Today, after a slow start where I probably came close to using up all my social media timers for the day, I ticked off some of my daily habits. And they all involved timers. And I think I may love timers. To an extent, of course, there are some things that really probably shouldn’t be timed!
I did 10 minutes of yoga:
And then 3 minutes of meditation. (I just set the timer, rather than using an app. I put butterflies or trees in my head if thoughts try to interrupt. With the butterflies I found myself thinking of creating an animation with butterflies randomly flying and you have to follow a particular butterfly to stay focused away from your thoughts. And then I realised that was a bunch of thoughts, so I focused on staring at an imaginary knot of wood in a tree in a forest. That one worked better.)
And then a 30-second plank.
And then 10 minutes drawing. I completed the drawing and saved it within the ten minutes. And now 10 minutes of writing… [7 minutes left, FYI].
And now I’m wondering whether to try using timers during my working day. And maybe that could also help me get up and move a bit, regularly, because I would happily sit cross-legged on my big comfortable desk chair all day. It’s a good thing that the kettle and coffee are downstairs – and the loo! But maybe I will try a 20-minute timer with 2 minutes jiggling about, then another 20-minute timer… [Is that the Pomodoro method, actually?]
I think I’ll give it a go. It might well depend on the type of work I’m doing. Some does need full concentration for a big chunk of time, though even then moving for 2 minutes wouldn’t necessarily interrupt that concentration, just take it away from the desk or the seat.
Do you use timers for anything? Do you hate them or love them, or just tolerate them?
I may try timers as I get so involved in my creativity that the world disappears and my back yells at me to get up and wiggle!