I have two weeks and three days off work and as I’m not headed off on holiday it is a rare opportunity to have buckets of time for myself. Come the 1st September I don’t want to realize I’ve spent over a fortnight in my pajamas having achieved nothing.

At the same time it is not about putting pressure on myself to achieve the unachievable and fill every second of every day. I sometimes have the problem of wanting to do everything now, and feeling very disappointed when 90% of it doesn’t end up happening. So there’s no pressure. Everything should be enjoyable and fill me with a sense of achievement. No anxiety. Lots of rest and relaxation. It is a holiday after all!

Completing my list each day should give me the energy and motivation to make it easier to complete the list the next day. And by the end of my holiday I’ll be able to do these things and spend eight hours at work too.

Ultimately in two weeks time I’d like to have lots of energy and feel like Tigger on a good day. “bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun”

Helen’s Day:

1. Exercise
This is the easiest way to get energized. Well it is if you don’t see exercise as something that HAS to be done. I am prone to the sulky teenager approach of knowing that I should exercise regularly but refusing to actually enjoy it. But it’s time to change that. I want to enjoy exercise and make it part of my routine. Not only will it help my mental health, but physically I’ll be much healthier too.

2. Eat exciting food
There are piles of recipes that I’d love to make but never get round to. I love cooking so this isn’t a chore. Making the choice to eat something I would really enjoy every day sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Yum.

3. Meditate
Whether it’s three minutes or thirty minutes I know that meditation really does help me feel better and more energized.

4. Write a blog
I love writing so this should be a completely enjoyable part of my day. It doesn’t matter what I write about, or how long or short it is, as long as I post something.

5. Write a page of my novel
I’m currently reading ‘The Right to Write’ by Julia Cameron. It is a fantastically inspirational book. As a result I’m aiming to stop putting pressure on myself to write reams of perfect prose every day. Instead I will write a page of my novel, even if I come out with the worst page of writing in the world. Of course I can write more if I want, and it can be fabulous too, but a page will do just fine.

6. Do one thing on my ‘To-Do List’
My ‘To-Do’ list doesn’t exist yet, so that is my one thing for today. Write it my ‘To-Do’ list. The idea is there’s lost of things I’d like to do or need to do. Some are exciting, like visiting York, others are things I put of, like clearing my desk in the spare bedroom. The idea of this is that after 14 days I’ll have done 14 things I’ve either been putting off or haven’t got round to.  That can only fill me with a sense of achievement!