How do you measure a year?

Calendars, journal entries, and recs!

Before we get into the topic at hand, I have an exciting event announcement! This Needs Hot Sauce is going to a Cyclones game on August 5th. If you buy tickets via this link, you’ll be in our section and if 50 of you come, we all get free hats! It’s a Friday night game which means fireworks at the end and I’m so excited to hang out in Coney Island with y’all. It’s so much fun! Again, buy your tickets here to be part of the section and please bring friends!

Sunset at Coney Island, what could be better? Photo by Seth Hoffman on Unsplash

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Okay, now onto calendars/journaling. I’m in a Mastermind workshop led by Lissette this summer and it’s been great so far. One of the early topics was calendaring and Lissette shared that she builds her calendars backwards, starting with the nonnegotiables of yourself and your relationships and then adding in all the work stuff. Hearing her say this inspired me to set up some more standing slots in my calendar—I already have Monday nights blocked off for the Bachelor franchise (btw, if you’re a fan, sign this petition for increased body diversity in the franchise).

I’ve written before about my tortured relationship with the concept of productivity and it’s hard to strike a balance of optimizing your calendar and giving yourself grace. When I first started working with Leah, one of the first things she asked me was what my ideal workday would look like. I was bracing myself to be told to wake up way earlier or start my weeks with a brisk jog (I hate running). I told her I prefer to wake up around 8 (I’ve gone back and forth with even including that, it feels late to admit, which is ridiculous) and she simply said, “Okay, and then what do you like to do once you wake up?” I had internalized so much hustle culture garbage about how days are supposed to look for “success” that I was convinced I had to change my circadian rhythms, not an easy feat! 8 months later and I still wake up between 7:30 and 8:30. And it’s fine, great even, because I’m well rested.