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Body Image and Productivity Struggles [Weekly Catch Up 2]

Afternoon everyone!

Hope you all had a lovely week. The second week of 2020, how did it go for you?

This week has been somewhat a haphazard mess. I could only describe it as an overflowing laundry basket. It was a struggle. But maybe there is are learning points that can be concluded from the problems that I was facing the past week.

Firstly my productivity was incredibly off this week. I was not meeting my goals and every task took my entire life force. Fatigue kept setting in and my sleep schedule is still way off. I wake up at 10 to 12 every day and sleep around 2. The amount of sleep I get works against me. I am constantly trying not to be so exhausted but the hard truth is I always am. The more you sleep, the more tired you tend to get but lack of sleep can also make you tired and impair your judgement and actions. It's a hard balance to figure through.

My learning point regarding sleep was that I am actually a morning person when I want to be productive but I am a night owl when I want to be creative. Tracking my sleep schedule and how this impacts my productivity and my mood has been incredibly revealing. I highly recommend trying it out for a week or so because you might be able to discover weird correlations. It's all a bit of a trial and error.

Secondly, my body image issues hit me like a truck. One thing that has been hard for me to come to terms with was taking responsibility for my body and my actions. It's easy to be so shallow and say that you are beautiful at any weight and height. But it's more complex than looking at yourself in the mirror and saying okay, yes I am healthy or unhealthy in comparison to whoever or whatever.

I cannot ignore that Instagram can cumulate towards someone's body image problems. Instagram and social media, in general, is abundantly full of different and difficult ideas of what an ideal body looks like. We live in a digital age where a lot of time and life is spent online so our perceptions of beauty and health come from these posts. But I think it would be irresponsible to give that much power to Instagram.

Personally, my body image issues are not borne from Instagram. Sure, I have these shallow ideas of what I want my body to look like. But I think it's far simpler. We all have a set of goals for our health: this might be to exercise a set amount per week or eat healthy per day and when you don't eat or do what you set out to do, you feel slobbish. This is where responsibility steps in. I don't think my body image issues arise from what Instagrammers I see (because I barely spend any time on there). I think my body image issues come from my own lack of responsibility towards what I eat and do. It's that simple.

Thinking back, working out regularly and eating somewhat healthily thwarted almost all my concerns regarding my body. I was more confident and it had a positive impact on my productivity and my university career. I found myself taking on challenges and stepping out of my comfort zone. My learning point here was that I need a better and more actionable plan. I need a diet that fits with my life and nourishes my body. I need an exercise regime that both challenges me but brings me relaxation.

This week has been a learning week of understanding that often faults we find in others are faults that are within ourselves and we just project them. It doesn't really cut short of toxicity but hey, we are human and there is always a way to recover and improve and move forward.

I made good progress on my story. I was so inspired by For Harriet's video on Tyler Perry. In her video, she went into detail about the difference between quality against quantity. I was heavily influenced by how I was embarking on writing my story. I was in the mindset of NaNoWriMo in which you attempt to write as many words without really having a true understanding of what you are writing. Her video inspired me to actually craft my story and take my time in writing every word. If you are a creative, I highly suggest watching this video in which she criticises Tyler Perry for producing surface level stories in high quantities. It will inspire you to rethink how you're producing your own work.

I also went out to meet my friend from university. We went to Covent Garden and wandered around the market and the shops.








After that, we got lunch at Zizzi's. As always, I got a Ravioli di Capra. It was as amazing as always. We also had the white Christmas drink which tastes divine. It's a mixture of chocolate and baileys and it's so indulgent.




I then parted ways with my friend and went to Liverpool St to meet my cousin for bubble tea. I got lost by leaving the train station through the wrong exit which led to me wandering the streets aimlessly. Eventually, I found her after 20 minutes of walking around. We walked to Shore Ditch and went to a lovely bubble tea shop. It was lovely to catch up with her after a long time.





I also caught up with another friend at Stratford. We walked around the Westfield Shopping window shopping. It was just nice to feel the breeze on my skin after staying at home for the majority of the week.


This week as a whole was a bit haphazard and didn't go to plan but next week will be a lot better. As Anne from Anne of Green Gables says, 'you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will'.

I hope next week brings you a lot of joy and happiness and I will see you in my next post!

Sincerely Sinthu

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