Here at Quiescence we believe you should practice what you preach! We shared this Into Mind post focussing on the fresh start effect to kick start the new year with the “30-Day Minimalism Challenge”. This February, Annalise decided to take on the challenge herself.
Day 1 – Stay Offline for a Day
Sunday 1st Feb. Staying offline is harder than I thought! Thank goodness it’s a Sunday – I don’t feel quite so guilty leaving my emails until tomorrow, plus having the kids around leaves little time for social media. Not sure how I’d go with this concept during the week though….
Day 2 – Meditate for Fifteen minuets
Monday 2nd Feb. I used to find meditation relatively easy; back in my 20s I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about. Honestly, people just needed to chill out and they’d be fine… Now in my late 30’s I get it. Life is certainly different now. Not in a bad way, just in a really busy way. Meditation is definitely difficult; I find the shivasana at the end of yoga almost impossible to get through without my mind wandering, and rely on guided meditations to keep me focused these days. Today being a ‘work’ day, I decided to make the most of the walk to pick up my kids and do a mindfulness meditation. This is the only meditation I manage to do regularly. I find it really helps with the transition from work mode to mum mode. It involves being in your body for every step, being aware of the muscles, pressure, breath, aches and pains. It’s a great practise, especially as you don’t need to be sitting 🙂 If you need some meditation inspiration check out this great talk by a juggling monk. Awesome.Day 3 – De-Clutter your Digital Life
Tuesday 3rd Feb. What does this mean exactly. Defriend? Unfollow? Delete? I’m not super active when it comes to social media, there’s really not much to let go of there so I deleted a whole heap of emails. Strangely, I feel lighter.Day 4 – No Complaint Day
Wednesday 4th Feb. My husband is away for work this week so I’m ‘single parenting it’. In the spirit of not complaining, here’s to all the single parents in the world. You are truly amazing. My life is blessed, I have nothing to complain about.Day 5 – Identify 3 to 6 Priorities
Thursday 5th Feb. Priorities. Well, the most important things in my life are family, friends and ‘work’ (being the wonderful people who work with me and all the fabulous people who come to see us). Staying healthy and happy, or at least mentally stable, for myself and the people In my life is my main priority, I can’t really think of anything else…
Day 6 Follow a Morning Ritual
Friday 6th Feb. My morning ritual varies from day to day depending on whether I need to rush out of the door to get to work, or I’m up for a early morning run with Jess (we are aiming for 10k – I’ll let you know when we get there!) Thanks to ‘single parenting it’ there was no run today and I got a sleep in. 8am none the less! A miracle in our house. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, no ritual today.Day 7 – Streamline your reading list
Saturday 7th Feb. This is something I desperately need to do. There are piles of text books, journals, fiction cooking and gardening book, all spread around the house and clinic with the vain idea that I will read any of it. It was a good process organising it, putting some away, being realistic. Physically, it’s streamlined, mentally not so much…
Day 8 – Learn to Enjoy Solitude
Sunday 8th Feb. How I cherish solitude, calm , peace, silence… On a Sunday? Forget it! But of course to enjoy solitude you need to have the noise, chaos and comfort of people close to you. Yin and Yang. ‘Learning’ to enjoy solitude is not something to be done in day, more something that is appreciated at times in our lives.Day 9 – Downsize your Beauty Collection
Monday 9th Feb. I think my mum may have inadvertently raised me with a ‘less is more’ approach to make up. (She used to try and get me to wear this horrid plum lipstick……) Anyway, there’s not much to downsize but there were definitely a few things that I hadn’t used in ages.Day 10 – No Email or Social Media Until Lunch
Tuesday 10th Feb. Social media can wait, but emails are harder to put off. It just meant I had catching up to do later. Thankfully I’m not like one of my patients who told me he had over 100 emails in his inbox daily, apparently not unusual… My mind boggles.Day 11 – Evaluate Your Commitments
Wednesday 11th Feb. No doubt managing commitments is a struggle. I have a tendency to over commit. Saying no is hard….. Point noted.Day 12 – Define Your Goals for the Year
Thursday 12th Feb. Lots of goals, maybe too many. Some easy, some hard, some completely unrealistic (especially when my husband gets involved…..)Day 13 – Clean Out Your Closet
Friday 13th Feb. Ohhh, my favourite! I love doing this. It feels great dropping off a bag of clothes and bits and pieces to Salvation Army. We actually went camping today so I was focused on packing stuff to take, not give away, however I’m probably due for a clean out soon.Day 14 – Take a Step Towards Learning a New Skill
Saturday 14th Feb. Knitting. My parents came to visit over Christmas, mum seemed to enjoy teaching me how to knit, again… I got a few lines down, dropped stitches and all, I haven’t managed to get much further. Time to get the big needles out again when I get home.
