the importance of prioritizing recovery time this summer.

hello, it’s summer time here in sweden and that means vacation time for me.

i always think that the weeks before vacation just comes and goes very quickly. when the last work day is finished and i turn off the computer, i imagine myself a glittering transparent wall in front of me. some sort of passage way opens up and i go right through it into ”vacation world”. lol. and the ”work world” is right behind me. and i can’t access it anymore.

for me, visualizing like this helps me to mentally drop my work thoughts and allow myself to focus on the summer weeks in front of me full of calmness. i always want to schedule as much passive and active recovery time as possible with room for spontaneous activities. i feel stressed out having a planned out vacation.

i go with my method:

1. break - a break from my normal workweek routines (work, music, videos, etc)

2. variation - new routines and activities i don’t do when i work (painting, reading, etc)

3. recovery - rest, relax and have fun!

to avoid stress and work fatigue, i think it’s important to find your own suitable balance of recovery time and summer activities and projects. what you see as recovery time depends on who you are as a person. if you feel relaxed and happy after your vacation, i think you had space for rest, but if you come back to work all grumpy, stressed-out and feeling like you didn’t have vacation, i think it’s worth some evaluation.

• but how do you know what works for you?

• what is relaxation and self-care for me?

• what makes me feel good?

• what is passive and active recovery time for me?

i think it all comes down to experimenting. what makes you feel relaxed and happy? an ice cream with a friend? swimming? relaxing with a nice book? playing video games? making fruit juice? painting? nature walks?

so don’t let your vacation be filled with obligations and achievements by cramming in a lot of activities and projects. let your free time be filled with recovery and joyful activities you want to do.

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disclaimer: something to someone is something else to someone else.

if you get inspired by my words and want to apply anything to your own life then that’s wonderful. if you don’t agree with me then that’s okay too. no hard feelings. i’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, i just want to write about interesting topics because it’s just a pure simple pleasure of mine. thank you for reading. :3

「one year older and 4 lessons i've learnt.」

lesson 1 "norms of society have not always the right answer for you" - I’ve learnt that our society is ruled by unspoken norms. Mostly norms are about how you "should" live your life. And so, I’ve learnt the great value of making active lifestyle choices. I want to live a life most true to myself. No ones else are living your life but you. Not your friends, not your partner, not your parents, not your siblings - but you. If you want it, who cares if it's against the norm or not.

I ask myself:

• Do I really want to do this, or is this something other people except from me? (examples: getting a certain degree or a certain career, having children, etc)

• Do I really make an active choice now, or is this just something I do because everyone else are doing it? (examples: owning a house, getting married, etc)

• Are these really my opinions, or are they someone else's? (examples: opinions passed down from a caregiver, teacher, family members, etc)

lesson 2 "imperfection and growth is necessary" - I’ve learnt to value things that are imperfect and also that growth is essential. I’ve never seen myself as a perfectionist, but I know how perfectionism can make one give up things in life because of ones high standards ("it doesn't matter, i just don't have the talent") or because of the fear of making a fool of oneself ("people will think i'm stupid"). So what if people think you're stupid? Most of the time - no one will care. If I was a perfectionist I wouldn’t have dared to make music and started to produce on my own - because, to be honest, my production quality wasn’t that great in the beginning (i had lousy equipment and i had started to make music seriously). I still keep those videos up to remind me of my growth. I will always make room for improvements and I think one has to drop that self-judgement as a newbie, otherwise you can’t be great. be happy that you're a beginner and be proud that you dared to start. the master was once a beginner.

lesson 3 "less is more and time is precious" - I figured out that there is so much joy in having less and reducing the non-essential things in life. Why make it more complicated? Reducing freed up so much time and energy for me. Actually, I think having the time is a big part of being happy. To be able to decide about your own time and making room for things that’s the most essential in your life. To be able to have a hot beverage and slow down.

lesson 4 "embracing change and being thankful" - My last lesson I’ve learnt is that some things changes and some things don’t. I’ve learnt to let go because I know change it’s inevitable. I’ve learnt to embrace the new with open arms. I’ve felt gratitude for all that remains. I’ve learnt that pain will eventually pass and I’ve learnt that the present is the best place to be.

so these 4 lessons are thing's i've learnt in the past 10 years. being one year older makes me reflect on life. i'm humble and thankful! :)

「save your energy to the right people」