Weekly thing is my series of quick reflections and plans. It goes out, as expected, at the end of every week. The aim is to use this consistent writing to give myself more grace and more inspiration when progress (in other things) is sluggish.
Hi friends,
Well, the first week of 2024 is over.
I'm really enjoying the neatness of Monday being the 1st of January, making Sunday (today) the 7th. It just scratches an itch that’s not unlike the whole ‘set your volume to even number’ thing.
However, just like everyone else1, I'm struggling to get back on the productivity train. And this is me, someone who’s generally far, far away from the train tracks! That's what happens when Monday is a public holiday; you just lose a day to do the regular 7-day routine. At least that's what I'm telling myself when I start to beat myself up too much. Next week will be less exhausting, hopefully.
Something I Did:
What didn't I do this week?
There was a extended family lunch with Joshua’s family on Monday, I had to finish my library books on Thursday, plan content for the new business, and complete a bunch of small tasks that I've been procrastinating on, including the lovely infographic below:
Thankfully, I gave up on New Year’s Resolutions years ago, so I'm not on a ‘New Year, New Me’ shit, but I still have a bunch of 2024 goals that have kicked in this year.
Recently read: Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. One of the aforementioned library books I completed in a single three-hour sitting. I don't know how I feel about the author, who seems white, writing (not the first time!) a book where the main character is POC2, but I have to admit that she's excellent at writing books that pull you in. My partner described it perfectly as a ‘very compelling beach read’ and I'll run with that.
Something I'm Doing:
This year is going to be the year I fix my back problems, which mean that I've made my first appointment with a trainer that Joshua has worked with before.
Regardless of whether you know the amount of fitness-related shit I've been through though or not, I think it's pretty clear I don't like exercise. My mind is now doing the ‘flight or fight’ I know so well, so it's taking a lot to keep my goal in mind instead of letting the catastrophising kill me.
Also, I don't know if you can tell, but I'm trying to be a bit more thorough with my Weekly Things. I'll explain it in the segment below.
Something I'm Thinking About:
This is admittedly silly of me, but a comedian I love, who has just started writing on Substack, has already had one of her newsletters featured by the editors.
As much as I'm trying to be logical and sensible about it (she's a goddamn professional, she already has an audience, we have different goals, etc), my mind is nothing but not superbly adept at making me doubt myself. The number of illogical comparisons I'm feeling is making me write this with a bit more effort than usual.
I don't know how I feel about it; I do like the idea of being more intentional with everything (including Weekly Thing!) but this was also supposed to be a reprieve from being too verbose…I'm sure there's a middle ground somewhere, but I haven't found it.
See you soon,
Charing
I assume
I hope I'm missing some piece of the puzzle that makes it okay but I really don't have any insight here