Another month has flown by! Can you believe it?
HIGHLIGHTS
Tom’s sister getting married, a very fun night indeed. Celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary with a little staycation in the hinterland. Plus a couple of nights of delicious dining at No Bones in Byron Bay and Paper Daisy at Cabarita.
Working with some exciting new brands. Spending a few days with my brother and sister-in-law and their 7 month old twin boys. It’s such a joy to see how much they have grown and watch their little personalities develop. A little bit of pampering while Tom was away on a boys surf trip – massage, facial, manicure = bliss!
Getting back into painting and music again. Living in my beautiful new, zero waste activewear from NAGNATA
NOT-SO-HIGHLIGHTS
I have mixed feelings about labelling it a not-so-highlight. But Tom being away on a boys surf trip in Sumatra for two weeks was not super fun for me. Even though I was happy for him to have the opportunity to spend some time away with his friends.
I’ve had quite a few weeks of back pain after sitting in the hairdressers chair for 5 hours. My lower back just locked up a bit and was SO painful. Also annoying run of northerly winds really messing up the surf at the pass… I feel like I haven’t surfed at all for the last month!
THIS MONTH’S GAMECHANGER
Getting a new, taller laptop stand plus a keyboard and mouse to try and fix my posture when working at my desk. It’s already been such a game changer in the last few weeks! I’m really hopeful that it will help reduce the amount on tension I get in my shoulders as well as headaches. The stand lifts my screen up to a better height so my neck isn’t constantly tilted forward. Plus the keyboard and mouse means I can sit back in my chair and keep my shoulders relaxed.
I mean I still have to break bad habits, like sitting on one foot, or one knee bent up and hunched over it like a weirdo. Any physio would be horrified to see my desk posture – my husband often remarks at how stupid I look. But I mean, hopefully this is a start.
This is the laptop stand I purchased. I also just got the Apple mouse + keyboard to complete my new set up.
LEARN
Inspired by my husband who did this course, but also listening to various podcasts I decided to learn how to learn. It’s something we’re just expected to intuit, but so often the way we are taught or self-learn how to learn is incredibly inefficient.
So I decided to take a course in learning. It’s free through Coursera [find it here] – I’ve only started in the last week, but really enjoying it so far.
I’ve also been intrigued to learn more about Tim Ferriss’ DSSS learning method for becoming “world class” at almost anything within 6-12 months.
I’ve already been trying to use the Pomodoro technique when working on my computer to try and mitigate time wasted getting distracted. It’s not always useful for creative work, because sometimes you need kind of need to let yourself get lost in it to get to the really good stuff. But it’s perfect for admin tasks. Or sometimes just to set a time limit on a task so you can keep track of time (without having to check your phone, and hence opening to door to more opportunity for distraction. This is the app I’ve been using [just a free version]
LISTEN
Lately I’ve been loving listening to… for lack of a better description “background music”. Just soft, easy listening music, maybe with a beat or maybe alittle more atmospheric. I find this particularly helpful when I’m doing work as I find having something playing helps me get in the zone, but music with lyrics is sometimes too distracting.
Here are some favourite spotify playlists I’m loving right now
Some favourite podcasts this last month:
Tim Ferriss Show episode #138: How Seth Godin Manages his Life – Rules, Principles, Obsessions
Oprah’s Super Soul Sundays – Elizabeth Gilbert – The Curiostiy -Driven Life
Tim Ferriss Show episode #122: The Magic of Mindfulness: Complain Less, Appreciate More, and Live a Better Life – Different to Tim’s usual long-form interview format, this is just a bite-sized episode talking about the daily/quarterly/yearly practices he does to try and foster mindfulness and gratitude in his life. I really enjoyed it as there are just some very practical, actionable ideas from the episode. Looking to buy the 5 minute journal he mentions! [you can buy it here]
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