How I spend my days off

Hi coaches,

I would like some coaching on my thoughts and feelings that come up on my day off work.

For context, I recently reduced my working hours from 5 days a week to 4, and made the decision to do that to support myself in being in a job I no longer want to be in for a while longer while going through the IVF process, to give myself time and space to explore other ways I could earn money in the future and to look after my wellbeing during this time.

I am finding that when my day off comes around I am feeling untethered, and thinking that I am not spending the extra time well. The unintentional model looks something like:

C: No longer contracted to work on Wednesdays
T: I don’t know how best to spend this extra time
F: Untethered
S: Lack of energy, butterfly feeling in chest
A: Write a list of things I could do, float between different tasks and activities, question whether I’m spending the time well
R: I don’t fully embrace the extra time I’ve created for myself

I keep ending up in this untethered, unfocused and questioning kind of mood, and I’m not sure how to use the day off more effectively. At the moment, although I really like my reasons for the extra day, I do not think I’m using it well and sometimes thinking I may as well just be working and earning more instead. Perhaps need to make myself a more structured plan? Or find a Wednesday routine that I can use to free myself up a bit and better embrace these days? Or am I putting too much pressure on myself to make the most of them because there’s a part of myself judging myself for even taking the extra days off?

Any coaching to help me find a direction and move forward with this would be hugely appreciated.

Answer:

The word that stands out to me in your question is “recently.”  Whenever we make a change, even a seemingly positive one, there will be a transition period. What if it’s ok that it feels untethered right now? Notice if your brain is telling you that if you feel untethered now, you’ll feel this way every Wednesday for forever! Notice how your brain is trying to fix the uncomfortable emotions.

Try on this thought:  This is the part where…

Tell a powerful story about you.

You may be judging yourself…do a thought download and see. Write about how you would define the best uses of time.  Bring back any questions or models that you find.