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thought for the day
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The mobile devices today add to the problem - we are constantly available to anyone who wishes to contact us. All sorts of pings and buzzes remind us we should check what's the matter and what we should do now.
Try putting your phone / computer to a mode where it doesn't try to get your attention all the time. Off with the alarms and notices. Decide when you will look at the emails, the messages, the projects. Put these in your calendar and stick to your decision.
And then the hard part - distance yourself from your intelligent devices. Put them or yourself in another room / place entirely. Read a book. Do yoga. Take a nap.
And plan for times when you don't do anything. Free hours just for yourself. Don't let work seep into those hours. It is important you really put these in your calendar so that your work-oriented brain takes it more seriously (as it probably is addicted to your calendar and to-do-lists).
You don't have to take all the extra work offered to you.
Start considering free time as a form of money, if that helps. You might even put a little sum aside every time you manage to have an unplanned hour and reward yourself by using that money to something you love. Or use some other reward-system. Stickers in your calendar? A big X drawn on your wall calendar when you gave time to yourself? Just make it as important as work in your calendar.
It may be a bit difficult at first, not to be productive all the time, but keep on keeping on. One day you notice the "should-do-voice" in your mind isn't as loud as it used to be. Maybe one day it shuts up completely during your free time. (And if it doesn't show signs of giving up, do the old trick of jotting down the tasks it tries to bring to your attention and not looking at that thing until your free time ends. This assures that little hysterical voice that you have taken note - literally - and will return to the matter later. And do use old fashioned pen and paper for this - it's dangerous to take your phone in your hands or you might find yourself checking the social media and other time-sucks.)
So, now go ahead take your calendar and make a date with free time.
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Daily quote
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The woman turned to the book on the podium and extended her hand. Her fingers hovered above its cracked leather-covered wooden surface without touching it. Within the covers, odd-sized pages of papyrus, parchment and even metal were tied loosely together, giving the effect of a sorcerer's scrap book. The cover was embossed with strange gilded markings and the stones that decorated it were all black. Ornate protective metal pieces gleamed at each corner. One piece of ancient papyrus jutted out between the covers just far enough to show some writing, but she couldn't see enough of the words to read them. She took hold of the edge, but before she could yank it out there was an electric snap and sparks burned her fingers. Shaking her hand, she turned away. - Leena Maria / Space Witches 1 / The Book of Witches |
I sell my books directly too - the ebooks are cheap to buy and the big e-stores don't share much to the author. So I have downloaded my ebooks to Payhip - they don't take commission and I get more to pay for my editor, proofreader and cover designer. All of whom are one-woman businesses themselves. |
If you prefer to write a short happy note each day, I have created planners for this effect. You can write your daily happiness in the squares of the weekly spread - and plan future happiness using the monthly pages. There are even happy (repositionable) stickers included in the planner.
You are welcome to read these posts here on my website. If, however, you'd like to receive them into your email daily, click the link below.
Here's the link to the subscription page of this Daily Happiness Journal post
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Upon subscribing you will get the Prequel to Nephilim Quest: Angel. Over two hundred years before Nephilim Quest 1 / Shadowhunter the roots of the story are planted. A little girl missing her mother, in the palace of the mightiest of the dark Nephilim, hoping for an escape ... This book is not for sale anywhere - only readers who have subscribed to my mailing list will get it. | |||||