Sunday is for R.E.S.T
Adjusting to a new schedule, and making time to look after myself.
I accidently took a couple of weeks break from Substack.
It wasn’t an intentional choice, it wasn’t even a conscious choice really. The Saturdays just seemed to flow past without me really realising they had been and gone.
One of the ways neurodivergence impacts me is Time Blindness. In my case, I struggle to grasp what day it is, or how many days have lapsed between two points in time. I know when I have to be doing things – like I know that I have a Tafe class tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that I consciously know it will be Tuesday. And prior to going back to study, I didn’t really have a reason to track what day it was, because my external schedule was non-existent.
Although I feel very uncomfortable with an external schedule, I know that I do so much better with it. Not being able to work since October has meant that I’ve had no external force making a schedule for me – I have no one telling me where I need to be at a certain time, or how long I need to be there for. Being back at Tafe means I have an external schedule again, and after only a week I’m already seeing the benefit of this. Along with the external schedule, I have been able to implement an internal schedule to go along with it – I needed the framework of an outside force to hang my home schedule on to.
If you’re my flavour of neuro-spicy, you get this.
Once my classes had gone onto the calendar – yep, I’m using a calendar, two in fact! – I was able to allocate ‘home blocks’ for housework, and ‘study blocks’ for outside class study, and throw in the niblings’ sports stuff, like basketball on Saturdays. I’ve also allocated R.E.S.T Day.
Sunday is R.E.S.T Day. There are only 2 days on my calendar that aren’t impacted by the external schedule, and Sunday seemed like a more intuitive day for it than Monday. R.E.S.T Day has 4 components to it, for each of the letters in the word:
R is for Recharge:
This is all about doing things that help me recharge my internal battery. Being in the classroom means I am people-ing way more than I have since I stopped working. I am a neuro-spicy introvert - being around people is not recharging for me. It’s exhausting! So recharging will generally mean no peoples. Sometimes there will be family stuff, or time with Sweethearts, but mostly it’s a no-people day. It is a day for things like reading, gaming, craft, YouTube, or movies. It might also include going for a walk or a drive. It’s the stuff I know will help me feel ready to tackle the week ahead.
E is for Eating:
This is about eating the good things. Nothing is off limits (except dairy) but for the most part I will avoid the stuff I’m intolerant to, because I don’t want to feel yuck through the week. Food has no moral weight – there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food, unless you have a fatal allergy, in which case that can be considered ‘bad’ for your health! (That’s dairy for me) This is all about the food that makes your soul happy. That might be Macca’s. That might be potato and leek soup. This week it was lamb – stew and cutlets. Being on a tight food budget right now, I plan Sunday’s meals to be some of my safe foods. I had lamb cutlets this week because there were a few smallish ones in my offcuts pack and that’s enough for me to make a meal out of (with air fried potato cubes and mixed veg).
S is for Sleep:
If I want a nap, I’m going to take a nap. If I want to spend the whole day in bed in my pjs napping, that’s how it’s going to play out. I have a pretty regular sleep routine, but on Sunday I’ll turn the alarm off and let myself wake up when I’m ready. Or go back to sleep if I choose. For the most part, I’ll usually wake up within half an hour of my alarm’s regular time, so it’s not a huge change. If I stay up later on Saturday night then I know I can sleep longer on Sunday if I need to. This is about listening to what my body needs, and this is likely to change as I get further into my course and find out the impact it’s going to have on my health.
T is for Treats:
This is for things that I might not have through the rest of the week. An extra energy drink, some chocolate, take-away for a meal. It could also be things like staying in my pj’s all day or putting my favourite essential oils in the diffuser or doing my nails. Again, it’s about nourishing the soul. Things that I may not have time for through the week, or things I can save away for Sundays to make them a little more special.
None of these ideas are world shattering concepts. This is what self-care can look like – Sunday is essentially my self-care day. But because of the way my brain works, I needed to schedule it in or it wouldn’t happen. Self-care isn’t instinctual for me, I’m more used to charging through and keeping things going without stopping to fix my internal ‘check engine’ light. That leads to burnout, and I’m not completely recovered from the last lot. For me, I needed to allocate a day where I don’t study, and I don’t do housework. That stuff is scheduled over the other 6 days of the week. Sunday is my day to recharge, rest and recover so that I can start the new week with enough energy to get me through until the next Sunday.
Do you have a self-care routine? Or, like me, does it get pushed under everything else on the weekly to-do list? It wasn’t until I was needing to recover from burnout that I realised that looking after myself was actually a necessity and not a luxury. Now, I can allocate a whole day to self-care, because I’m the only living creature I’m responsible for (I’m the idiot Tamagotchi I need to keep alive). A whole day may not be available to you, so where can you make time to do little things to make your soul sing? It doesn’t have to be spa days and massages – although if that’s your thing go for it. Your favourite menu item from your favourite take-away shop counts as self-care. A coffee once a week from your local café can be self-care. 30 minutes to yourself read or listen to a podcast can be self-care.
What can you do this week to give yourself a little soul love? With attacks to your self-worth and self-peace being commonplace and intentional, looking after yourself right now is a little act of defiance.
Take care friends, and hopefully I’ll be back into your inboxes more regularly from here on.
Love, Robyn.
I would like to drop some happy news into your inbox as well, in case you feel like it’s in short supply right now:
Ooo I like your R.E.S.T idea. That's a really good idea and what each letter stands for is a good idea too.