Back

Productive | Day 180 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Jun 29, 2023· 3 minutes

🇩🇰 Also available in Danish 🇬🇧

I am not sure I like being productive and working to achieve my goals. I am not sure I like my top 3 from the daily to-do list, my set intentions, and my boxing of time. I am not even sure I like this challenge of writing a little story about the past day and reflecting upon it every day for a year.

It seems like a loss of a lot of freedom.

It is so easy to say: “It would be great to do XYZ - it would make us more productive, clear our minds and let us achieve our goals.” It is much harder to commit to setting aside the time for it and to see everything getting in the way as stuff getting in the way.

What if it is not?

I have great stuff on my top 3 to-do lists and meaningful boxes. I read, think and write in the early mornings when everyone is still sleeping. As they wake up, I have conversations, make breakfasts, do yoga, meditate, cook lunch. It is a good flow. Afternoons seem to be set aside for the adventure or task of the day, elements I choose freely and enjoy doing.

Yet -

The mindset can get in the way of flow, especially of kindness and family time. A phone call is a distraction, a child sharing a thought is getting in the way, and there is rarely time to stop and look at the birds.

I am not doing this structured thing very often; I just played with it the past weeks - and it has advantages, especially the top 3 things and the critical reflection: WHEN am I going to do the things I decide are important?

Yesterday I did not take a single photo, so this journal entry is kind of strange. I did do all the things on my top 3, and I did enjoy my time. The most important conversation I had was with my 17yo son about this topic, how to set aside time for “nothing,” and how to plan with space. I do not want to run in circles around whatever comes up, and I do not want to tick boxes and discipline myself. I want to find the space between the two, the balance.

Let me know if you have any tips. For now, I think my most powerful weapon is meditation.

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

🇩🇰 Also available in Danish 🇬🇧 

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our life like this, and we get very happy when we get feedback from you. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. There is not much more to say. Walking for several hours with my family and my friends in this beauty w…Read more
We all had the feeling we were walking in the Shire. Beauty unfolds all the time, new angles, new hills, new beautiful horizons and small details, fl…Read more
It can not wait; we are leaving soon. Living nomadically gives you a sense of urgency. It wakes you up and forces you to decide and revise what is mo…Read more
What is a good life? What makes us happy? How do we succeed in doing the things that make for a good life and make us happy? Hiking in the rain, chan…Read more
It is not very interesting to drive on a highway in the rain, slowly, because of road construction. One of the delays was a 27 minutes queue deriving…Read more
There is something about the footpaths in England. At some point, a law was installed to protect the paths, allowing everyone to walk on the establis…Read more
Watching Britain in a park. The different people, their vibes and styles, and projects. I love to look at people. I was amused by observing most of t…Read more
It is not like the world will stop spinning until I am done thinking. Wouldn’t that be nice, though? If the planet would please stop spinning, the in…Read more
We have seen a lot of European Cathedrals, as in very many. It is one of my passions to visit them, as I find them all astoundingly beautiful, Read more