The Octopus does less than the minimum
and therefore gets more done with less stress. Mostly.
Preliminaries:
Workshops: This Wednesday is my first in-person healthy eating workshop! I’ll be serving lunch and talking about how to put together an infinitely-variable healthy meal. I’ll also talk about how to prioritize while making eating choices, and plan on answering lots of questions.
Qoya: Qoya and other movement classes are on hold right now. I’m still dealing with all the fallout of the destruction of our new (to us) car in March, plus, I’m starting massage school this month. Things are crazy.
Pro-tip, for no particular reason. Even if you buy a used car, the insurance company won’t necessarily reimburse you all of what you paid if it’s totaled shortly after you bought it. Negotiate final sale price accordingly.
Also, if you need to get a windshield replaced, test the seal because it’s possible someone messed up and put enough sealant around the edges. And then water will get into the engine and fry the wiring harnesses. And then your perfectly good, brand-new-to-you car will be totaled by the insurance company. And then you’re brain will explode. Not that I know about any of this personally or anything… Anyway, onward!
Less than the minimum
The best advice I've ever come across for how to get things done when you can't actually get everything done is to do less than the minimum. Which is another way of saying you can adjust your standards to fit your reality. Doing something is better than doing nothing, even if it isn't as good as you want.
I'm supposed to get thirty minutes of exercise a day, every day? Three servings of vegetables at each meal? Vacuum every carpet and rug every week? Are you crazy? How many hours do you think are in my days?
When the recommendations and rules--whether "official" or just a standard that exists in my head--collide with my reality, I get overwhelmed and then paralysed.
I don't have time for the full thirty minutes, so I guess I can't exercise.
I don't have three veggies that I can have with breakfast, so I guess I'll just eat a donut.
I can't vacuum the whole house today, so I guess it'll have to wait until next week.
As a perfectionist, my default setting is to ACHIEVE. I end up either half-killing myself trying to get everything done, or defeated and depressed since I can't actually live up to my standards. Ugh. Neither one is a kind way to treat myself.
Less than the minimum.
I can just do less than the minimum.
A revelation. Revolutionary. Mind-blowing. Miraculous.
I should be doing my corrective exercises every day in order to deal with my foot pain. Sometimes I just can't. Right now I'm rolling a mini-tennis ball under my foot as I type because something is better than nothing. And I've found that even that little bit helps.
I should chop all the veggies and precook meats and premix sauces every Sunday so that I can easily and effortlessly throw together dinners. Sometimes it just doesn't get done. But having some things prepped helps. Or even just making sure that I've got ingredients and some sort of plan makes a difference.
There is no way on God's green earth that I'm ever going to vacuum everything over the course of one week, let alone on one day. But I can make sure the robot vacuum is charged and have it do one space. And then, a few days later, do another space. It's not the same as having the whole house sparkling, but it certainly makes it better.
I don't always remember, of course, that I can just do less than the minimum. Because STANDARDS! But when I do, it takes away so much stress and tension.
I don't have to do it all. I really, really don't. I can just do the amount that I'm able to do. And IT IS ENOUGH.