Planning Recovery Time
Super short post, but still may be useful to some.
I love the “sport” of endurance cardio and lifting weights and what it does to my mind / ADHD control. What I have come to understand is that swimming / steam room aids in muscle recovery (in addition to managing other medication side effects) and I am out of the game without those "recharge time" things...
We plan our workouts, but not our recovery?
The more we need something in order to function at the most basic level, (which for me is fitness / nutrition / medication), the more we need to preserve its integrity, I can't afford to overtrain and so I am writing the word "sabbatical" on a few days per week to truly recover (consciously focusing on the act of recovery and leading that with intentionality, rather than just hoping it will happen on its own).
✅ For medication to not mess up my gut microbiome, I eat well. I prep my meals. I have no choice. if medication is already wreaking havoc on my stomach, there's no need to add crap food on top of it.
✅ For medication to work, I train. Again, no choice.
✅ For training to work, I sleep early. Absolutely non-negotiable.
It is a lot of effort, but I don't put anything above health as I cannot show up 100% for my work, business, and close people without it.
Buffers for my schedule to manage unpredictable insomnia and other things is critical, which means that this has to be accounted for - even more focus on resting than before.
Not spending energy I do not have is a wonderful change.
I am done caring about “potential ROI” as this opens up the slippery slope of schedule overload. I care about: JOY in my daily vision, my purpose, and time for knowledge building to maintain my expertise. The right things / people won’t cost you sleep / health, they’ll enhance it.
The scariest thing is that on the list of the diagnoses: burnout (in remission) is on it, if I have to be extra protective over my schedule, so be it, I’m not going back there. I am here to give my best to my craft, health is on the to-do list for that to be sustained.
Upholding our basic needs isn't infringing on anyone else's, we have every right to set guard-rails on our precious health and precious time (this will be wildly celebrated by the right people, as we would also encourage them to pour from a full cup as well).
Like, there is really no need to over schedule when we are already struggling to fit and the essentials into our schedule.
Another random thing I learned:
There is a type of anxiety that is specifically derived from ADHD, and it’s not the same as regular anxiety, it’s the step before it turns into generalized anxiety for me, if I manage the ADHD, I don’t have the other issues. There is also ADHD derived mental (what I had).
Week one of doing things differently and I am very amazed, I didn't think I'd be able to consciously rest. I am loving it.