Adding Something New… Even When Things Are Busy

This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 7/10/23.

It’s officially my first time writing this newsletter from the new apartment! How exciting!

I am in love with my working setup here. As I write to you now, I am sitting in a bay window, basking in the natural light afforded by the three adjoining windows. A big, full tree takes up most of my view straight-ahead, and below it I see a cute, quintessential Lincoln Park street, filled with shops and coffee cafes and walkers.

PINCH ME. After a stressful apartment search, I am feeling very thankful for this window and this view.

It’s in these catch-my-breath moments that I’m reminded of just how fast life’s been moving lately. I can’t believe I’m sitting in a new apartment writing to you. I can’t believe it’s JULY! Between preparing to move and moving and attending fun weddings and other celebrations and WORK, life has been fun… but also full. Just as I remind myself that this bay window view was all I wished for when I was in the midst of apartment hunting, I remind myself of times when I longed for my calendar to be booked and to feel busy.

One surprising experience I’ve had during this time is that I’ve found adding something new to my plate to be a helpful stabilizer. During this busy time, I’ve started my half marathon training (I’m running my first half at the end of September!) and, seriously, it’s been great.

I remember talking to my mom a few weeks back – right in the thick of the move – and telling her how glad I was to have my half marathon training plan.

“It feels like it would be a burden or ‘just another thing,’ but it’s not! It’s a relief to not have to make the decision about when/if I’m running – I just look at my plan and go,” I told her excitedly over the phone. 

It’s nice to have something outside of work, moving, and social commitments to work toward, just for myself.

I thought this experience might be unique to me (I mean, I do love a checklist an excessive amount…), until I heard this episode of the Happier podcast with Gretchen Rubin. In it, she talks about the following passage in Christopher Isherwood’s memoir, My Guru and His Disciple:

“I had given up the habit [of cigarette smoking] with difficulty in 1941, because I was upset about my parting from Vernon and wanted to raise my morale by asserting my willpower.”

Raise morale by… asserting willpower? Sounds counterintuitive, right?

But as Gretchen writes, “One thing that has surprised me, in my work life, is that sometimes, when I’m feeling very overloaded, I feel better when I tackle something big and new. There’s an energy and excitement that comes from a new challenge. It’s often tempting to think, ‘I’m doing too much, I’m so stressed out, I can’t ask this of myself, I need to cut back.’ But it may be that asking more of ourselves will actually make us feel more competent, more energized, and less stressed.”

Tackling something new doesn’t have to mean half marathon training. And of course, sometimes taking on something new is not AT ALL feasible or even the right choice. Sometimes hitting pause on it all is what’s needed.

BUT in case you are in a similar season of busyness and fullness and feeling like you are in need of some kind of boost, wanted to share something that worked for me and surprised me.

Have you ever experienced something similar? Would love to know!