Changing Patterns

As human beings, our lives tend to fall into set patterns--and it can be extremely difficult to change these patterns. I've been giving this a lot of thought lately, because clearly some of the patterns I've fallen into aren't working for me. [Flabby butt, I'm looking at you.]

I'm too tired, and have been getting more so over the last couple of years. Some of that is disrupted sleep (thanks so much, menopause hormones...and um, bite me) and not enough sleep because I'm staying up later to write. Some of that is not enough exercise. Too much stress. La la la. Any of this starting to sound familiar to you?

I also need to be getting more work done...while at the same time, finding more space for play and fun in  my life, as well as my spiritual practice. HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO BOTH????

So I took a look at my goals: more focus, less stress, more rest, less sitting on my butt in a chair (a tough issue for an author, since that is pretty much the job description).

There are so many things that MUST get done. But there are a few places where I think I can work on changing those patterns. My friend Mindy Klasky had a great blog post here about improving/changing her writing and networking approach, and it made me decide to finally implement my own changes.

So here's the plan:
Weekends are now internet free zones. GASP! Yes, you heard me. No Facebook. No Twitter. No posting on blogs or reading other people's. I haven't decided yet if I can get away with checking my regular email from friends (probably) or if I need to leave the desktop turned off entirely and only use the laptop for WRITING ONLY.

I'm also going to reduce my web time during the week, and try to replace some of that with exercise and meditation. We'll see how that goes. And no morning news while I do my stretches. It slows me down and starts out my day with a lot of negative input.

Patterns are tough to change. So wish me luck!

What patterns would you like to change in your life? Are you making any headway?