Turns Out, “Back To Normal” Takes A Minute

Last week I introduced you to October Leanne.

If you missed it, she’s quite impressive. Up at 6am, diary done, yoga done, meal prepping on Sundays, exercising while dinner cooks, reading in bed by 9.30 and not drinking until Christmas.

She’s got plans.

I decided not to unleash her all at once though. After fifteen weeks of summer holidays, I was going to treat September like the children’s return to school — a phased return. Add a couple of things at a time, see what works and hopefully by October I’ll have some idea of what my new routine actually looks like.

Well, we’re a few days in.

And I have a slightly boring update.

It’s been… fine.

The children went back to school and, apart from a few tears at the school gate, we’ve all just got on with it. I think after fifteen weeks we were all ready for a bit of normality again — even if actually walking back through those gates was always going to come with a few wobbles.

Me included. Not the tears, I should add.

And actually, that’s pretty much how the rest of the week has felt too. I haven’t had this huge burst of right, we’re back, let’s sort my entire life out. I’ve just started doing things again.

I’ve eaten well without making a massive thing of it. Exercise has been a bit slower, but I expected that. I’ve cleared out a few more things, donated some stuff and generally carried on where I left off before summer took over.

Work has probably had most of my attention because I was determined to finally get the website and planner finished. And when I say determined, I mean I have spent a fucking ridiculous amount of time editing that planner. But it’s finished, the website is finished, and I can finally stop opening Wix every five minutes to change something.

Which means I should probably get back on social media.

I say should because I’ve been avoiding that one slightly.

Although I’m literally doing it while writing this.

Multi-tasking bitch.

And the funny thing is, I don’t feel particularly behind.

Normally when I’m trying to get back into a routine, I think I expect there to be a point where I can declare myself officially back on track.

Food sorted. Exercise sorted. Work sorted. Routine sorted.

Right. We’re back.

Except that isn’t really what’s happened this week.

Exercise is probably the best example. I’m in the last five days of my cycle at the moment, which I know by now is usually my lowest-energy bit. So I’m not remotely surprised that Bouncy Leanne hasn’t arrived with the school term.

She’ll probably turn up sometime next week wondering why everyone else isn’t as enthusiastic about life as she is.

I’ve known this about myself for long enough now that I’m not looking at a slower week of exercise and thinking, Oh great, that’s gone to shit already.

It hasn’t. I just don’t particularly have the energy for smashing out workouts this week, so they’re coming back slowly.

And I think that’s what I’ve noticed about the whole week.

Not everything has come back at the same speed.

Which sounds ridiculously obvious when I write it down, but I don’t think I’ve always allowed for that.

I’ve always liked the idea of getting “back on track”. There’s something satisfying about it. Especially after summer, when normal routines have basically left the building and you can’t remember the last time an entire week went according to plan.

But I think I’ve always interpreted “back on track” as getting everything back.

That’s the bit I’m not so sure about anymore.

Because if I’d decided Tuesday morning was the official restart, I could quite easily be sitting here now thinking I’d already cocked it up. I haven’t exercised as much as I eventually want to, I haven’t really got back into social media yet and there are things on my rather ambitious list that haven’t even started.

But I don’t feel like I’ve cocked it up.

And I think that’s what’s different.

Normally I’d be looking at what I haven’t done yet and feeling like I should be further along. Instead, I’m a few days in and I’m actually pretty happy with how it’s going.

Some things have started. Some haven’t. Nothing has fallen apart because I didn’t do it all on Tuesday.

Maybe that’s all “getting back on track” actually needs to be.

Not a big restart. Not everything at once. Just getting on with it.

Which is basically what we’ve all done this week.

And after fifteen weeks of summer, I’ll take that.

Leanne