Find Your Footing

find your footing

Entering the fourth week at my new job, I can say this: I’m exhausted. It’s not just because I’m back to getting up super early to write and run before work, but also because of how ‘draining’ being around other people can be. Especially when I think of myself as an introvert. It is still an adjustment, and even though I know it can take time to find your footing, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Getting Back on Track

As I continue to acclimatize to my new schedule and work environment, I’m also figuring out [again] how to make time for the things I love—like writing and running. To do that, I’m rereading Cal Newport’s Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World and Nir Eyal’s Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. When you’re exhausted, like I am most evenings, it’s easy to give myself over to more shallow tasks (scrolling on social media, binge-watching on Tubi, etc.). Although I know distractions pull be away from the things I want to do, it’s still hard to disconnect.

Distraction, it turns out, isn’t about the distraction itself; rather, it’s about how we respond to it.¹ – Nir Eyal

Admittedly, I’ve slipped back into some bad habits that hinder focus and impact productivity. Slowly, I’m working to become ‘indistractable.’ Like during my morning commute when I read on the train. And on the way home, I’m using the Notes app on my phone to write. This prevents me from scrambling on the weekend to write and edit a blog post that’s due out the following Monday. It’s all about…

Small Changes

If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that incremental change is better for me than trying to necessarily go all in. Of course, it depends on the task. But if I start out slowly and can see the change it effects, I’ll build momentum. That will give me the motivation to keep going. It’s because of those small changes that you’re able to…