Why is This Taking So Long?

So I finally finished reading my first book of 2019 and it was a great one. You can see the review I wrote in the previous blog post. However, this book took me about 3 days longer to read than I thought it would and I kept asking myself why it was taking so long? One reason could be because I really enjoyed the book and I was pausing to reflect as I was reading and taking notes about what I could put into my own practice. Another reason could be that I have just been running non stop since the 2nd with various tasks that I did not have the time to devote to reading as I normally would and I was feeling more tired when I got home from work than usual (the weather isn’t helping).

The third reason is probably more likely which is I am too hard on myself and so what if it took a few days more to read a book than it normally would take me. Who was setting these deadlines for reading anyway? As well why do you think a 280 page book should only take you 3 days maximum - where did this imaginary reference point come from? 

At the same time I have not been doing a great job at my 1500 words of writing a day resolution and I am thinking of revising it already. 1500 words is a lot of words to ask of someone in a day. 6000 words is actually too much to ask of someone in a week. I need to tone down my overachiever and maybe set the bar at 1000. 4000 words a week is more than reasonable; in fact 3000 words a week is plenty. I know going back on a resolution type thing less than 2 weeks after it was set is poor form, however, I want to make sure I get to do the other things I want to do as well.  I am also practicing more self-awareness in this change and giving myself the space to really think things through and live in my thought process more. 

I have started using my commute time in the morning not as blog writing time, unless I am inspired by something, but rather as reflection time so I can start the day with a vision of what I want to accomplish or practice during the day instead of having my face in my phone from the wee hours of the day. Small steps for a new year so that when July comes I’m not completely wiped out with another half year to go. These two last blog posts are being written care of me waking up at 4am instead of 6am, so maybe these changes will also help my sleep pattern. Here’s to a restful remainder of January.