Sorry for being MIA last week. Short story for another week. I was in India for 10ish days, and we travelled to 5 cities, met family and relatives, and tackled a huge list of life-admin tasks.
I even got my brows done because every time I have to pay Ā£10 pounds for it, my Indian-parlour-wali-aunty might be losing her soul.
Once back on my laptop and opening Substack/Twitter/ LinkedIn/ Slack, I felt very disoriented. Very much off track.
And we all have these phases where we feel we have fallen off our track.
Maybe you too time off traveling like me. Or recovering from sickness/periods. Or been dealing with a lot of family/admin stuff that needed a lot of you. Or just simply being in a funk.
Hereās how I kinda pull myself back.
fall back on the system
I find it really funny to write this but whenever I want to get out of a funk, the first thing I do is I start sleeping on time.
For me, sleeping on time means I wake up early. I am a morning person and the few hours of focus time in the morning really makes or breaks my days and hence weeks. That focus time helps me get sh^t done, feel more in control of my to-do list, creating space to go to gym or meet a friend or cook myself a comfort meal.
So identify that lever in your system - pulling which your system will start running back on track. That one micro-habit that will help you assemble your routine back. Have patience and repeat for a few days.
While you are at it, look at what youāve been feeding your body. Make yourself some fresh wholesome meals and donāt forget to drink tons of water lol.
minimize the noise
If thereās chaos inside me, last thing I need to see is someone thriving and eating pasta in Italy. I go off social media to reduce my triggers and make some space in my head.
Notice when there is too much noise around you - drowning your signal to find your way back.
This could look like clearing up your social calendar to spend time with yourself, resetting your space, purging through your digital world, reducing things on your to-do list. The act of reduction helps carve your identity stronger.
slow down to go faster
In my own words, feeling unsettled, comparative, or not confident in your path is also a signal of not being internally aligned with your goals.
Sometimes, it also means you need to stop and breathe.
Just this week I had to take day off because I was feeling so sick and off track and out of control. A few hours of sleep and soup fixed all (well some!) of my problems.
do that one thing
What does being on-track look like for you? Start with just one thing on that list.
For me itās writing. Giving myself permission to be not perfect and sending this out brings me closer to my routine.
So hereās your sign to do the same.
Hope this helps. x
š my favorites this week
I finished 2 books on this trip and both of them have been exceptionally engaging.
š The Marriage Portrait by Maggie OāFarelle
First book Iāve read where the narrator comes across as unreliable. Itās gripping and if you want a peak into royal renaissance italian landscape, this one is for you.
š The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros
Itās like Game of Throne x Divergent x Hunger Games with a love story which has great banter? My only qualm, I have to now wait for the rest of the parts to come out!
š 500,000 by
An inspiring, actionable read on writing that can be applied to almost all creative endeavour.
š¹ How to improve your mood by Radhi Devlukia
She recently restarted her youtube channel and Iāve binged quite a few of her videos!
šø This matka kulfi I had after a long, noisy, dusty day in Kolkata - such a bliss.
šµ Before you go..
The first design tea club session is next week!!!
And I am sharing all the tea behind my journey to becoming a senior product designer. š
How I asked my manager(s)? What happened when they said no? Did I quiet quit? How did it finally happen?
I have been wanting to start curating these small safe spaces with people on same wavelength. We have 4 spaces left.
Sign up here. Hope to see you. š¤
Talk next week, Chhavi x
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