I’ve been heads down on a couple of all consuming projects at home and at work in the past 6 months. I observed 4 trade-offs I made during this time –
(1) Exercise was sporadic. I’m not as fit as I’d like to be.
(2) I chose short-form reading over long-form reading. So, I’ve read fewer books this year than most. I also found myself more sucked in than usual to casual browsing on the phone.
(3) I did a poorer job setting boundaries. There was a lot of work and little downtime.
(4) I was more sleep deprived than usual.
Over the past decade, I’ve cultivated an annual ritual of taking extended time off in the last ~3 weeks of the year – to rest, recharge, and reset. As I begin that process this year, I thought I’d start by taking stock of the trade-offs I’ve made in the past months.
As both projects are in a healthier place, I’m hoping I’ll be able to make fewer trade-offs in the new year. But, healthy habits won’t magically reappear on January 1st. It will take intention, thought, and focus to reset.
And, a big part of the starting that reset process is being honest about what hasn’t worked in the past months.
