You know what? I did not think I’d write this Instant Plume of March … Nope. Because I went through 2 weeks 1/2 (or 3 weeks) that were quite complicated since March 27, and, frankly, I just thought I’d skip this article. My mood was too low to write. But… as always, everything passes, and my creativity + passion for writing here both came back. I finally wanted to write this edition of the good things of the month of March, because YES, there were GOOD THINGS in March too, not only bad ones. After all, am I not always the first one to say that even when you’re feeling bad, you just have to open your eyes to see the positive things all around ? So, my turn to listen to my own tips. And let’s do it now, even after a little complicated time of my life. And below, I tell you a little more about all this… OK?
March Instant Plume (#instantplume n.17)
Pssst … If you do not know yet the concept of Instant Plume or the hashtag #instantplume, here is a little recap! It’s very simple: this hashtag was created in order to become aware of the little things of everyday life, light moments of happiness. The concept is simple: you insert it under a post instagram that brings you happiness, even if just a little bit. A moment, an object, a landscape … whatever it is that pleases your soul and makes you smile a little, externally or even just inside.
Today, there are more than 3,600 posts on instagram on this hashtag and it touches me enormously to see you adhere to this little happiness concept. Thank you for everything <3
The little things of March
- My little relax challenge: 1 meditation a day for a month
Have you ever experienced this kind of period where you feel a little stressed a little all the time ? Faster pulse, raw emotions, trembling hands, latent anxiety? It happens to the best of us from time to time, and to regain control over your mind and to soothe your thoughts, nothing like meditation. In March, I started this small challenge : meditate 10 minutes a day, with the application Calm. There are many solutions for guided meditations on the net, via applications, etc. but I appreciate Calm because they offer a new meditation every day, and I always look forward to hearing what it’s going to be about. It helps people learn to control their mind, to work on their breath, to enjoy the present moment and to listen to wise thoughts about life. I just love it. One small downside for many of you maybe, it’s not free. After the first 30 days of free trial, you’ll need to pay approximately 10 euros for one month or otherwise about 30 euros for 12 months. Which remains correct for me considering what it brings me (I first took a month and now I’m paying for a full year).
But again, there are plenty of other options. YouTube, free apps, if you start looking, you will find.
Have you ever tried meditation?u
- An app to help you give yourself space and cut yourself off from the digital world
Being a freelance in digital (always online) and also a blogger (so again on social networks, blog etc.) my laptop is my working tool as well as my personal space. Everything mixes and I am ALWAYS connected. Notifications every 5 minutes, likes, comments, approved advertisements, emails, chats from colleagues, collaboration proposals, and so on … ALL THE TIME, all the time, there are stimuli from my mobile towards my brain. I find that it can become exhausting in the long run. Don’t you?
So instead of getting rid of my laptop + phone and going to live on top of a mountain in the middle of lamas, I have personally found a solution that works well. The free Stay Focused app. It allows you to block the access (and notifications) of the apps of your choice to the time slots of your choice. In order to free up time for what matters. For example, I blocked all my social networking, work, email, chats, and other applications after 8pm. Because after 20h I want to spend time with my darling, watch TV, sew, knit, read, in short, not spend my time on my mini screen. I even have some apps (especially those that are work related) that cut at 18h, when I’m supposed to finish working.
Frankly, it really helps and I could not do without it. And then we can imagine other uses with it too. For example, you can decide to block your entertainment apps during working hours to boost your productivity if you tend to get distracted? The possibilities are broad … 🙂
- Concretely, what happened to me in March, which made that I almost did not write this article ?
Well well … in the Instant Plume of January, I already told you about a “mini burn out” that I had done in December / January. Mm… maybe it was not so “mini” that I thought… and although I had listened to it at the time and had already reduced my workload, and that I had instantly felt better … well … at the end of March, I went back again. Weirdly, everything looked fine. I was in a great shape, good mood, energy, head full of projects and the desire to resume my rhythm of life to 1000km an hour again. Big mistake. When we tend to cross this kind of low mood period, we must not make changes in our life and as soon as it goes better, BOOM, return to what had led us there. Because if it had led us there, it was because there was a reason.
So at the end of March, it did not take much for everything to come back. A mini-event trigger, the idea that my life of freelance employed at 250% was going to start again and WOOP WOOP, the same evening, big insomnia, and 2 weeks and a half of painful nights which followed. I did not even know it was possible to barely sleep for 2 WEEKS AND A HALF! SO TOUGH! Well, I slept, but never more than 4-5h or some nights 2h. My God, nights are so long and scary when you have trouble sleeping. Especially for me who had never had anything like that, and who sleeps so normally, usually 8 restful hours a day, taking no less than 5 minutes falling asleep. It was VERY TOUGH. Now it’s been a short week that everything is getting better, slowly. I don’t really have back (yet) my sweet peaceful sleep like I had before, it still takes a lot of time to fall asleep and I wake up several times in the night. But I feel that everything is getting better, and that soon, all this will be a bad memory.
It’s crazy how smart our body is. As soon as it feels that we pull too much on the rope, it alerts us. And you have to listen to it. You really need to. Otherwise … you can quickly go bananas, I think.
So I decided that I’m going to take it slow for a while. Less work, more personal time and too bad for the finances, they will wait. I’ll live simply and not expensive. And as far as my work is concerned, I do each thing more calmly, with more concentration and intensity so it’s even better for my remaining clients 🙂
Now, it’s all about holding that long enough to make it really effective. Maybe a good month or two. Perfect to enjoy the spring and the sweetness of life it brings. That’s it, you know everything 🙂
And you, do you always remember to listen to yourself and your body signs?
Your #instantplume of March
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful happy posts my dears ! I’m always so happy to look at them <3 you’re the best. I can never share all of them, but please, readers, don’t hesitate to go check the #instantplume hashtag on Instagram to discover beautiful photos, accounts and hearts.
And you, what were your Instants Plume of March?