Have A GYST Day

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Having a bad day or off week? Have a GYST day! GYST stands for Get Your Shit Together and taking a day to get back on track really helps me press forward.

Do you ever feel like you need a vacation after returning home from vacation?

That is me right now.

I went away for 3 weeks.  It was a long and tiring three weeks but also an amazing and relaxing three weeks.  We visited family, tried to stay warm and dry in an off-grid cabin in the woods, witnessed a beautiful wedding, and just kept ourselves busy with all sorts of amazing activities.

I have been home for a few days now.  5 loads of laundry later and I am finally caught up on the clothes that we brought with us.  How 5 loads of laundry fit into two suitcases, I am unsure.

But now I am feeling out of my groove.

My kitchen is a mess.  The playroom had a bomb go off inside the drawers – the evidence is spread out far and wide.  And to add to the chaos, we are moving in less than a month.

The way I see it, I have two choices.

I could continue in this post-vacation funk that I am in, or I could take a day and just get my shit together – otherwise known as GYST.

So now I bet you are all thinking…

What is GYST?

GYST stands for Get Your Shit Together.

It is all about improving your personal and professional life so you can live the life you dream of.

There are many different ways to have a GYST day but most of the blogs I have read and videos I have seen focus on 3 main segments:

• Self Care
• Household maintenance
• Professional development

There is no right or wrong way to GYST.  If at the end of the day you feel motivated about the future and feel like you had a productive day, then you reached your goal.

 

My GYST Day

I am a list maker.

Stationary, pens, notebooks, paper – LOVE IT!

I have tried using apps to make lists, but I always go back to good old pen and paper (or in today’s case, sharpie and construction paper left over from a craft).  There is something about writing it out, about the feel of the pen on the paper, that connects me to my list.  When I just type it out, I feel less motivated to get it done.  When I just think about what I need to do, I am even less motivated!

This method definitely works better for me – but you do you.

Starting your day with actually planning out what you want to accomplish is the best way to get your shit together.  If you are really prepared, you could even get this done the night before.  It was not until the middle of the night, when I was awake with thoughts of all the stuff I had to get done, that I decided that today was going to be a GYST day.

I sorted my list for the day into three sections – household chores I wanted to get done, self-care items, and then functional and productive tasks for the day.

I like to start off my day with the tasks that are going to result in me getting messy or sweaty.

Today, those tasks are my home maintenance tasks.  Cleaning my kitchen which was in a state of chaos from cooking a turkey dinner the night before, organizing and moving boxes from our packing.  I knew I was going to get sweaty and gross from these activities, so I wanted to get them done and out of the way.

After I checked off my household maintenance tasks, I shifted focus to some personal care tasks.

As you can see from my checklist, I didn’t actually finish these.  I had the best intentions to do some yoga, but my cleaning took way longer than I wanted it too.  Though the night is still young, so I may get some yoga in before bed.

Before heading to the grocery store, I definitely wanted to shower.  I also wanted to get to the grocery store before the lunch rush happened so I just skipped my yoga and went right into meditation and hair washing.

I, honestly, sat in the middle of my kitchen floor to do my affirmations meditation.  The kids still thought I was cleaning and therefore did not interrupt me.  I love listening to affirmations to guide my meditations.  I find it very relaxing and helps me get into the mindset of success.  There are all sorts of different meditations on YouTube, the one I linked is just the one I did today.

Once I was all clean, I packed up my 4 kids and we headed to the grocery store.

My husband had picked up a few groceries before we returned home, but my fridge and cupboards were really getting bare.  It took us about an hour but we filled our cart.  I spent more money than I had anticipated but we now have wonderful, filling, nutrient-rich foods to fill our bellies.

When we got home, we cooked some lunch and then I sat down at my computer to get some work done.

 

Productivity Time

I spent last night editing a video but went to bed as it was still exporting.  Today I needed to get all of my images made and actually upload the video to youtube.  It is amazing how time-consuming that process can be, but I love making content and will continue to put the effort forth so I can spread my message of nourishing foods, respectful parenting, and positive living.

Part of my professional goals is to grow my brand.

I want to be able to support my family and inspire millions while doing what I love.  Part of that means marketing myself.  That is something that I always struggle with – I know what I need to do but am always afraid of spamming people and therefore err on the side of doing less than more.

I know this is a flaw and I am working on improving it – hence why I needed to organize some pins for my tailwind schedule!  If you love our content – don’t forget to pin this blog to your own pinterest boards!

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Preparing To Move

The last part of my GYST day was to get organized for our impending move.

This is actually the first I have mentioned of our move to my online community.  More details will be coming shortly but, needless to say, we have been busy packing!

Since we do not move until November, I wanted to prepare for this move in a very organized way.

If you follow me on Instagram then you may have seen the #500Items challenge.  In our new home, I only want to keep items that add value to our lives and bring us joy.  Part of this process has been decluttering and purging items that we no longer need or want.

Once I have decided what is staying in our lives, I am packing it up.

I am trying to be overly organized so that our belonging are easy to find – whether we need them before we move or after we move but before we have unpacked.

I have colour coded and labelled all of our moving boxes.

• Yellow = storage
• Green = main living area
• Purple = kitchen
• Orange = basement rec room

My big goal for my GYST day was to get all of these boxes and bins organized so that I could move in this room and find what I needed just in case.  I feel like I definitely reached that goal.

 

Feeling Productive and Motivated

My goal for my GYST day was to get back on track.

To feel inspired, productive, motivated, and back to my normal level of energy.

I definitely feel like I reached my goal.  It is 9pm and I am just completing this blog post but still feel like I have energy and motivation to do some yoga before bed.  Being able to get your to-do list finished always feels fantastic.  I feel like I am ready to face the day tomorrow without hesitation or stress.

Tomorrow is a new day full of promise and excitement.

Today, I got my shit together and feel fantastic.

 

Want to read more?

I recently discovered this blog and have been binging on all the amazing content.  Since this is my first (hopefully of many) blog about GYST, you should check them out if you want to read more on the subject…

Let me know down in the comments if you want me to share more about GYST days!

What are your favourite GYST activities?