Short Hiatus

Why hello there. It's been a while. The summer time is normally hard for most people, with big events, family vacations, and the extra daylight to spend all your time outside.

Except this summer hasn't been that for me. It's probably the busiest, craziest summer I've ever had (at least that I can recall). It's been full of ups and downs, and non-stop action every day. I can't remember the last time I had some true down time.

So what's been going on? Well, there's been a lot of personal stuff – too personal to get into on a public site. I've extensively journaled about it, which has been great. Personal life has influenced the vacations I took this summer - a grand total of zero. Kids have been active this summer, there's a ton to do around the house, and things slip through the cracks. It happens. I'm originally from east of Cleveland, so I know what it means to have it not be your year.

Work has been hellacious, but in a multitude of great ways. It's been busy with so much going on, but I'm managing more than ever. There's a shift in the perception of who I am and what I can bring, which has been fantastic. I've even switch to a single task manager rather than having two. Even though I enjoyed the bifurcation, this has been better for me this summer with everything going on. For now – and you know it is always subject to change – I've settled on Todoist. A huge reason why is the addition of the Todoist script objects in Drafts and the speed at which I can enter everything in. But more on that at a different time.

I have spent the summer doing a few things to take care of me. For too many years, I let certain things go. But in the spring, I came to the realization that I put off me too much, and I needed to reclaim some of it. So I've been working out regularly – three to five times a week. I'm making sure to complete those goals not for the gamification, but because I know the end result will be a healthier me. I'm going to bed at a reasonable time, and waking up at 5am every morning to get this done, but it's been better.

All this to say: all of this has made it so that I haven't been writing as much. I had planned on writing more on some aspects of Drafts after I wrote the review. I still have those plans. And I will do them. Life often just finds a way to get the way of some personal life stuff. But I don't regret the decisions I've made in reclaiming some "me" time. I'm working on a better balance, and a better me. A short hiatus every once in a while is a wonderful thing.