017. How are you feeling about reaching the middle of the year?
Every issue of Moment comes with a question designed to gently nudge you towards working well: making your mental health part of your self-employed business plan.
017. How are you feeling about reaching the middle of the year?
It’s the first week of June. Where did this year go?
Time has definitely been broken in the past 18 months. Days have gone in a flash, weeks have dragged on for years, and I’m still not really clear on what to do the clocks change, and I’m sure it was February only yesterday, right?
So how are you feeling about it rapidly approaching the mid-point of the year?
Are you freaking out about how quickly it's gone? Are you on progress for where you wanted to be? Are you ahead, or haven't really even thought about planning out goals for the year? Are you just pretty relaxed, and enjoying the flow?
Not all of us have a clearly defined set of monthly, quarterly and annual targets and goals - indeed, uncertainty and finding it hard to plan for the future are two of the defining traits for self-employment - yet even if you’ve not got a super tangible or set of ‘SMART’ objectives, you’ll have a feeling about how you’re progressing through the year.
What is that feeling? Is it positive, anxious, satisfied, could-have-tried-harder, itching for a break, over-delivered, surprised we’re even at this moment?
Take today’s Moment to think about how you’re feeling.
You don’t need to do anything based upon that feeling, but simply try to be more aware of it. Being more aware of how we’re feeling about things is a powerful tool. It’s not judgemental, it’s not forcing you into action, but simply being aware, and letting yourself say “hey, that’s interesting, that’s how I’m feeling right now about this”.
Creating your working wellbeing plan isn’t always about adding another thing to your todo list, but sometimes just creating the time to listen to yourself and your own needs.
WORKING WELLBEING PLAN: TASK
Create a schedule of dates where you’re going to spend time reflecting on the year to date, and looking forward to the rest of the year, giving yourself permission and time to find those moments to ask how you’re feeling. Add them to your diary, and protect the time. Don’t add too many dates in your diary to start with - perhaps just three or four. When you reach each moment of reflection, capture the feelings in your journal, and review the previous moment’s journal entry.
Leave a comment below to share your reflections,
or visit Leapers to discuss the question further.
Things we read this week:
Strategies for dealing with burnout - from the Planning Dirty academy
30 Hour Jobs - job board for shorter working weeks
Tyranny of the Shoulds - podcast episode feat. member Claire S.
Is the commute good for you? - the debate around commutes, boundaries and mental health
Reframing negative mindsets - techniques to shift your perspective when feeling down
What if remote work didn’t mean WFH - I think we already know it doesn’t have to
Hard conversations - advice for talking about thorny topics