Plan your treats too, make them even more sweet
#78 - School Captain and sunshine cricket, a packed week as usual
Hi there,
Thinking back over the past two months, I haven’t had what I’d love to call a “normal” week: the end of manic March with 5 concerts, followed by a busy Easter break revising for exams; more revision in the 2 school weeks leading up to exams. We say ‘hello’ to May, 2 more weeks of actual exams and now, a heavy week preparing for a school captain campaign that takes me through to Thursday.
Still, a return to normal classes of learning new stuff has been a little weird after nearly two months of pure recall and review. I’ve also enjoyed the competitive edge of my interactions in school among my shortlisted candidates, whilst preparing for a tricky week of four presentations and an interview.
Highlight of the week: going to Edgbaston to watch two T20 games; branded as a “Blast Off” to the English short-form cricket competition, Birmingham hosted a couple of exciting fixtures. Free from the worries of exams, 5 friends and I spent yesterday afternoon in the picture-perfect sunshine, having a blast (I’m sorry, I had to do it)
After a gruelling few weeks getting ready and doing my UCAS exams, the cricket in the sunshine was exactly what I needed: a pure distraction for the mind, isolated (quite literally) from the outside world, cracking jokes and spending good time with some friends. It was a reward I looked forward to, ever since I got around to booking it back in February. It reminded me of two similar ideas I’d come across before.
1. Last year, I listened (and recommended) to a vacation expert talk about the benefits of booking holidays in advance:
“Research shows that we actually get more happiness in the weeks and months leading up to a trip than we do on the trip itself (and the weeks after a trip)…you can really enjoy your vacation by planning it further out and giving your today self the joy of that anticipation of looking forward to it.”
/I hear you asking why?/ “The great thing about daydreams is nothing goes wrong in them. That’s why we tend to actually enjoy the anticipation of travel more than the trip itself, and why I think that folks should be taking more effort to book their travels further in advance, to have something to look forward to and be excited about in the future”
Even though it’s only a week, planning to go on holiday in half term next week is the first thing that pops up when I think about next weekend.
2. A few weeks ago, I found an article about the professionalized nature of personal lives in 2023, especially for adults scheduling meetups, sometimes with agendas, with too much communication to set things up beforehand. It raised the question of “Should we bother planning relaxing activities like these in advance or embrace spontaneity?” A time management expert I love Laura Vanderkam disagreed,
“What happens when people don’t treat their time with intention is that they feel like it didn’t happen,” she said. “In a very distracted world, you’re not going to automatically choose the most rejuvenating and relaxing activity. You’re going to do whatever is in front of you.” (Read YouTube rabbit holes and Twitter doom scrolls)
Thinking ahead and creating the intention to do something restful and enjoyable beforehand and more importantly, carving out the time beforehand to ensure you do follow up on your promise can be rewarding. Like you would treat a meeting at work, it’s a priority and because you’ve put it in the calendar/diary already, it should happen - it’s what you’re supposed to be doing. It makes sure that you do indeed do some meaningful rest, the kind of recuperation that you remember and feels worthy.
A couple of weeks ago, we spend the 2nd Bank Holiday Monday at a pretty tulip farm where we enjoyed some carrot and walnut cake. Mum said, “I’d love to make carrot and walnut cake, it’s so tasty”. My mind came into action, having enjoyed the Mum-son film afternoon 2 days before.
“Shall we plan to do it in two Sundays’ time?” My logic? Planning it for the upcoming Sunday would bring more resistance but some detachment or delay to the scheduling makes pencilling it in feels less impactful. In the end, it nearly slipped from our to-do list for the day but we got it done (and it looks gorgeous, doesn’t it?)
Of course, this whole post has been written so I can show a picture of yet another baking wonder of mine, don’t be fooled.
Just because it’s supposed to be relaxing doesn’t mean it’s unorganised and unplanned. If anything, the joy of knowing that you were supreme enough to thoughtfully book this time in advance and give your future you the joy of this activity is enough. The pleasure from the experience can be thought to be a bonus 🎁
PS Turns out I’ve written about this before, a post more similar than different. The repetition shows the importance of remembering this
Podcast of the week🎙️
The Daily Stoic: Just Start Journalling
I enjoyed a long blurt out of thoughts this afternoon about various different things, with me feeling better by the end. Here’s a compact argument for why it’s so powerful.
Article of the week 📰
The Art and Science of Spending Money
Always love Morgan Housel’s paradigm-changing nuggets on how we spend money
Quote of the week 💬
Our best successes often come after our greatest disappointments - Henry Ward Beecher
Upon reading this, I hope you give yourself a couple of minutes to plan something to look forward to at the end of the week - you’ll thank yourself
Adi