L'aura del Campo

2019年5月20日: light-coffee-action blog

Again, perhaps the wrong question for me so I'll do my best.

What time of day are you most motivated? Least motivated? For me, I’m most motivated and productive in the morning, and least in the mid afternoon around 2pm. What do you do to renew your motivation in those slumps?

The quick answer: Most: afternoons and evenings. Least: late night and morning. Slumps: nap or spend time with people.

But that's not a good answer. Better:

LIGHT

COFFEE

ACTION

LIGHT: Apondia reminded me about light. I'm light-sensitive, suffered from SADD long before it became "fashionable". I do NOT function well by the clock.

Which brings up seasons. I'm Spring/Autumn. Since I'm moody these seasons fit me best. Always loved the bittersweetness of comings and goings. The calmness of day after day of sun or no sun, of heat or cold doesn't work well for me. In Summer I have difficulty falling asleep; in Winter I hibernate.

If I can't get to sleep at night I'm exhausted by morning. I am addicted to caffeine... the natural way. Even now after 11 I realize that my cup is empty and needs to be filled. It's grey today. On a sunny day I'd be more perky by now. Which brings us back to

COFFEE: I didn't drink it when I was a child (I was a milk drinker... not soda) but now it's my go to drink. I drink it by the pot when I am home. I can drink it all day long. I don't drink water much (avoid bottled, I prefer from-the-tap) so tea helps as well. I crave it when I'm traveling! I don't normally wake up by the clock. If sun is in my eyes, yes. If not, I'm okay after the second cup of coffee. Sometimes it makes me run to the toilet which gets us to

ACTION: Coffee stimulates my innards and rushing to the toilet also helps wake me up. Having the "urge" means I can't lay back down. Once up, I can stay up... usually. Depression can get me down. And action helps with that as well. I'm less depressed when I travel. Less depressed when I have things to do. But I have so little energy in the morning. It's very difficult when I have an early bus, train, plane to catch. If it's really early I barely sleep the night before.

Once the sun is up; once I've had my pot of coffee; once I've moved about... I feel more "motivated". That's usually late morning to early evening (sometimes a slump in between). When I worked, 11-19 would have been better working hours than 8-16.

Oddly, my answer changes in Costa Rica. I drink less coffee. The sun comes up at 6 whether one likes it or not and it's best to get things done in the morning. The country shuts down in the evenings. I function best between 8 and 20 there. In Taiwan my hours were later. In Europe as well. Getting out of my hostel by check-out time was a challenge.

SLUMPS: I nap. I rest. I sleep. I can do this because I have few obligations that are timed. I don't work but friends meet at 11:30 for lunch. I'm not going today. The showers and toilets here are cleaned on a schedule I work around; same when I'm staying in hostels; I try to stay out of the way. I'm not motivated to be the Energizer Bunny. I've always been low energy. Come Winter, anywhere is preferable to staying at home (even northern Norway in 2017; I mostly slept).

Sorry for the long entry. If you've read through this, many thanks. It helps me to get my thoughts entered here.

My flash fiction from yesterday:

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.shhh.bbbb.hiss.bang. [85] (238w)  (E) Flash fiction under 300 words. Prompt: image door sharp. Two children hear odd noises. #2191365 by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

And from Friday:

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Small fry [84] (295w)  (13+) Flash fiction under 300 words. Prompt: last day of school. 17.mai.2019 #2191260 by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

And the day before that:

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At the garden show [83] (280w)  (13+) Flash fiction under 300 words. A garden show. Prompt. "You aren't going to believe this" #2191187 by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

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