ADHD Experiment #8: Weekly Calibration Part 3&4
*Kronk voice* Oh yeah, it’s all coming together
Hello and welcome to the Chaotically Consistent Newsletter! For anyone who doesn’t know, I’m Savannah, the personal trainer with ADHD. I started this newsletter because I really enjoy creating and experimenting with processes and systems to make life easier for my brain, and I wanted to start sharing what I’ve been learning. Let’s get into it!
What is Weekly Calibration again?
(This is the same explanation as last week fyi in case you caught it last week and want to skip it)
I started this experiment after Thanksgiving when the holiday weekend completely threw me off of everything. I spent the whole weekend relaxing (aka stressing about all the stuff that wasn’t getting prepped for the week) and so the work week after that SUCKED. I’m scattered anyway but when I don’t prepare for my weeks there’s like 3x multiplier.
But even before Thanksgiving I didn’t have a good system. “Preparing for my weeks” meant I filled up my weekend with the most asinine shit because it felt like, “I have the time so that means I have to wash all the baseboards, organize every neglected drawer, and landscape the yard right now right?” 🙄
I decided I was fed up with either working the entire weekend in an effort to set myself up for the week
OR
trying to “relax” while being filled with so much guilt that I was somehow less rested than when the weekend started. Plus nothing was set up for the week. Double whammy.
This is part 3 where I talk about my third trial. If you want to read how the first and second trial run went in more detail, you can read that here: 1 & 2
But to briefly catch up,
I’m not gonna leave you totally in the dark about parts 1 and 2 if you don’t want to go back and read them (hey no hard feelings, I get it). So to give a quick recap…
The first run was horrendous. I was doing some sort of work all flippin weekend. But not because there was too much. It was solely based on my poor planning.
With that first run I learned there’s a lot of things I make harder on myself. I let some processes run longer than they should. I make some processes more complex than they need to be (looking at you meal prep).
I also learned a bit more about my limits as well, as in how much I can handle in one day, and how that makes me feel in following days.
I like to make a point to recognize this kind of insight because it’s really what helps drive change. I like to remember how much consequences of certain decisions or actions sucked and to weigh them out. Like, does the reward of doing this thing outweigh the suckiness of doing the thing. Or on the opposite side, does the consequence of not doing this thing suck wayyyyyy more than just doing the thing (meal prep is a huge one for me).
Run 2 went so much better. I had a better idea of what level of planning and time was needed. It still took a lot of Thursday and Friday but I actually had time to myself on Saturday. Huge win.
2 main problems popped up though. First, I forgot to account for quality time with my boyfriend so we didn’t get time together (he works Saturdays). Second, I didn’t know what to do with my off time. Absolutely no clue how to relax.
So through run 2 I learned that I could probably condense Weekly Calibration even further (one day, or even half a day), and that I need to learn how to actually rest. That leads us to run 3
Run 3
This run went SO MUCH BETTER. I got damn near everything I needed to get done on Thursday. At least all the big things that take the most mental energy.
Laundry
Grocery shopping
Meal prepping
Cleaning
But my Weekly Review (a weekly digital clean up basically) happened on Friday morning. Didn’t love it at first, but I sort warmed up to it. My boyfriend wanted to be a part of it this week because part of it is tracking finances and he wanted to get a look at what we had going on. And I won’t lie, it feels kind of nice starting off my weekend by getting some things sorted out. As long as I keep it capped at an hour that is.
I keep the dishes on Saturday because I like to start with a clean slate for the week. Although I still did them throughout the weekend to keep the pile down. But dishes won’t always have their own spot in the system. It’s only because I don’t have a kitchen right now (hot water leak in the floor, everything had to get ripped out).
Of course, once again I didn’t know what to do with my time off
Run 4
I’m including run 4 in the same letter because it just happened 4 days ago and went very similarly. Except I was able to knock out my workout on Thursday as well!
Unfortunately for me, before we left for grocery shopping we found another water leak in our bathrooms. We will be losing those this week as well. Pretty sure we’re going to have to stay somewhere else at this point. I could make it without the kitchen. But no kitchen and no bathrooms? So that was a fun little surprise.
That about wraps #8 up
All that aside, I am officially declaring Experiment #8 a success! At this point Weekly Calibration has proven doable and effective. These 2 runs were enough proof to myself that I really can get all the difficult points done in one day and still feel relatively good. All that’s left for this process is to continue to practice and refine it. Making small changes to how things are ordered to best make use of the time.
This may come as a surprise to some, as it’s nowhere near perfect (and will be heavily tested in the coming weeks thanks to the pipes). But something I’ve realized when making these processes and systems is they’re never really 100% perfect or done. You get them to a point that they function well enough, and then as time goes by you allow them to flex and change as you do. But the basic concept of the process stays the same until it no longer serves you.
I cannot tell you how many processes and systems I’ve built, used, and let go of in the last couple years. And that’s not to say all of them were bad or poorly thought out (don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of those too). But many of them I just grew out of. And that’s ok.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Weekly Calibration will change countless times. But there’s also no doubt that it’ll be around for a while.
I am so unbelievably grateful that I happened to have this system set up before losing the bathrooms. Instances like this remind me exactly why I do what I do. Having Weekly Calibration in place means that even with things getting shaken up, I have this anchor point. This system that helps me make sure the admin stuff that helps me feel good each week gets done. Helps me maintain maintenance.
So what now?
And with that I am super happy to introduce ADHD Experiment #10: Recharge Protocol. I am determined to stop leaving resting up to chance. I will figure this out.
I have some really cool ideas planned for this one so stay tuned! I put updates out on Threads but of course these letters will always have more detail.
If you have areas of your life you want to systemize to decrease the mental load feel free to respond to this email! I read all replies and I might be able to help you out!
I also offer 1 on 1 coaching where I help you start and iterate on systems in 4 major areas; exercise, nutrition, sleep, and rest. You can apply here
Otherwise I’m going to leave this one here. Next letter will either introduce Experiment #10 in full or give an update on #9, we’ll see how the week goes. Until next time! Have a happy New Year!
-Savannah
