Third Time Lucky

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Last week Super Physio effectively discharged me. For the third time. Hopefully third time lucky.

The average number of sessions for patients my physio treats is 12. So, typically, treatment takes about three months. I've been in treatment on and off since 2005. That would make six years.

To be fair, I've had a lot of complications and extenuating circumstances. It initially took me about two years to get better from my long-standing neck and shoulder problems (read The Whole Story for well, the whole story).

So in 2007 I was discharged for the first time. I was doing extremely well when on a weekend trip to Bologna with the girls, the muscles in my neck suddenly and inexplicably went into spasm. That was when my physio realized that there might be an additional problem in my neck – which eventually led to a tonsillectomy in early 2008 (carried out by an ear-nose-throat doctor and not my physio, in case it might have sounded that way).

After the tonsillectomy it took a long time to recover. Although the surgery changed my life for the better by dramatically decreasing the number of sore throats I suffered from and eliminating tonsillitis (strep throat) attacks completely, the year I had the operation and for some time afterwards, I remained very weak. I lost so much blood during the operation that I was anemic for months. And that Christmas I got the flu (the real flu), and a persistent cough that lingered for ages. It took a long time to build my strength back up and throughout 2008 and 2009 I really struggled with being able to move into doing more 'normal' exercise while still remaining pain free.

In hindsight I probably didn't 'get' it – all I wanted was to be able to go to the gym when I wanted to, just like 'normal' people did. But I most likely set myself back by trying so hard to push myself into a regular exercise routine. For example, since last October, I've had great success easing back into exercise at a slower rate – going to yoga once a week – a method that the old me would have definitely thought wasn't 'enough'.

But regardless of how long it took, by early 2010, I was effectively discharged again (second time) and back at the 'review' stage (meaning a check-in every few months or so just to make sure everything was still working OK, at my own discretion).

But in an unfortunate turn of events, as we were moving house in May I packed and cleaned and unpacked a bit too much and threw out my back. And astonishingly even after all my years of physiotherapy I somehow missed how bad it was. I was having trouble walking, but I thought I could fix it myself with my exercises, missing the fact that I had never really had lower back problems so might not be able to address such an acute injury to the full extent necessary on my own.

It was during a review in June that my physio saw how bad it was. And so I spent all of last summer fixing my back (which included stretching out my hips big time). We got there in the end. But with the wedding coming up, I kept going for very regular reviews just to make sure we kept everything in order before the big day. After all, I had no time to deal with some sort of injury or even stiffness (so when I fell down the stairs three weeks before the wedding I was in good enough shape to keep everything moving and was pain free on the big day).

But now the wedding is over and I have healed from my freakish stair spill, so I'm back to dealing with my body on my own again. I hope that I've learned enough from all my experience over the years not to push myself too hard this time. I've got the tools I learned in physio to keep my muscles from getting tight and my posture in good form, but I still have to take things slowly. 

Keep your fingers crossed for me that this is the last and final discharge. As much as I like and respect Super Physio, it's high time I saw her less.

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A Snail's Pace

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The other day at lunchtime I went to a meeting of my company's Toastmasters club. Toastmasters is a group for people who want to improve their public speaking and communication skills through 'doing'. For example, there is even an impromptu section of each meeting – where people are chosen from the audience to come up and give two minute speeches on surprise topics (can you imagine?). And the whole thing has a timed itinerary. There is a time keeper and a grammarian and all sorts of other scary things I can't remember.

I do a lot of public speaking for work. I enjoy public speaking and would love to improve. And joining Toastmasters was one of the things I put in the 'after-the-wedding' basket of my to-do list.

But after a packed-full hour of people speaking and clapping I went back to my desk and thought "over my dead body am I going to that every other week." Not as keen anymore, eh?

Other people have told me about feeling bored or at a loose end after planning their wedding. I feel quite the opposite – I am so completely and utterly exhausted that even sometimes meeting up with people seems like a big task.

I just want to be a 'normal' person right now. Go to work, cook some food and exercise (including my physio work of course!). My tap dancing class seems too difficult. And reading my book club books is obviously creating trouble for me (see Tinker Tailor Soldier – Why? for a more in-depth study).

I wonder if part of my malaise is that a wedding is about a lot of people other than you. It's about taking care of them through the organizing of a million little details. Sure, it was about me and the Hub, but it was also about our families and friends and making sure they had a good time (and that we didn't lose any Americans in London). And I'm very good at taking care of other people.

So perhaps this shift in mood for me is part exhaustion but also part of a retreat back to myself. I'm feeling a little spent – like I don't have much to give – which is probably why a lunchtime speech-a-thon is a little too much for me right now. Time to re-group and get my energy back. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm tap dancing again, but for now I'm much more into long solitary walks.

P.S. The blogging stays. I'm much better when I'm writing.

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My Top 5 Wedding Tips

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It's been over two months since the wedding. Which means I've had some time to reflect. On my mistakes. So if you're ever planning a wedding, this is what I think is the boiled-down essential to know:

1. Most decisions can wait.

When you get engaged, there are lots of questions from people. Where will it be, how many people will you invite, what kind of cake will you have? There is a real feeling of urgency to make as many decisions as you can right away. Don't. Don't start asking bridesmaids, don't start inviting people and don't worry about what your color theme will be.

There are a few decisions you do need to make and they concern how much money you have for the wedding and then where it will be (aka choosing a venue). Also, it may help to map out a guest list to get a good sense of how many people you plan to invite (and ask your parents how many people they were thinking they'd like to invite – if you're doing that sort of thing). These are the big decisions and everything else can wait. Besides, you will change your mind on all those little decisions. Don't get ahead of yourself.

Which brings me to…

2. Realize family + money will = some discomfort.

Even though deciding who would pay for our wedding was relatively painless, there was still tension, at least on my part, as I worried about who would pay for what and specifically whether or not there would be enough money. I also worried over how many people we could invite, who would actually come and spent many sleepless nights fretting over not having enough space in the venue to feed all of our guests (I also had a dream at the early stages that we had to get married in my high school gym). I suppose everyone in the world has some sort of issues with money, so there's going to be some discomfort when you're suddenly asking for money from family members or deciding how much money each month you can save before the wedding. In the end, everything was fine. So just expect the discomfort and realize it is normal, which may make it easier to stomach.

3. Stay away from wedding magazines!

I know some women swear by them, but they gave me the shakes and made me break out into a cold sweat. Remember people, glossy magazines sell lots and lots of advertising! I found that paging through bridal books only made me start sweating the small stuff, like why hadn't I thought about what my place settings would look like?

During every part of the wedding-planning process I never actually needed a magazine. I only bought one once, when I was trying to decide on the flowers. And I regretted it, as it cost nearly £5 and there was a very limited selection of flowers in there – I had much better luck googling 'red and purple' flowers and seeing different combinations in the pictures results.

Instead, whenever I had a decision to make I would find out my options and then make a decision. Need a veil? Go to some bridal shops and try them on. Pick the one you like best. That sort of thing. It worked just fine for me. Bridal magazines just made me more confused about what I wanted and encouraged me to spend more money – a lose-lose situation.

4. If something isn't working, change it.

Essentially, I had to fire my hair lady about six weeks before the wedding (I swear, I was not a bridezilla). I should have gone with my gut as I knew from the trial that it wasn't really working -- she made me feel stressed out. But I thought I was being silly and uber sensitive (turns out I wasn't).

It transpired that although she had agreed to come to the venue and do my hair, my Mom's and my Maid of Honor's, she told me about six weeks beforehand that she couldn't get the time off from the salon and could she come to the house and start on our hair at 7 a.m.? I politely told her, via email (thank God for email these days) that I was sorry if there was a misunderstanding but I really needed someone to come to the venue, so it just wasn't going to work out.

In retrospect, it was a blessing in disguise as I still hadn't settled on someone to do my makeup. And when the hair lady flaked it gave me the opportunity to find someone who could do both. And Pam, my hair and makeup lady, was amazing. Not only did she do a good job, but she kept me calm -- and your hair and makeup person is the last person you really have contact with before you head off down the aisle. (If you live in London and you ever need someone to do your hair/makeup, check out her site here. And you can see a photo of my hair/makeup here.)

Thing is, you need to be comfortable with your vendors. Go with your gut and don't be afraid to make changes if things aren't working out. You might be happy you did.

5. No matter what goes wrong, it will be worth it on the day!

As I've written about before, I lost my voice the day before the wedding. It was pretty horrible. But it still didn't ruin things! (I got the vows out and gave a croaky speech.) In hindsight, I probably would have taken the whole week before the wedding off from work -- instead of only three days -- which may have helped me recover from my cold faster. But who knows? Maybe something else would have happened in that case.

You just can't plan for everything. So you do your best, but then also be safe in the knowledge that something strange will happen. But it will still all be OK, and in fact, wonderful. I promise.

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Tinker Tailor Soldier - Why?

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I've now mentioned in two other posts that John Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is making me angry. We're reading it in my book club and my reaction to it has been strong. I can usually read my book club book in enough time to read an additional book between meetings, but this month I am struggling with finishing it.

So why is this interesting, or relevant? And why should you care?

My experience with Tinker Tailor has taught me two things that I thought I'd share: first, that every thing you are upset about now is actually something that has already happened to you, and second, that I am afraid of things that are difficult, which is not a good thing.

Now, one of the 'charming' aspects of Tinker Tailor is that it is a spy novel, and as the reader, you are as much in the dark as the main protagonist, who is recruited to root out a high-level mole of thirty years standing. I have not found being in the dark charming.

It has clearly rustled out some insecurity I'm storing in the depths of my soul (dramatic much?) about not being able to comprehend literature on a high level, unlike some friends of mine who studied literature at university (or college, for the Americans). Despite being an English literature whiz in high school, I was not allowed to study such a subject during my higher education.

Before handing over the tuition money, my Dad specified that I would have to find a career-oriented topic to study that wouldn't leave me jobless and directionless post-graduation. So I ended up studying applied economics and working for the college paper, in order to make myself employable as a financial journalist. I figured such a path was the best chance of making me not just a journalist, but a highly employable one. And it was certainly not a bad strategy. I've had an interesting career – one that gave me a very decent salary in Manhattan at the young age of 22 and then eventually paved the way for me to move overseas.

Dad's strategy got me thinking about how to make myself employable, which was a good thing, but it doesn't mean I'm not still a little sad that I wasn't able to spend my college days reading and analyzing literature and having lively debates with other like-minded people (like in the movies), instead of grinding my way through stats classes and business law. I also know many financial journalists who majored in English, so who's to say I couldn't have had the same path?

When I read a book 16 years after I filled in those college application forms and feel like crying because I don't understand it, could it be that disappointed 18 year-old rising to the surface?

So that's point one.

Second point is that the panic I feel at not being able to understand a complex spy story on first read and letting said 18-year-old take over, is clearly not a good thing when it comes to continuing to develop my skills as a writer (a big chunk of which involves reading).

When things get tough, fearful backing away only limits you. Yes, I know it's just one book, but I try to read all sorts of books -- not just my favorite types. Perfectionists (including me) will often turn back at the first hurdle because they are deathly afraid of failing, and so it's easier not to try.

So faced with my own perfectionism and my discomfort at reading a book which is not entirely clear to me from the get go, I decided that as much as I hated it, learning this lesson was important. When I'm faced with a task that seems tough, I sometimes shy away. But when I actually try, I always learn something. So why can't the process be less traumatic, why can't I be OK with not understanding everything right away? Learning requires a little bit of discomfort, but the rewards in the end are well worth it.

And so I plow ahead with Tinker Tailor. I am no longer actively worrying about understanding everything, but trying to enjoy and absorb. And maybe by the end I'll get it a little more. But more importantly, I'll have increased my tolerance to discomfort and confusion and realized it's not all as bad as it seems.

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Anger: A Warning Sign

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The other day, the Hub asked me, "What's all the anger about?"

Sure enough, I had been feeling angry more than usual. Angry about the book we're reading for book club (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), angry about the number of cars I had to wait for before I crossed our road and angry about how the British love to congregate outside pubs when it's actually not that warm outside, so I spend 'summer' freezing. Which is also how I spend winter in this country, due to lack of proper heating and insulation in buildings. In a completely temperate country, how is it that I end up so cold all the time?

But I digress.

I've been struggling with trying to figure out if anger is a good or a bad thing. It's certainly real, in the sense that it's a genuine emotion, but it's not really productive. When you're angry, it's typically because you can't get your way, and you feel you have lost control. Which happens in life – a lot.

With all this anger floating around in my head I was pleasantly suprised to find out that this month's Self Discovery Word-by-Word word happens to be 'anger' (see the end of the post for more information on this series).

I think anger is a warning sign. It's a signal that things aren't right – that I'm not paying attention to what it is I truly need at that moment. It's a sign that there's something going on that requires attention. I may be over tired, doing too much, not eating well enough, not getting enough exercise, or even socializing too much (even a social creature like me requires quite a bit of down time, and particularly alone time).

Or maybe I'm just going through a low patch. Whatever the reason, anger is a warning sign that I need to step back and take some time out. But it is also, maybe even more importantly, not a time to mull over what's wrong, or try to 'solve' the problem.

One of the most important things I learned from reading so many of Richard Carlson's* helpful books, is that typically when you feel down, you also have an overwhelming impulse to 'solve' the problem, whatever it is. Maybe you need a new job or a new boyfriend, or maybe it would help to lose 10 pounds (as if). Sometimes even moving to a new city (or country) seems like just the ticket!

But big life-changing decisions cannot be made from an angry state, but with a clear and healthy mind. Have you ever had one of these moments where you are feeling down and decide you must change something, only to find that the next day when you are in a better mood you realize that things aren't that bad – that maybe the fact that your husband has left the wet towel on the bed isn't a reason to leave him? (I promise you I've never thought this.)

I think that anger is mainly reactionary. It's not in itself helpful, except for the fact that it can make you sit up and take notice that something's not right. It's probably a good time to try to clear the thoughts and the noise away and just be for a while. Do something that gives you comfort and take care of yourself. Maybe there is something big that needs changing, but anger isn't the path there. By slowing down, noticing the anger and then sifting through it and seeing what emotions lie beneath could actually help sort out what's really going on.

P.S. I'm still not sure what's making me so angry, by the way, so I will be following my own advice, which serendipitously comes at a very appropriate time.


This post is part of the Self-Discovery Word by Word blogger series, started by Ashley at Nourishing the Soul. This month's word was chosen by Jules at Big Girl Bombshell -- you can click here to get the details and participate too!

*The late Richard Carlson is the author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and my personal favorite, Stop Thinking, Start Living. I give him credit for giving me some novel ways to ponder life when I first started reading about psychology and the philosophy of happiness.

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Those Pesky Hips

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Although my story of pain is a success story, sometimes there are still setbacks. This week, shortly after publishing Monday's post about moving my exercise routine forward, my body reminded me that I can't take anything for granted. I've been reminded of this before, like when I fell down the stairs three weeks before the wedding, but at least this time things were slightly more under my control.

On Wednesday I noticed my back seemed sort of stiff. I've been working on getting my hips stretched out fully so that I'll be ready to play golf and tennis (if I so fancy it), but for whatever reason – perhaps I've been sitting more than usual or skipping my exercises on Monday night wasn't the best idea – the stretches were not doing enough. Or I wasn't doing them enough.

In case you weren't aware, stiff hips can cause lower back trouble. And then when the back gets stiff, that can exacerbate the hip tightness even further, causing more back pain. It's a vicious cycle. Read my post Hips Don't Lie for a more detailed discussion of the matter.

Of course there was the little twinge of panic. Does this mean I'm back to constant pain and popping ibuprofen constantly? It doesn't take much to throw me over the what-if cliff. If you've suffered from chronic pain before you know how frightening it can be.

I was also annoyed that I might have to skip swimming on Thursday night. And the Zumba class I had been considering going to today. I was really annoyed, actually, to the point of thinking maybe it would be OK, when I know full well that those are two activities that don't loosen the hips and in fact would make things worse.

A quick call to Super Physio's office confirmed this fact, much to my dismay, but not to my surprise.

So I've been stretching out my hips for the past 48 hours. Every chance I get. Luckily I know three variations of the stretch, so can do some at work, and even when waiting for the bus.

I'm irritated I didn't get to swim or dance this week, but I was also reminded of an important lesson. I need to pay attention to my body even more when I'm adding in new movement. If right now I was just doing walking I wouldn't have this problem. But I'm (very happily) going to yoga, taking a tap class and getting back into Zumba and swimming. It's an increase in activity that seems amazing when viewed from the standpoint of where I was last summer – when I was having trouble walking because my back was hurt so badly.

But it also means that I'm more likely to get stiff hips. And my neck and shoulders will also be more prone to tightness. I know the exercises and the stretches to do to fix these little wobbles, and if I want everything to work, I need to be vigilant and actually do them!

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Pasta (And White Bread) Mi Amore

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Intuitive eating is a lot like meditation.

When I began experimenting with intuitive eating about two years ago, it all seemed so simple. Eat what you like, when you're hungry, and stop when you're full. And pay attention to what you're eating – eat mindfully.

It's a little like meditation in the sense that it sounds simple, but then, it opens you up to a whole other world (and at the same time, a proverbial can of worms).

Meditation, at least as far as I can figure out, is about attention. You sit there all by yourself, counting your breaths, observing your thoughts. And when you mind starts to wander, you bring it back. Through this process you learn about yourself – the real you – stripped away from the usual noise that surrounds your life.

When I started intuitive eating, the first thing I really allowed myself to eat, at the frequency I desired, was pizza. Pizza had been my nemesis, that food that I was sure was causing me to store some extra poundage. It was like Stephen King says about being an alcoholic – I couldn't understand how anyone could leave pizza lying around (he says this about alcohol, however, left carelessly behind in a glass). My desire to eat the whole pizza was overwhelming. But I tried so hard to control my pizza intake. So when the limits were off, I ate pizza like a champ.

These days, I still love pizza, and I do eat it when I want, but I think I've had my fill. It no longer has the same power over me. As intuitive eating experts say, releasing restrictions on the frequency I could consume pizza – effectively legalizing it – really did the trick. But make no mistake, this was not a quick fix. It took probably a whole year to come to terms with my pizza 'addiction'.

These days I've moved onto pasta. And white bread. These are two of the things that in the dieting world (and in celebrity magazines) seem to be off limits. If you want to be thin, you must replace them with chicken and veg and whole-grain pita bread, or whole-grain whatever. It's not that I don't like whole-grain bread, but I'm so fed up with thinking that I have to eat it to be healthy, that I'm resisting it for the time being. So these days, when I pack a sandwich for lunch, I use white rolls.

I'm not sure how long this will go on, but I'm not worried. I know at some point that I'll have had my fill. Or maybe not. Maybe I like to eat my sandwiches on white rolls and I'm pretty sure it's not going to kill me.

So as I continue with the intuitive eating journey, I just pack my lunches and boil my pasta and observe. I'm mindful, but I'm no longer controlling. These days, my body is in charge and I listen. It's scary to stop controlling everything, but that's what meditation teaches – that actually you can't.

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Exercise, Again

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It's not easy to get into an exercise routine. For anyone. But you've got to be strategic. It's got to be right for your body type, something you actually like doing and the right frequency to keep you from just giving up.

As you may know, I am now recovered from what was a terrible problem with my posture that resulted in muscle imbalance and pain. Unfortunately for me, after recovering, I had a few set backs, including a tonsillectomy and then a back injury last summer from moving house that was totally unrelated (apart from the fact that I am hypermobile, which means I will probably always be a little more prone to injury than most people).

So it's been a long time since I've had a regular sustained exercise routine for more than a few months – besides walking. And that's been tough. Both physically and mentally.

But last October, the stars finally aligned and my physio cleared me to start exercising again. First, I started going back to Bikram yoga. I was thrilled– but had to remain calm about the whole thing and not overdo it. I just went once a week. I also went back to my tap dancing class. This was all amazing.

And then, it got better! I was cleared to do some aerobics again, so I started getting back into Zumba (a dance exercise class). This trio of activities got me through the five months prior to the wedding.

So what happens now? I've been getting stronger and although I don't want to overdo it, I wanted to up things a little more, considering that tap class doesn't happen every week and sometimes we don't even really work up a sweat (we all usually just wear our work clothes). And even though I'm not sure I'll settle at this level, I think exercising three to four times per week seems like the right amount for me.

I'd been toying with a few ideas – including going to yoga twice a week. I tried it, but it was just too much for me. I know that the Bikram yogis swear you have to go at least that much, if not everyday, but it's expensive, and it's time consuming. Apart from being a 90-minute class, you get so sweaty that there's no way you can leave the building without a shower. Plus there's the 15 minutes I spend after class sprawled on the floor unable to move before I can even get to the changing room.

Going once a week is still really challenging, but I also don't dread it. For now, that's my Bikram yoga equilibrium.

One thing that has influenced my decision about what to add in next is a pesky bit of a click in my right shoulder (not sure how else to describe it). According to Super Physio, this will go away once my right deltoid (the big shoulder muscle) gets just that bit stronger to hold one of the joints in my shoulder together better.

I have weights that I use to do specific physio exercises with, but SP said that I need to do more varied work (i.e. faster and in more directions) to actually get that deltoid muscle as strong as it needs to be to stop said pesking 'clicking'. And this doesn't mean I need to become a body builder – no, it means going to Zumba and waving my arms around more and doing things like swimming or tennis or golf.

So I've now started adding swimming back in on Thursday nights. In the past I've struggled a bit with trying to incorporate swimming into my routine. But I am pretty interested in getting rid of that click and I think it's probably the safest bet right now as I don't feel ready for tennis or golf yet. Also, there's the added incentive of a little lie down in the sauna afterwards.

There's a lot to think about when it comes to exercise for me. I can't just plow ahead and try out every new exercise fad that comes along (and who really wants to fly with Jukari or throw those kettle balls around anyway?). Sometimes it stinks, but I know that in the end my body will thank me for it. I have to be my own expert, as only I know the type of exercise that works best for me, what I really like and how I can make it sustainable. And I think that might even be true for everyone, even if you don't have a pesky shoulder click.

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Friday Find: Urban Mavens

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As a relatively new blogger myself, I am always happy to help out other newbies, eager to find interested readers. Two friends of mine have recently started blogs – and if you're interested in all things urban, you should check out their online musings.

Sara, who pens High Street Main Street, writes about urban living – both in the US and the UK – and how the physical aspects of town and city centres interact with the people living in them. You can read about such things as heated sidewalks, what monopoly boards and localism have in common, and ethnoburbs (I had no idea what they were either until I read the post!).

Over at Urban Clever, you can follow along on Molly's journey to downsize her belongings and re-think consumerism in the big city – without giving up style and good design. Read her post Take My Stuff… Please, and see if you can keep a dry eye while reading the everyday stories of the people who helped her to empty her flat by taking some of her possesions (although I am a crier!).

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On a different note, don't forget that today is today is International No Diet Day! And you know how I feel about diets. If you're interested in reading some of my posts on the delights of intuitive eating, and why it makes sense, check out these links:
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Making Peace With Red Tape

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I have finally finished my U.S. taxes. Well, I have finally finished gathering together the materials to do them, so that I could send them to my tax preparer. (Doing my U.S. taxes as an expat is clearly out of the question. I am still traumatized by my Dad making me do them when I was in college and I had to try to figure out how to account for share sales that were paying my tuition).

Life is full of red tape. There's always something you need to be doing admin-wise. Whether it's making a dentist appointment, figuring out how the heck to send a postal ballot in the U.K., applying for a mortgage or doing your taxes, it will probably never cease. There are thank-you notes to send, birthday cards to write and garbage to take out. Living in a society with other peoples comes with all sorts of rules and responsibilities this way. Even dying requires a certain amount of admin.

I've started making a sort of truce with red tape. Not sure if I'm at peace with it yet, but the light bulb has finally gone on and I've realized that putting things off doesn't make them go away and instead creates more pain. Playing catch-up is always a grind. So why do so many of us keep things on our to-do list for ages, taunting us?

I was thinking about it last night and realized that sometimes completing things frightens me. When things are all done, beds are made and the admin is under control, what's left? If I didn't have silly things to worry about, would I be faced with the really scary things – the fears that I don't particularly like sitting with?

Ironically, having all sorts of admin hanging over my head avoids a certain amount of discomfort. Clearing away all the excess clutter leaves me alone with whatever is there (whatever that is). I suppose it's a little like meditation. Just sitting there, doing nothing, alone with your thoughts. No wonder people turn the other direction when you start talking about meditation.

But the flip side – and the less scary side – is that when you do clear away all the clutter of life, you can also find the space to focus. You can touch base with the uncomfortable stuff and then make choices about what's actually important.

But practically, how do you get started on clearing all the admin away?
What has helped me is finding some time to focus on it – a scheduled time. Setting aside a specific time does two things – it makes sure you stay focused when you're doing it and also it gives your brain space to do other things when it's not the time to do admin.

For example, when I do manage to get up early (at 6 a.m.), I'm not actually ready to do creative things, but I've found that I am really good at clearing my inbox and sorting out other tasks like bills, online grocery shopping or figuring out how to get to an upcoming country wedding by train. I prefer to get serious writing done instead after work and before dinner. Also, starting the day with admin sorted makes it much easier to really concentrate on work at 9 a.m.

Another thing I do is set aside some time on Sunday nights to go through the stack of papers that has accumulated throughout the week (mail, magazines, odd scraps of paper with lists scribbled on them, etc.). I file away important bits and decide what to chuck. That means during the week I can open my mail without worrying too much about it. I can just put it in the pile if it can wait until Sunday. I know piling things is another form of procrastination, but I'm OK with only sorting it out once a week (hey, nobody's perfect).

Also, if I have a bigger project I want to do, such as cleaning out a closet, or putting together a flat-packed piece of furniture (don't get me started on how long this actually takes – I am never ordering furniture in pieces again), I schedule it in. Block out a Saturday afternoon. Just like I would do with a social engagement. If you want to de-clutter your life and your brain, you have to build in the time.

Obviously, you have to be your own expert and find what works for you. But before you just sigh and forget about it, thinking red tape is the bug bear impossible to conquer, it's worth examining what it is that keeps you from actually dealing with annoying admin. And what you could gain by getting it under control.

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