5 ways to create more space in your life

It’s grad school spring break for me. Yes, I’m 27 years old and have spring break. And yes it snowed in NYC during my spring break.

While I’m still a little sad I’m not in LA this week (I know, I know, boo-hoo Kayla didn’t get to go to LA 🙄) I wanted to make the most of my time off from school. This week has been all about creating more space in my life.

 

Why I’m focused on creating space:

My life is full these days. Not busy but full. My brain is always shifting from one thing to another.

I teach 4+ yoga sculpt classes a week. Although that number is usually closer to 5-6. I’m taking 3 courses for grad school. Holistic Happening still hosts a few events every month. I’m now a podcaster (still so weird to say!). I’m a freelance writer. And I’m blogging (and instagramming) away over here for Kayla in the City.

I won’t pretend my life is easier/harder than working a typical 9-5. It’s different. And something I really struggle with is shifting my focus from one thing to another. Because let’s be honest, I never want to shift my focus to grad school work. That shit is boring and I’d much rather make a yoga sculpt playlist.

There’s always something I could/should be doing. A blog post I could write. Some research I should be doing for a group project. A podcast episode I could be editing.

 

Things have been feeling extra full lately.

And because of this I find myself just going through the motions of my schedule without much time for reflection. Or even to breathe sometimes.

 

The anxiety of graduating is catching up to me.

I’m really anxious about what happens next. It’s probably why my body spontaneously broke out in hives and other nasty sores a few weeks ago.

There’s this constant gnawing feeling in my body, this creeping fear that I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I know what I don’t want to happen next. But I don’t know exactly how I’m going to make enough money leading the life I want to lead. And how the hell will I pay for health insurance?

 

Using Spring Break as a Mini-Retreat.

I decided to ultimately use spring break as a mini retreat. I’m fully aware that in the course of 5 days I’m not going to miraculously figure out my life’s path. But at the very least I could use the time off from school to create space in my life.

I remember hearing a while back how Lin Manuel Miranda came up with the idea for Hamilton while he was on vacation. In his words: “The moment my brain got a moment’s rest, ‘Hamilton’ walked into it.” [source]

And that’s what I needed this week. Rest. So here’s what I’m doing to create that space and sense of rest

 

 

5 Ways I’m Creating More Space In My Life

 

Morning Pages.

I first learned about Morning Pages in college when a teacher of mine mentioned The Artist’s Way. BUT… I wasn’t inspired to actually start doing Morning Pages until reading about it on The Skinny Confidential.

The concept of morning pages is simple: write 3 pages first thing in the morning before you get to work. No other rules. Just stream of conscious writing.

I’ll be honest my morning pages have been taking place in the afternoon — I’ve been sleeping in and then working out in the late morning. But I’ll get my three pages in before I sit down and get to work for the day.

I like that these pages give me a place to ramble. To focus some of my anxious energy. To empty out my brain. When I do actually sit down to do work I feel less bogged down by those things.

 

Creating literal space in my schedule.

I took the week off of teaching (minus one class I couldn’t get subbed) and didn’t schedule meetings or appointments this week. It’s just like if I were in LA this week. I usually don’t take work calls while I’m on vacation so I’m not going to take them while I’m on my Staycation.

I’ve been filling some of that space with things I love like theater. I [finally!] saw Beautiful on Broadway and LOVED it. Later this week I’m seeing the Spongebob Musical [I’m going in with low expectations although I hear the design is spectacular].

I’ve also been using that free time to do nothing. As scary as that sounds.

 

Focusing on my peak creative times.

I’m most creative at night. It’s super inconvenient.

Because I wake up at 4:30AM to teach a few days a week, I can’t stay up all that late. Around 8PM it’s time for me to start winding down and brushing my teeth so I have a fighting chance at getting 6 hours of sleep.

Because I’m not teaching any early morning classes this week I’ve been staying up late. And by late I mean past 10PM.

My god, I get my best ideas at that hour. Like I said, totally inconvenient. But for this week I’m rolling with it.

 

Email away message.

Anyone else feel like email owns their soul? It’s such a time and energy suck but also a necessary evil.

As part of my plan to bring vacation-y vibes to my NYC life I put on my email away message this week. Okay, so I have been answering emails a little bit every day. But it also feels GOOD to not feel pressure to spend an hour answering emails every day.

It’s got me thinking that I might have an email away message up always. Has anyone else done that?

 

Living intuitively.

Like I said before, I cleared most of my schedule for this week. Having long stretches of free time means I can do whatever the hell I want every day. I’ve been trying to really tap into what I want to do versus what I need to do.

Yes, there are a few things I need to do this week. A few writing deadlines for partnerships and freelance pieces I’m working on.

But instead of scheduling my days out, I’ve been “going with the flow”. You feel like taking an extra long walk to Soho? Great, do it Kayla!

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I know the above is not always realistic. But it does make me think about how I can create more space in my life, even when I’m not on spring break. I’m excited to continue to do morning pages. And going forward I also want to schedule days of “openness” so I can get back to those intuitive vibes.

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Your turn: How do you create space in your life?