I'm 2/3rds of the way into the first month of my happiness project and want to check in to let you know how it's going. At the end of the month I'll give you a more complete rundown and reflections.
For the first month I decided to focus on getting myself together. My resolutions all have to do with the little things I can do everyday to make myself feel better, be more productive, and have more energy.
The most important thing I'm doing, one that has had an immediate impact, is getting more sleep. I've been good about not using screens after 9pm (though I've been on until 9:15 twice) and getting into bed by 10pm (again, I've missed that target 3-4 times). Generally, I feel much more rested when I wake up and haven't felt the need to nap as much during the day. Win! Exercising and doing yoga have helped with my energy level, too, though I haven't been as consistent about meeting that goal - I'd say I'm about 80-85% on that. James and I have both been doing the New York Times 7-Minute Workout (James sometimes does it twice a day!). As it's only 7 minutes, it's so easy to slip in the workout during the day, when the kids are awake or asleep. It gives me an immediate burst of energy, and it's so nice to feel breathless for at least a few minutes. As easy as it is, though, I'm still not doing it every single day, so I'd like to do better for the rest of the month.
Meditating is the only thing that I've done almost every day (I've only missed once!). I mostly do a 5-minute meditation on the breath, though I've found an app - Mindfulness Daily - that has several short guided meditations (object meditation, present moment awareness, lovingkindness meditation) that I sometimes do. The app is great because you start with a 21-day kickstart program that's super easy and helps to build the habit.
We've been eating really well with a weekly meal plan in place - I can't believe we didn't start doing this ages ago!
I've been failing miserably at both looking nice and getting some quality Jodi time - I'll reflect on that more at the end of the month.
The most surprising thing about this first month of my happiness project has been a general increase in my productivity, and a desire to be proactive. I find myself considering my time much more carefully: if we start watching something that's not very good, it's easy to turn it off and say, "that's not worth the 20 minutes of screen time I have left today!"; I'm starting to look ahead to my free periods during the day (when Leif is napping, which is becoming more predictable) and think in advance about how I'll spend the time, rather than just trying to slot in the things I have to do "whenever." And I'm more on the lookout for things to put on my to-do list each night, which means that I'm getting more stuff done every day.
Several people responded to me privately after my first post about the happiness project - I'm curious to know if anyone else has started one, or would like to chat about starting one. Let me know! Even James has kicked off his own (though it's considerably less formal than mine).
To your happiness!
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