what I do when I'm weary

because aren't we all feeling it?

There are not enough cups of strong tea in my life at the moment. I come from a long line of tea drinkers so it would be sacrilegious to make an insipid brew and call it a cuppa; I keep the bag in and only add a dash of milk. The first thing I do when I return home from my early morning walk is flick the kettle on. I think about how good it will be to take the first sip at least five times as I walk the coastline and watch the sunrise.

At this time of year, as normal life becomes a bit more of a whirlwind, we lean on our comforting habits because they steady us when the pace picks up. Ironically, I can actually feel my brain starting to wind down; I can’t hold as much in my head and my writing has slowed. My patience is waning and the kids are growing more weary with each school day that passes. I’m not critical of this anymore because it makes so much sense: we’re tired because we need to rest. We’re tired because protecting our attention at the moment requires incredible focus and awareness and that’s dwindling along with our energy.

When I begin to feel a little frayed, I come back to the evidence-based basics and I make decisions accordingly: