life, experiences, truth, beauty, all of it (the point of this blog), and much more!
After the lockdown ensued, everything was shut down and there was a strict curfew/stay-at-home order in place. I learned a lot during this time, especially when nail salons, beauty salons, and spas were not open. I learned how to take care of myself, become more self sufficient. I also had to work from home 100% – although this one I’m fortunate to say I already had experience working remotely for 2x out of the week as it was before pre-covid. However, working from home with an aussie shepherd 24/7 – now that was a learning experience for me. I normally drop my dog off at daycare when I’m in the office but since I would be at home, he would only get daycare once a week as opposed to 3-4x a week (so he could socialize and get a bath). It was challenging nevertheless! I learned how to juggle both simultaneously. This taught me serious time management skills after a lot of trial and error of course.
My take away for the past year, the following things I’ve learned as a person were:
- You need a very strict schedule; do not go down the rabbit hole of just because you’re at home you can roll out of bed and log into work…no it will do the opposite! You need to pretend your office is just closer (in your home in this case) so keep your normal routine as you would if it was pre-covid. I still woke up each morning early. I still took a shower, and got dressed (in more comfy clothes of course but still!), and I still did my morning ritual (1) wake up (2) shower & get dressed (3) meditate for 15 minutes (4) drink either celery juice or lemon water as the first thing to drink (5) log into work (6) after 30 minutes, take a 20 minute break to cook some breaky or put together some toast and coffee (7) look at my task list for the work day and start to knock those out (8) join any teams meetings I may have for that day (9) take a 30 minute break to take Max out to the park 10) return to work (in this case the kitchen counter) (11) 4:30pm start to wrap up and give Max his food then figure out dinner.
And I did this everyday, but don’t get me wrong, some days were challenging to push forward. But I did anyways. For my afternoon breaks I’d swap. Instead of the park, I would take Max to daycare for the rest of the work day and use my remaining break time to do a quick 20 minute work out. A little switch was good but it was essential to keep a routine so I was making the most of my time at home and getting what I needed done but with a smile on my face. 🙂
2. Write down everything you did at the end of each day. This was super important for me. At the start of the pandemic, towards April-May, I just had finished reading Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferris (the infamous how-to Guru). The book is basically a collection of guides from some of the most accomplished individuals in the world; outlining what their routines look like, and how they are successful in their individual endeavors.
What I liked most about this book, it wasn’t a recipe for “if you follow these exact steps you will be successful…”; it was more about do what works for you but “here’s a book to get your motivated on your journey..” I found writing what I did – worked for me. I’d go back and read it the next evening before beginning my next entry and it propelled me to accomplish MORE than the previous entry – so I was meeting my goals.
3. Exercise. Even if it’s at home, it’s essential and the key to a good mood. I found only 20 minutes 3-4x a week helped a great deal.
4. At home cooking with only healthy ingredients. I started eating way more greens and also learned new recipes. It made me appreciate veggies way more than before (and I thought that wasn’t possible being already a vegetarian!)
5. Lastly, Meditation. I started a more in-depth meditation practice of manifestation. This helped me achieve what’s ahead for me in the day.
Some of these are pretty obvious but actually doing this everyday (even if it’s not perfect) creates momentum for it to eventually become perfect 🙂
I hope to continue to share more with you guys!
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