Journaling On My Borrowed Desk

This month is full of change! I talked about the changes I planned on making to my routine, and how I wanted to make them stick. The big goal for this week is creating an ideal routine for myself. What would my “perfect” day look like? I know that my days may not match exactly to the routine I’m trying to set, but some structure and guidelines are a good start.

This week’s to do list is pretty long, and I didn’t put everything I have on it. I don’t want to bore you with the day to day; as a stay-at-home-parent, though, keeping my to-do list visible and prioritized is the best. You can keep an eye out for a blog post on how I organize/prioritize my tasks, somewhere out there with time-blocking, probably to be released next week.

Some of those activities are needs for my family for the week, chiefly to keep my kids happy and occupied, but some of those are only for me. I struggle putting my needs at the top of the priority column, and Aaron always likes to remind me that I can’t pour from an empty cup. Some of the projects on my desk are definitely “me” projects. One of the big ones was my newest purchase.

A few weeks ago I took a plunge – I don’t often log into my social media and scroll, because I feel for the most part, social media is a time-suck. I fall into a black hole of scrolling and before I know it, there goes my productivity time. Still, I do see the occasional ad. Silk + Sonder popped up enough in my feed that I eventually took notice, and I finally got curious enough to check out the hype.

It was the pens that did it. As a writer who began writing at the ripe age of 8, I used paper and pen. Mostly because we didn’t have a typewriter, which at the time was still about as common as a computer. I loved writing with pens, though, and even well into high school I still enjoyed putting pen to paper more than typing a story. Unsurprisingly, the sleek, colorful pens in the ad practically screamed my name, and I could see myself using them to write in the parchment colored pages of the journal. I clicked on the ad.

The self-care journal isn’t exactly a new concept. While I’m just seeing ads for it now, it’s been around a while, and there are many other brands that have similar layouts. The pens drew me in, but I found I could see myself using the journal. After some hemming and hawing, I wanted to buy it. So naturally, I bookmarked the page and tried to forget about it.

A rule I try to maintain is: If I’m still thinking of a potential purchase a month later, then it’s something I actually want and not an impulse buy. I have wasted a lot of money on impulse buys that I never use, and I wanted to avoid that. Because I didn’t need the journal, I was able to put it on a shelf and give it some more thought. I first bookmarked the ad in May, when I was looking for Mother’s Day gift ideas to give my husband.

Switching gears, though, I have high hopes for this week. It has been strange, returning to writing. I think about ‘what’s on my desk’ as a metaphor for the work I have to finish this week. But literally, what’s on my desk right now is my husband’s computer. His furniture and other household goods still haven’t arrived from his time in Korea. Before he started work, it wasn’t a problem, because we don’t need any of the other furniture he took. You know what we do need? His desk.

Between general surgery oral board exams and studying for plastic surgery fellowship, he clocks a lot of desk time. To help, I’ve graciously lent him my desk; except writing and editing at the kitchen table where the kids can see me has proven to be difficult. Instead I’m sitting at my desk, with my laptop at the edge, and suddenly wondering how I ended up with a desk that is so very small. I will leave you with this quote, which I hope resonates like it does with me.

“Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.” – Katie Reed