Bairbre Power
Giving myself time is the best gift I’ve discovered in the grey month of January
January didn’t work out too badly in the end. For some it was a dry month and while I tossed my hat into that ring, there was the occasional Friday night G&T to celebrate the start of the weekend. I find little rewards at the end of the working week are a nice beginning to the weekend.
The first month of the year can be so depressing. The reality of Christmas spending hits the bank account and the light is low, but on the flip side, the annual Turner exhibition is on at the National Gallery on Dublin’s Merrion Square and a few hours there, drinking in his watercolourist genius, is salve for a weary soul. But be warned, the exhibition wraps at the end of the month, so get your skates on fast.
Giving myself the gift of time is definitely the best decision I’ve made so far in 2018. That and tracking down Oprah Winfrey’s SuperSoul Conversations podcasts. Time has often eluded me as I chase my tail around town, fuelled up on caffeine-loaded coffee. I’ll confess, I’ve not been the most prompt person — probably because I take too many things on and have found it hard to say no, but now that I’ve parked that tendency, I can make time for me.
When it comes to always being 15 minutes late, blaming it on the traffic or the shortage of taxis, I often joked how I’d be late to my own funeral. Things had to change before I lost any more friends. I’ve a coterie of pals who like being on time. You know the type, text you 10 minutes before you are due to meet to say they are already there and seated down the back. Oh how those texts add to your stress levels as you drive around and around the block, frantically looking for parking and calling on your guardian angel to get cracking and find you a spot. Pronto.
So as the hands of time rang in 2018, my resolution was to get back on track with my time keeping and, so far, the secret to making more time for myself in the day is down to being motivated and super-organised. Everything has its place now and after filling a series of skips, I’ve decluttered and I know where my possessions are. Extra minutes in my day came from downloading all the apps for public transport and I love how real-time information means I can time my departure for the bus stop 30 seconds’ walk away from my front door.
An extra five minutes at home instead of being blown away at the bus stop means I tidy up and write my ‘To Do’ list for the day. The kindly soul who sent me a block of ‘To Do’ lists with my name on them as a Christmas present had no idea just how on the money she was.
Managing my time better, I’ve vowed to do one thing for me every day, whether it is business or plotting a cultural outing or writing a letter or card to a friend abroad. After that, the work day can throw whatever it wants on me.
So far I’ve met the solicitor, the accountant, the estate agent — next stop, it is the pension advisor, which should be riveting, and depressing, in equal amounts. Oh how I enjoy writing lists and ticking them off as the day progresses.
My new passion at weekends is batch cooking. I went out to buy carrots and garlic in Lidl and came home with a slow cooker which has been my culinary toy ever since.
With this cooking craze catching me somewhat by surprise, I dug out the old orange Le Creuset Casseroles which, if my memory serves me right, were wedding presents from another lifetime. Scrubbing them into service was a pleasure and I’ve been cooking up a storm for lunches and dinners for the first half of the week, which means when I get home after work, I’ve time for me instead of starting from scratch.
Yes, the bold takeaways are binned. So too is binge watching Netflix and box sets which was all the rage chez Power over Christmas. I was sick and bedridden and watching Grace
and Frankie, (the unlikely roommates in a San Diego beach house after their husbands married each other) produced lots of belly laughs and house envy. Lily Tomlin’s ageing hippy character is funny but I’ll confess, I’m just glued to how amazing Jane Fonda looks at 80.
Now before you accuse me of being ageist, take a look at her yourself on the show and tell me you are not impressed by her gait, easy movement, impressively strong face and then you will notice the figure and her wardrobe with the famous Ralph Lauren tulip-shaped caramel cardigan that half the women in America seem to want.
As for her ‘tweaked’ face, well that’s another story. Just ask US TV host Megyn Kelly, who this month dared to ask about going under the knife — Jane was not impressed. Anyway, such was my resolve to watch TV programmes like normal people do, one episode at a time, I didn’t even race to my laptop when the new, fourth series of Grace and Frankie launched last weekend. When she was 77, Ms Fonda fessed up to her Hollywood comeback and acknowledged that plastic surgery had bought her a decade and she was frank. “I have a fake hip, knee, thumb; more metal in me than a bionic woman, but I can still do Pilates.”
That got me thinking. I really need to start doing Pilates or yoga again. Last time I tried, I just couldn’t meditate and enjoy the moment because I was too busy filtering shopping lists and next-day news lists. I had a head full of noise and was running on empty. So empty I fell asleep on my yoga mat and started snoring. Awkward!
Nowadays, I’m all about ‘the sleep’. Writing lists and ticking them off means once my head hits that duck feather pillow (highly recommend), I can chill and doze off. To make more time for meaningful experience, the phone is not my friend. I’ve been spending far too much time on it so if you are texting me at night, or first thing in the morning, I’m not available. This digital detox has made a significant difference to me gaining an hour or two in the morning.
Instead, I look forward to my quiet rituals of making a pot of tea. My Cork grandmother would roll in her grave if she saw anything but Barry’s going into the pot, but I’m weaning myself off caffeine and the good news is that peppermint tea doesn’t need a biscuit quite like a mug of builder’s tea does.