Notes from April 2023

This essay initially appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 5/8/23.

Looking back on the month of April today! I love taking a moment to scroll through my photos and reference my calendar to think about what I enjoyed, learned and want to remember from the month that just passed. A lot can happen in the span of four weeks.

First, a check-in on aspirations I set at the beginning of the month… 

• Journal most mornings. Check! I’m happy this was something I added in last month. I feel a lot more connected to myself when I’m doing some kind of journaling consistently.  
• Lean into cooking and meal prepping. I did not do this, sadly! I recently ordered two new cookbooks – Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. and Rise and Run –so I have lots of inspiration, but it didn’t happen this month.
• Relax on Sundays. Ever since reading this article, I keep thinking about the idea of having one day a week (like a Sunday) that’s unstructured and rest focused. Calling this one ‘complete’ for April because I think I was more intentional about pursuing rest on Sunday. I wasn’t perfect about it, but I did find I liked reserving most of Sunday for just rest and recharge time before the new week begings.  
• Try CorePower Yoga. Didn’t get to this one either – will save for another month!  

And some other notes from April…

• The saying I kept thinking about in April is that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion” (a phenomenon otherwise known as Parkinson’s Law). I thought of it because I worked on two very quick-turn projects in April. In both instances, I was just amazed at the amount of work the team was able to get done in a short period of time. A large amount of effort was needed, but it really surprised me how fast things could move with constrained timelines. On the flipside, I also thought about this idea because toward the end of the month, I could feel some signs of burnout start to trickle in. I realized (mostly through journaling!) that I didn’t have much going on outside of work in April, so I had unintentionally (or maybe intentionally) been filling evening time, weekend time, early morning time with work, or thinking about work. Work had expanded to fill the time allotted. It was a good reminder for myself of the importance of adding non-work things to my plate. While it might feel counterintuitive (more commitments = more balanced?), it does actually help me work in a more sustainable way. When I know I have something in the evening or on the weekend, I have to work quicker and more efficiently during the day. Plus, I need those breaks (both mentally and physically) afforded by the non-work activities. Just the act of shutting down my laptop and leaving my apartment at the end of the day helps me disconnect. This all might sound pretty straightforward and simple, but I’ve found as someone who works predominantly from home, lives by herself and doesn’t have a lot of extra responsibilities (no kids or pets), I need to be intentional about building in those boundaries to keep work from feeling all consuming (if I wanted to just keep working past 5 PM into the evening… I could…). Anyone else feel this? I’m excited to focus on this some more next month.
• While I worked a lot in April, I also READ a lot. I read Pineapple Street, Adelaide, Soul Shift, How to Do Nothing, and Ruthless Elimination of Hurry last month. I would say the theme of the month was “books with pretty covers,” haha. Here were some of my favorites:
  • Pineapple Street: I saw this book everywhere (it has an amazing cover) and read it for book club. I liked how easy it was to read, but something was missing for me. Not a lot happens in the plot, and I also think it is supposed to be a bit satirical? Unsure. When talking about it with my mom last week, we finally figured out how to describe it – reading the book felt like “people watching.” Enjoyable and entertaining, but not super deep or engrossing. It would be the perfect book to read on a vacation.
  • Adelaide: Adelaide was my Book of the Month pick. It caught my eye because the cover is very pretty, but it came with a lot of trigger warnings – and for good reason. The book is more on the dark romance side, but wow is it powerful to read. The writing is INCREDIBE, and it was one of those books I couldn’t put down, even though it was really hard to read at times.
  • How to Do Nothing: Also a book I chose because of the cover (told you that was the theme of the month!). I liked this book, but it was a lot more scholarly than I was anticipating. It did make me think, which I loved, but I wished there had been a few more practical or tactical suggestions.
• My birthday was also in April! I turned 29 and celebrations included a pre-birthday dinner with Matt, really fun Easter Sunday celebration with family friends, and lunch out with girlfriends the weekend following. My actually birthday was on a Tuesday, so I took the whole day off work. I hadn’t done that before, but I loved having a full day to do some of my favorite activities (long run, walk, nails, nice lunch out with a book). I was inspired by this podcast episode on how to celebrate your own birthday. Worth a listen and reflection before your next birthday!
• I also had a 24-hour stomach bug one weekend in April and oof, it was rough. I can’t remember the last time I felt that sick, and thankfully it passed really quickly, but getting sick really makes you appreciate your health and the “normal” times. So happy to be feeling fine!