My friend Rebecca posted this great article on Facebook the other day. I like this “play list” idea for my overarching resolution theme of: “use time meaningfully.” I have often overscheduled my calendar, even back when I used a paper planner. I wanted to fill every blank space with an activity so that I’d feel accomplished, and I didn’t realize that I should allow buffer time between activities and rest time for recharging. I still overestimate how much running or barre I can do. I schedule out a ton of workouts and then realize that I have to cancel them.
“THE DARE
Create a play list. Write down three activities you could do for hours on end. Mine are reading, editing photos on my computer and playing Ping-Pong with my family.
Now carve out time on your calendar. Even when I’m busiest, I schedule unstructured time. It’s important to protect playtime the way you protect work, church or PTA meetings.
Play well with others. When my husband and kids made their own play lists, we realized that our usual vacations, which involved sightseeing, weren’t really anyone’s idea of play. So now we go places where we can hike, swim and play cards—things that make us all our most silly, creative and free-spirited selves.”
My Play List
1) Reading.
Library books (physical ones or downloaded to the iPad via Overdrive).
2) Doing jigsaw puzzles.
Some of my favorite vacations have been New Hampshire cabin “staycations” with my fiance. We buy lots of food, drink, and firewood for the staycations and spend most of our time doing a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle next to a roaring fire with our latest tv series of interest (e.g., House of Cards, Scandal) on in the background.
3) Knitting.
I don’t know how to knit well enough to make a project yet, but I imagine that my love for jigsaw puzzles will transfer over to knitting. After I take a basics class and develop some skills, I’ll happily make scarves, coffee cozies, and mason jar cozies!
