Kim Runs Miles With Smiles: Strive to Thrive: May 2020

Welcome to Strive to Thrive: May 2020.

This month my happiness project focused on work, I listened to all seven Harry Potter audiobooks, and I finished my =PR= Spring Bucket List challenge. It was intense!

Let's review my month...

Happiness Project

May's Happiness Project theme was "Work." This was particularly well-timed because May is always a crazy work month for me, filled with conferences, meetings, and presentations.

Virtually presenting at ISPOR on the topic of Shared Decision Making

I made several "Work" resolutions:

Batch-process email rather than checking continuously throughout the day

Towards the end of April, I got a tip from Outlook 365 saying I read over three quarters of my emails within 30 minutes of receiving them and I could maximize focus by checking my inbox less frequently (e.g., once every two hours). It was hard to do, because I'm used to being hyper-responsive, but it made a huge difference in my stress level and productivity.

Schedule "coffee breaks" with co-workers

I have regular 1:1 check-ins with my boss and the people who report to me, but in our pandemic-induced remote environment there are other colleagues I used to interact with regularly that I rarely see. I scheduled time for us to catch up individually. It helped with connectivity and productivity.

Play calming music while I'm doing focused work

I tried playing yin yoga music from Spotify or Pandora. This was hit or miss - sometimes it worked well, sometimes I found myself having to skip too many distracting nature sounds. I think using a playlist would work better and I may try that in the future.

Take an online Lynda course to improve my skills

I realized I have access to online Lynda business courses through my library membership. I browsed the catalog and saw lots of courses that interested me on topics such as becoming a successful remote worker and improving teamwork skills. I haven't taken a course yet, though. I'm too busy to do it during my working hours and it isn't how I want to spend my leisure time.

Next month's theme is "Play."

Harry Potter

Until this month, I hadn't read any of the Harry Potter books or seen the movies. Rick suggested that we read them, and I agreed that now seemed like the perfect time. I knew the audiobook for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was free on Audible Stories for children, and one of "always available" online books from the library.

I loved them! I listened to all seven audiobooks this month. I just finished the last book this morning, which felt bittersweet. Rick and Freddy are reading the physical books. We also recorded all of the movies last weekend when they were on the SyFy channel, and we watched the first movie when Freddy finished the first book.

I'm building Diagon Alley - an old Harry Potter LEGO
set one of my colleagues gave me a few years ago

Fitness

Fitness has not been a high priority for me this month. I consistently ran for the first half of the month, but not the second half. My achilles still doesn't feel normal and I'm worried about injuring myself.

I did do enough running and walking over the last three months to officially finish the Potomac River Running Spring Bucket List Challenge. I had to get creative today to check off the last items: somewhere new, by water, on a trail, and picking up a piece of trash. I did it all!

I haven't done as much yoga this month as I did in April. It was easier to do it with the 10-minute morning yoga challenge, and when that ended I felt a little lost. I know I feel better physically and mentally when I'm consistently doing yoga, so I'm going to do more yoga in June.

Looking Ahead

We were supposed to vacation at Turks and Caicos at the end of the June. Although I knew it was a longshot, I was still holding out a bit of hope that we might actually be able to go. Yesterday T&C extended their airport closure through July 22, so our trip is off.

I'm excited for a virtual retreat in the middle of the month: Sunrise in Your Pocket Live. It will be some quality "me" time and a great way to focus on continuing to thrive.