00:07
Hi, this is Katie, and thank you for joining me on the Creating Your Sanctuary podcast, and this is a podcast about creating those little moments and space that support you.

00:19
And this week, I had a bit of an epiphany, and I'm also very tired.

00:24
I thought, um, I did want to put out a podcast this week, but I am limiting a lot of my other content, which is fine.

00:33
I had my infusion on Monday and I was thinking about like how do I keep up with my new schedule.

00:40
I've formed a new schedule starting at the beginning of January, played with it a lot, kept iterating on a lot, and realized, oh, if I just focus on one content piece going out per day, meaning 7 days a week, but I also take a lot of the weekends off for family.

01:01
Um, but just to go, okay, this is coming out on those days and then my Tuesdays and Thursdays were the ones that I would record the most.

01:12
So, This was working for a lot of 2nd quarter.

01:18
It took 1st quarter to figure it out.

01:20
2nd quarter to kind of iterate it here.

01:22
And then I was like, wait.

01:26
How am I going to keep up with that this week along with, I had family visiting before that?

01:33
And something just kind of clicked in the place, almost when I was at my infusion, I was sitting there, and I think it does help, I brought, you know, my phone to watch some videos, and fortunately, it was only an hour plus some extra time to run some sailing through.

01:53
And I realized why am I pushing this week? What if this was actual a natural cadence for me to take a break and do some deep dive business stuff?

02:12
And I usually do this type of work in January or sometimes mid-year, and I had just never thought about it as an actual 8 week cadence.

02:27
So I was like, wait, if I'm just kind of, You know, mentally still, I'm having some foggy times as well.

02:37
Um, usually after an infusion, I'm just really tired and definitely when I got home that day and into that evening, I took a nap and I got up and I could was having trouble functioning, making dinner.

02:50
Unfortunately, my husband came to the rescue.

02:52
Literally at the right time, he walked in the door as I was getting up and saved the day as he does sometimes.

03:00
And I just was like, why am I pushing content content content even on a week like this?

03:10
Like, I felt like I should have been prepping for this before, so everything would be seamless.

03:17
And then I'm like, why am I doing that?

03:19
That is not what my whole channel is about.

03:22
That's not what my whole podcast or anything that I stand for is about.

03:27
And even though, I can't take like a full week off.

03:33
I think, um, a lot of us can't.

03:37
Like we have to still go and do some things and try to function the best we can.

03:43
It's a time when I do have the privilege and luxury of focusing on what I want to work on.

03:52
And I was like, wait, this is the time that I'm using some new tools that I need to get really clear about my business about.

04:02
And I think it's just because those 2 things matched at the same time.

04:06
I was like, I should be doing this every 8 weeks.

04:09
Like, I should be, um, And I think, you know, in some ways, people call these sprints.

04:17
I don't know a whole lot about that where you have a set determined amount of time that is like, this is for this type of work, and then you regroup.

04:27
And sure, you can call it that if you want.

04:31
But in in my work here, it does really help to pause and take a deeper look and see if things have shifted.

04:41
As I've kind of grown out my business into different sectors.

04:45
It is getting more complicated.

04:48
And so I, and I like that.

04:51
I'm okay with having these different um, new things that I'm interested in that I can do alongside my, you know, things that I've been doing for years.

05:06
And I just thought I, I do have a habit of keeping, to keep going and then feel way too fuzzy on things, that this was not quite the way I wanted to go, like, to have, um, a direction and then realize I went too far in a direction.

05:28
And I didn't know when to review that and when to go, wait, let's let's actually look and see how this is all forming together. And let's come up with some ideas of how this could be different.

05:42
And there's very much an observational view of this and not any kind of shame or blame or guilt or anything like that.

05:50
This is natural.

05:51
This is what a lot of people do.

05:53
And I also found like through my systems, I have been doing reviews less and less, and I realized that was a big tool I used years ago.

06:03
And I'm doing them in different forms right now.

06:08
I think because I started a five-year diary, because I journal every night, or attempt to, and I'm doing like a joy journal right now where I'm writing things down.

06:20
There is a review, but it's, it's more like this happened, not why this happened.

06:26
And so, taking the time to go, well, why is this happening in my business?

06:32
Is this the direction I want to go in?

06:35
Do I have some evidence back on whether this is a good idea or not?

06:40
Sometimes you need a little evidence.

06:41
Some reactions, some feedback, some things that really help you narrow it down?

06:47
Because right now, I'm in a very receptive mood, I guess, receptive point in my life.

06:56
Um, especially this week of like going, okay, I want to receive the feedback.

07:01
I want to see what's going on.

07:03
And other times, I just want to follow the templates.

07:08
And I think, you know, taking those time, this time at the 8 week point, of reviewing and redirecting allows me to be in the templates in a stronger way.

07:22
I templatize a lot of things like this is how my podcast is done.

07:27
This is how my social media is done.

07:29
This is how blog post is done, like all these different things because it really helps me go, okay, this is the template that I use, but things change and things morph.

07:42
When I follow those templates too long.

07:44
And I think that's what I was really feeling is like, well, I've been following this template for a really long time.

07:49
What's going on?

07:50
Well, sometimes things get stale, sometimes, the market shifts, sometimes, people get bored, you know, or I'm showing that I'm getting bored with a template and people can see that.

08:05
So, it's not a totally new concept of any kind, but I just, it finally clicked for me that I could start putting into my schedule an 8 week point that also lets off a lot of stress of like, oh, I need to keep up those recordings, those videos.

08:28
And I wouldn't have the energy, I would be pushing myself through.

08:32
I wanted to show something.

08:34
It's just like this podcast.

08:37
I am pushing myself a bit, but this is this in one video is all I'm doing this week, just because I want to see what happens in my joy journal because it's something that's just really important to me to look back on.

08:50
And, you know, and to reflect on this point.

08:54
I think it's, um, I think it's, It sounds just, again, it sounds so simple.

09:02
I'm looping back on myself, but it sounds so simple, but I'm just so relieved to have found it.

09:08
And I just wanted to share that with you.

09:10
I don't know

09:12
What other, you know, chronic illness, experiences that you could possibly try this with.

09:21
I'm not sure, you know, if there's any other people who are low on energy.

09:28
Are there cycles in your life?

09:30
I, um, do you still have a cycle, but I don't have an actual menstrual cycle anymore because I have a hysterectomy.

09:39
But I do feel those hormonal cycles, and I do try to track those a bit to see how those overlap into my work to see, oh, is this, am I just more tired this week?

09:51
And So there's a possibility there if you track that, and if that's something that affects you, um, it could be medications, um, if you are, yeah, getting infusions at a certain rate.

10:09
I guess it also made me think of, I have the option of instead of the infusions having a shot every 2 weeks, and I've contemplated that.

10:19
Um, but if I'm, I'd have to try it, and I guess I could try going back, it's the same medication, it's just given a different intervals.

10:30
And I've heard people have some more success with that, but then would I have like every Monday, every other Monday?

10:40
having issues, like if I took it on a Sunday night?

10:44
Would every Monday, every other Monday.

10:46
Sorry.

10:47
Um, be hard for me.

10:50
I would rather have like one week where I find the opportunity to kind of think abstractly a bit, have space to just think about a whole lot of things, just to explore.

11:02
Um, it's way more appealing to me.

11:06
And then it's all out of the way.

11:07
And then if I wanted to travel, I don't have to still get a hold of shots and everything.

11:12
So, That's what I'm still puzzling over, but in terms of like how I get my work done.

11:19
I'm still thinking my every 8 weeks is best, but that's just me.

11:24
And you're gonna know you.

11:26
And that's the most important part is knowing yourself the best and knowing your schedule the best and what you're doing, to see where the natural pauses are.

11:37
Are there points where you can pause and go, okay, I need room to come up with ideas.

11:43
I need room to get curious about things, to refill my creative bucket, what can those be?

11:51
Because you really do need those times to pause and reflect and see if you're on the right track.

12:00
Um, it's really, really helpful to redirect when necessary.

12:07
And also in a sense, I feel like I'm now honoring my body more and acknowledging that this chronic illness is here and it does affect me every 8 weeks.

12:19
I do like to try to like erase it and pretend it's not happening.

12:23
And I think that's what I was doing with my schedule.

12:25
But knowing that this happens.

12:28
I have to have these meds, and they affect me in this way, and sometimes I can kind of predict it and sometimes not.

12:35
Then I feel like I'm honoring myself in giving myself this time to really work with my body and what I can do.

12:45
It's not like I'm not doing anything, which would not be bad either.

12:51
I don't want to condemn that at all if you just can't do anything.

12:55
I think that's totally appropriate.

12:57
Um, You have to take care of yourself first.

13:00
Otherwise, there is no second, right?

13:02
But yeah, just focusing on, I'm really curious right now, what I can do with my business, but also honor my body.

13:13
I think that's what's resonating the most, is that there's this honoring. That I'm performing mentally and physically, and it just feels really aligned.

13:23
So however you're Creating Your Sanctuary right now, whether you're taking a pause or doing a deep dive and and seeing where you can course correct or where you can even take these pauses to begin with, whatever you're doing right now, it's enough.

13:42
I'll see you next time.