I need to relax. To chill out. To have some regular downtime. As a creative I’m always engaged and adding to that I’m a perfectionist and a maker so that means my power levels only have two settings: high or asleep. Because of this my brain is always running a mile a minute and it’s starting to catch up to me. I don’t sleep well, 4am is thy enemy, and lately I’ve been tired and find it hard to focus. Something needs to be done, so I’m going to start by meditating.

But before I get into that I want to share with you some links I found during my research this week. Yup, my personality tends toward being a researcher. Frankly, I’m surprised I get any sleep…

On Busyness

Stop the Glorification of Busy!
A Helpful Guide to Becoming Unbusy

The Importance of Taking Time Off

The Underappreciation of Rest in Today’s Society
The Lost Practice of Resting One Day Each Week
Taking a mental health day: The case for staying home from work for your mind
The Best Reason Ever To Take A Two Week Vacation

What Meditation Can Do For You

Your Motivation to Start Meditating
How Meditation Can Help Anxiety

How to Start a Daily Meditation Practice

6 Tricks To Make Daily Meditation A No-Brainer
Learn to Meditate in 6 Easy Steps
What’s the Right Way to Sit for Meditation?
10-Minute Meditation Breaks
Guided Meditations

I’ve meditated in the past but it’s a habit that’s easy to fall by the wayside so I’ve decided to put together a handy little tool to help me through the month.

The idea is that I’ll colour in a circle for each day that I meditate to keep myself on track. I’m motivated by gold stars so I think this will be a big help, plus I hear Jerry Seinfeld uses a similar technique.

And I’ve put together a blank one so you can start a new habit in May too, meditating or otherwise. Just fill in what your new habit will be, define exactly what that is in the details box (for example, if you want to exercise every day what qualifies as exercise? And for how long?), why you want to create this new habit – fill this in with something powerful that will keep you motivated through the month, and how you feel before you create your new habit – this will be good to help inspire you to continue plus you can compare it to how you feel at the end of the month to see if it’s a habit that’s really worth keeping.

I’m even going to print off a blank one for myself because I feel like I work too many evenings. I’ll colour in a circle for each night I work past 7pm and if at the end of the month there’s a lot of coloured dots I’ll know it’s something I need to work on. Maybe that will be my project for June.

After you’ve downloaded your blank habit calendar leave a comment letting us know which new daily habit you’d like to start in May. Or, if you meditate regularly let us know how amazing it’s made you feel, it could help keep the rest of us on the wagon just a little bit longer…