At the end of April I took up a short term contract for three days a week work outside of the home. It is a great opportunity to undertake a social media and digital marketing role for an excellent not for profit.
Having only worked from home the last 11 years, needless to say, it has been a bit of a change for me to head out three mornings a week to the city. The change however has been very smooth for the family and I can honestly say the plans and routines I have in place have made it that way.
Menu planning and weekly meal prep have been essential to ensure we are all eating well and at a reasonable time for dinner. I wrote about this in my June menu planning post which you can read here.
As the kids already have well established routines in the morning, getting themselves ready, it has meant I can still fit my exercise in each day and have time to get myself ready without rushing. (You can read a bit more about my morning routines in the table below.)
I am enjoying working in the office with a really great team and I feel this change has given such a boost to my goal for the year which was to:
Nurture new routines to re-energise, re-invigorate and create personal growth.
The role is a great mix of feeling like I positively contribute to the not for profit’s goals and I am also learning from those I work with.
It has been over 18 years since I have worked in an office environment, so this still has a great novelty factor for me and it is really nice to have people to talk to during your work day – I am used to chatting to our dog!
I am still tweaking routines here and there to get the best result for everyone, so am sure I will make more changes over the next few weeks. This in itself has been re-energising, mixing things up which have been very consistent or the same for a number of years. I am looking forward to making more changes!
Have you changed your routines recently?
May monthly review
| Habit | Connection to goal - Nurture new routines to re-energise, re-invigorate and create personal growth. | Poem quote | May review |
|---|---|---|---|
| Establish a new work routine | I have been working from home for the last 10 years and the last couple I have had less connection with others. In 2019 I want to change the way I work to re-energise the way I feel about work. | “Don't let your life goals fall victim to the allure of comfortable routines.” ~ Zero Dean | At the end of April I took on a couple of month contract for three days a week work outside of the home. Naturally this has seen a significant change in my work routine! My work routine now sees me working outside of the home for three days, working one day on the blog and one day doing catch up on any thing that needs catching up on. Sometimes it is work on the blog, sometimes it is work around the house and sometimes it is catching up with friends. More details above! |
| Establish a new morning routine | I have had the same morning routine for about the last 5 years. It has served me well, but with the changes in ages of the kids there is now greater flexibility and it is time, I tried some new routines to re-invigorate the start to my day. | “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” ~ John C. Maxwell | Leaving the house three days a week for work means there has been substantial changes to my routine in the morning. One day I am home until all the kids leave for school and the youngest and I walk together to the train station where I catch a train and he walks on to school. The other two mornings I do a run group very early in the morning, so I pack a bag the night before with everything I need for work, including my clothes and prepare my food for the day. In the morning I head to run group and then drive to work, get ready for work there and have breakfast there too. This works well for us as it means I am home not long after the kids get home from school. |
| Dedicate two hours a week to learning something new | I read, listen to podcasts and audiobooks, but I haven't taken the time to really learn something new for some time. This habit may change a little along the way, but the aim is that I learn something that helps me grow or gives me a new skill. | "Change is the end result of all true learning." ~Leo Buscaglia | May's focus for learning was on VCE / careers information for the kids. The book we read for book club was very helpful in this process (see below) and I also attended expos, information evenings and read significantly on the topic. I will write a post about this topic soon. |
| Create a bimonthly non fiction book club | Starting a book club has been on my list of things to do for years and by making it non fiction, it will support my goal for personal growth. Yes I could read the books on my own, but I always get so much more out of a book if I know I have to discuss it with others. | “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” ~Dr. Seuss | The second book for the club was The War on Normal People by Andrew Young. I really enjoyed this book and it had quite an impact on me. It made me grateful that I live in Australia where while they are far from perfect, we have good healthcare and tertiary education systems. It made me think about factoring into the advice I give our kids about VCE / careers the coming impact of automation and AI. It made me think about the positive possibilities for the world if we have leaders who have long term visions and are prepared to work towards them instead of focusing on the election cycle. I really hope Andrew Yang wins the candidacy for the Democrats in 2020. |