Survival Techniques For When The Self Shit-Talk Gets Rough. — If there is one thing I’m good at, it is the art of toxic thinking. It is 05:20 and I’m awake. I have work in a few hours. And I lie there and my mind starts to spin. I get up. Drink a coffee. Take some deep breaths. Check my…

But so was Trying Too Hard. I was killing it. I found love. I’d quit drinking and smoking. I was writing every day. I had formed structure out of chaos. Then I dropped writing because something or other got crazy busy (it often does).And Medium also made some changes so you couldn’t write from your phone. And I was time poor. (Most people are.) I was working the day job six days a week. I had taken on too much…

Three Weeks Into A Quit. Any change to habit is painful. Could addiction really be just a super-habit in the case of amok with a chemically addicting element to it. In this instance nicotine. Habit has a physical element to it too. It involves the body’s neurobiology. Much easier to…

I’m back to 05:30 am starts. It is really the routine that I feel most comfortable with. I get everything extra I want to do with my day done, before starting the work day. I meditate, and then exercise. And then I try to write something. I’m pretty pleased about…

Some Time Out Can Make All The Difference. — I had hit burnout. No matter how early I was getting to bed, I was still waking up tired. I felt depressed. My motivation was shot. I couldn’t concentrate properly. I booked time off work. Couldn’t afford a holiday. But given how I needed to rest, it wasn’t a big…

I won a symbolic victory against the numb apathy that depression creates and got back into a semblance of my healthy routines by the end of this week. Nothing too strenuous. I managed to meditate for 20 minutes first thing after waking, and then did some light exercise. Of course…

Writing Through Depression Is A Toughie. — Writing through depression is a tough one. You don’t like much about yourself. Your motivation feels sapped. And not just your motivation but your energy levels too. It’s hard to concentrate. Thoughts tend to slow, and lack a little coherence. It is more difficult to edit too. …

Why You Should Treat Your Middle Game Like a Fresh Start. — I’ve been off my game recently. I had backlogs at work. My living situation wasn’t secure. I’ve still got financial issues as well, though I am working to resolve them. Because I was tired I let a lot of the healthy activities go. I stopped meditating for a few weeks…

Unfortunately I’ve been busy. An office closing means working with people who may be faced with losing their jobs. I’ve been doing this from the Trade Union side. It is grim work. Especially at the moment with this scary economic climate. They have also just run a permanency exercise and…