Life has been good. Chill but Consistent Movements It’s been a half-month of predominant light walking workouts. I think this is the time where I really learn the value of slowing down. Brain fog is gone, the junk food consumption is starting to taper off naturally, and the weight is slowly but surely shedding itself along with it. I have a 2000-step minimum daily on my temporary smartwatch, and the current challenge is maintaining good sleep hours for recovery.
Summer is about to end here in Manila and we are experiencing the occasional drizzles ushering in the June rainy season. But my fever for my newfound routine has been going along swimmingly. The walking pad I bought from Shopee has been a godsend; even on days I did not hit my 8 hours of sleep, I still manage to do a light physical activity to jumpstart my morning. Much of the brain fog has been reduced, my usage of my gadgets have been intentional, and nobody has been hijacking my attention on my inboxes lately.
Recently, I learned about the power of the ridiculously easy. I overcome every difficult day with a ridiculously easy task. I usually focus on just a single task. I treat that one task as the big to do. I make the task so laughably easy like brush my teeth, stand instead of lie down, leave the bedroom, go to the portico instead of sit in front of the TV, or do some 3 minutes of breath work and body scanning (when my monkey mind keeps me from sustaining a strong 20-minute meditation session).
As I am typing this article, I am still genuinely amazed. To be quite honest, I still can’t believe I am writing technical tutorials in the internet on topics that I am incredibly passionate about here on my website and in other places. For almost half a decade, I was on the fringe or the neighboring fences of data science work. I was drawn to data, I had a bit of a knack for numbers, and I adored the “data deadlifters” in my country and overseas.
Lately, I have been noticing a fluctuation in my productivity levels. Instead of fighting it, I began to try to understand it and work on it with a pinch of self-compassion and self-care. This month has been particularly challenging because I am in a career transition and I needed to meet both existing commitments and prepare for a new chapter at the same time. The simultaneous demands did require me to consolidate my entire life management system into a combination of a few technology tools: Cloud Storage for PARA system folder, Notion personal knowledge management system, and Monday boards for project tracking.
Curious Toddler Goes Back to School After postponing our eldest son’s supposed formal entry to school, my husband and I finally hopped on a call with the school administrator here in our village for their “new normal” enrichment programs for kids. For a good year, I was in denial and felt like we can postpone the schooling until normal days come back again. It does not look like normal days are coming back anytime soon.
One of the habits I picked up during this pandemic is the addiction to my fitness journey. When I started having a more active lifestyle through working out regularly, there are changes that I noticed. I gradually lost weight (and that’s a topic for another post entirely) and my proportions are leaner. But apart from that, I became stronger, I had less brain fog, and I was able to sustain my gains in muscle building and fat loss.