Thursday, April 02, 2020

Lockdown day 12 - The list

(No, this is not a post about Kantara having started to lean over to one side. She hasn't. This boat has, however.)


A lot of my friends and acquaintances on social media have said how bored they're getting on these social-distancing days. I can thank my bullet planner for helping me to make sure that everything that has to be done - or those things that I simply want to get done - get done. Another piece of advice I've picked up from others is my list.

One entry that appears every day in my bullet planner is a line with the numbers 1 to 9. These don't get officially referred from the previous day; they're a permanent feature. They refer to nine things that I've decided I want to do every day, each of them to benefit me either physically, or mentally or spiritually. So there's

1 Exercise (largely weights and cardio)
4 Brain games (apps on my tablet and phone to challenge and develop my 68 year-old grey matter)
Duolingo (I was told when I retired that it's good practice to learn a new language, so I'm swatting up on my school German and school/university French, and learning Italian)
9 Walking (a decent distance at a speed that get speeds up my heart- and breath-rates)

and there's

3 TED (a daily TED Talk or similar to teach me something new, or to give me a new perspective on something.)
7 Reading (a novel, alongside one or two non-fictions that serve much the same purpose as TED)
5 Writing (not just this blog, nor the book-writing I attempt, but also fun writing exercises from a fabulous little book I was given by a friend)
which leaves

2 Meditation (something I'm new to and not yet made a habit. I use a really good app to lead me through each one)
and 8 Music (not as a background to the washing-up or whatever, but sitting down and listening with headphones and really paying attention to it. I'm amazed by the huge number of songs I'd never really heard properly!)

Obviously, it's rare for me to tick off every one of those on any one day, because there are other things to do with my life. And I've not yet tried it out whilst on the cut when I don't spend as much time below deck as I am at the moment (and who knows when we'll be able to cruise again!) but I find it a helpful list, the nine activities give me a lot of pleasure, and I always have something enjoyable to do.


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