Getting My Life Back

May 19, 2010 · Comments

My daughter is almost two weeks old now and I’m about to have to return to the real world. I’ve had two weeks of long nights, and twice the diaper changes I’m used to, but I’ve also had two weeks of awesome as I’ve been getting to know the new member of our family.

A few things I’ve learned:

-Staying at home all day is disastrous to productivity. I haven’t blogged, coded, or even done any yard work the whole time I’ve been off of work.  This is probably due to being incredibly tired and busy with a newborn but sometimes all I want to do is lay around and watch Law and Order reruns.

-Having a home gym is crucial. Even if you don’t have a full set of weights or a squat rack, I think it is very important to have something set up in your home that will allow you to just get away for a few minutes and stay active. My IronGym pullup bar has definitely gotten a lot of use these past two weeks. I’ve also been working on gathering other components for my home gym that I’ll post about soon.

-Get out whenever possible. I’ve bargained with my wife to let me get a few miles in throughout the last few days. Getting time to myself on the jogging trail has been great. I love being with family but burning through an hour in my running shoes is important for my sanity.

How do you keep sane or focused on fitness when life is otherwise out of whack?

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  • Andrew
    Congrats on the new baby, Brandon. As she gets older, I think you will discover that young kids do much better with consistency in their lives.

    It's a truism that my mother would tell me when my kids were young, "children need structure." My wife had a co-worker who let her 5-year-old make too many decisions...about when to eat, what to eat, when to go to bed, etc. The household was a chaotic nightmare and everyone was miserable, including the 5-year-old. I have noticed with my own children that when bed-times and meal times get out of whack over multiple days, the household suffers and everyone is less content (even if they can't really put their finger on why.) It is very easy to let things slide. It can go from blowing-off our family routine of meal-times and bed-times for a one-off special occasion (i.e. going to a ball game together) to letting these things slide for three nights in a row because somebody wants to go to the mall, or stay up to watch a new episode of their favorite show. When that happens, however, the kids don't know where they stand and are less satisfied as a result.

    All of this is to say that as adults, we need structure, too. But it is out own responsibility to impose it, which we can do through goal-setting and personal motivation. Certainly, with a new baby, flexibility is key but new babies also sleep a lot. Plan to use your available time productively and write down your goals ahead. Good luck.
  • well said, Andrew. structure is key.

    Also, I've been really doing a lot of thinking about goals lately. Both perosnal and professional. I agree that writing them down is like magic. It makes them much, much more real.
  • I've been checking Craigslist for exercise equipment. I agree, time off work tends to be my least productive time. I want to change that so when I'm away from my cell (work) I get more done for me! And feel like less of a failure when I try to go back to my routine.
  • why is free time so hard on productivity? Give me a little room to slack off and I seem to go off the deep end. If you find a solution, let me know.
  • I think burnout is the main cause. We push ourselves so hard in every area of our lives that once we get a chance to relax we just crash. This is also true with working out, I'll stick to my program for a really long time, to the point where I'm getting really strong. Then I get sick, or tired, or life just happens, and I take 2 or 3 months off. I think down time is ok sometimes, because pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion too often is not healthy.
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