1-2-3 Sundays: Sunny Weather, Emails & Action

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1 Theme

Mood & Weather

The summer has finally arrived in Scotland.

It's been the longest period of sunny weather all summer. I'm all for it. It's been great to get outside and feel the warmth on my skin.

Drinking coffee outside in the morning followed by lunch al fresco has also been a highlight.

I noticed my mood improved with the improving weather alongside the above activities.

People are genuinely so much happier in the summer months (weather being an obvious reason) but mainly to the greater array of things you can do while being in sunlight.

Just being outside increases your serotonin levels.

As the days begin to get shorter, it's a reminder to get out as much as you can.

2 Positive Outcomes

Photoshoot Pics

The final version of the photoshoot pictures came in.

I'm honestly very impressed with them.

Credit to Tony for the work he did.

It's very difficult to pick a favourite but I like these ones.

Holiday Shopping

I'm going on holiday in 2 weeks.

Because I've not been on a beach holiday in about 5 years, I don't have beach clothes, shorts and shirts for nighttime or even a beach towel.

I figured ordering online would be the easiest and most convenient way of getting them.

Although, sometimes you need to see the items in the shop to know if you like them or not.

Since the weather was nice, we went to Glasgow city centre treated ourselves to a nice lunch then went shopping to get everything we needed.

Job done.

3 Things I've Learned

People Will Drop Everything When The Sun Comes Out (Myself Included)

Can you really blame us?

When you live in a country that isn't guaranteed a consistent amount of sunshine every year and the opportunity to do "summer stuff" comes up, it'll more than likely be at the expense of your regular routine.

I had planned to write on nights this week when the weather was excellent - I didn't. I wanted to go outside and enjoy the weather while I had the chance.

Honestly, it was worth it.

Spending time with Aimee, meeting people on walks and being present felt really good.

Will I be hard on myself in the future for not writing/creating when I told myself I would? Or, will I be thankful for spending more time in the present?

"To receive fewer emails, we must send fewer emails"

This comes from Nir Eyal's Indistractable, which I'm reading right now.

Email is one of the biggest distractions in our life.

(Please be reading this at a responsible time).

If you want fewer emails to deal with, send fewer emails.

I know this isn't simple for some people - especially if your job revolves around email.

One technique I've found useful is turning off notifications for email when I'm at work. There's nothing more frustrating when you're in flow and the Outlook banner comes onto your screen.

The hardest part is getting back to the same concentration level you were at beforehand. The cumulative effect is a decrease in productivity and possibly the quality of your work.

Action and Motion

They aren't inherently the same thing.

Motion is planning, strategising and learning. Examples for me would be:

Planning out when I'm going to train.
Outlining articles/topics I want to write about.
Reading X books on Y to gain knowledge about the subject.

Action, however, is actually doing the thing. It's what gets the result.

Going to the gym for each workout.
Writing the articles/blog posts.
Using the knowledge gained to create content or apply to my daily life.

The danger here is being in motion for too long and not taking action. We may feel like we need to plan more before we start however this is only a comfort blanket for not putting ourselves out there.

Motion feels like progress but without the risk of failure.

To overcome this, setting aside time for planning each week and that time only means there's more available for you to take action.

Having a time deadline on your goal will also accelerate this. The amount of effort you put in is determined by the time you've allocated to the task. Less time means more effort - think of cramming in for an assignment or test at school/college/uni.

Action > motion.

Motion will never produce a final result. Action will. - James Clear

Before you go...

I'm running the Great Scottish Run Half Marathon in October for the Beatson Cancer Charity.