August 2020 - A Quiet(er) House and a To Do List
This morning I sat down at my laptop withthe possibility of hours of uninterrupted work ahead of me for the first time in 5 months.
I wonder how many other parents across Scotland had a similar moment today. Coming home from the school run to a quiet(er) house (although not forus as we have builders making up for the lack of children) and suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the possibilities. I walked back from school thinking ‘what do I do first? Do I start the housework? Start trying to catch up with months of work admin? Ignore all the above and sit with tea and a book?’
I know that if I was advising someone elseI would have told them to sit with a book, but being me I sat and wrote a to dolist!
I do like a to do list. And I am one of these people that put very simple tasks on them to give me the pleasure of crossing them off. Anyone else do that? I now have a to do list divided into 3 sections. Nice things, work stuff, and house/family stuff. I’ve picked one things from each section that I am determined to do today, and once those are complete I will choose another.
How do you organise your to do lists? Or are you not a list person? And do you stick to your lists once you have made them? I have to say that usually I am great at making the lists but rubbish at prioritising. And I always do all my work admin before anything else. And then I never have time for the fun stuff.
Today has been different. I emailed out a reminder to all my clients that the new term starts on Monday (work list), then did a 30 minute core essentials yoga workout with the wonderful Karen Kirkness from Meadowlark Yoga (nice things list) and then hung the pictures my husband and girls gave me for my birthday on the wall in my summerhouse/home office/teaching/practice space (house stuff list). I am so happy to finally have these pictures on the wall. My teacher Sharon, who is also an amazing artist drew them for us and they show me in various yoga poses with my girls joining me and/or climbing all over me. Story of my life! I’ll post a picture on social media later today so you can see them!
Anyway,now I am back to the work list. First task. Promoting classes.
When things started changing back in MarchI remember telling people that it would likely be Autumn before I could teachin person again. But somehow it didn’t seem to quite sink in until recently. I have to admit that it has been challenging watching so many businesses reopen and still not have a definite date as to when I will be able to restart my classes.
Most of the time I can think positively, and enjoy the unexpected benefits.
But sometimes it is hard. Promoting classes when I’m not out teaching in person is hard for one thing. Having to take my business in a different direction as some of my classes just don’t translate to Zoom is hard. Half of my classes over the past three years have been for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers and now those classes have vanished. And the ongoing uncertainity is hard.
What are you finding hard at the moment?
So once I have finished writing this (probably far too long) newsletter I will be trying to spread the word about the classes I am now teaching, and how amazing they are. Because you all know my classes are amazing right? If you have any comments you’d be happy for me to share on social media about how you have found online yoga classes please do send them to me, through email, social media, chalk messages on the pavement…
Then after that the fun part of my work begins. Planning classes. This is always the part I enjoy the most. Choosing themes and intentions for my adult classes. Picking the stories and adventures I want to use with the kids. Selecting my favourite songs for my baby yogis. I have folders and folders of old lesson plans, and I do adapt them and reuse them. But I also love to create a few new classes every term or so.
And later today I plan to bake a cake (lemon drizzle if you’re curious) whilst I listen to my audiobook (Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch) and if the sun is still shining I might even sit in the garden for a while. Or I might go and sit on a bench somewhere that looks slightly less like a building site than our garden.
What are your plans for the day? Or for the week? Are you managing to find a balance between work and things you enjoy? Or is it always a struggle? Have you kids that are now back to school? And if so are you enjoying the peace, missing the chaos or a little bit of both? Hit reply and tell me, I love to hear about your lives off the mats.
I’m going to leave you now with a final reminder that I’m back teaching on Zoom from next Monday (17th August). Both Yoga Babies and Kids Yoga are back on my timetable and I am excited to introduce some new adult classes alongside the old favourites. If you need any more incentives (other than the fact that my classes are amazing as mentioned above) to come join me remember that block booking prices are now reduced as we continue to be online, and all adult classes can now be booked individually as well as in blocks.
All classes can be booked online through my booking page.
And now I can tick another task off my list!
Sending love to you all
Sarah
xx