Wallace and Grommet! I’m a software engineer, and I absolutely love your term of Minimum Viable Habit. Starting almost anything is so difficult with my mental illnesses. Reducing the perfection/avoidance cycle is magical to me

Clearing the counter meant for our dish drainer even when I haven’t committed to washing the dishes. Something about that clean space pushes me forward.

Hi Jenn - thanks for your vlog. You certainly have a lot on your plate. The empty nest thing does get easier as time passes, when it will finally feel 'normal' - adjusting to big changes in life like that are always difficult for people like us. It's good that you have these daily practices. My doctor always said "you need routine, don't you" in a derogatory way, as if it's some kind of weakness - it always made me feel guilty, but i've since realised the value of it. I always have the best of intentions, even start off well, but something always happens to interrupt it so i end up giving up. I used to swim twice a week & walk every morning but the M.E. got so bad i had to stop. I used to exercise every morning, too (top to toe stretching) - ditto. I know all about building up slowly, but if i do those things, then i don't have enough energy to do other things in the day. Some days i can barely drag myself out of bed & to the bathroom, let alone wash & dress. It's like wading through treacle. I do, however, have a nightly ritual - when i get into bed i think over my day &, after my nightly prayers, i listen to a guided meditation on my 'phone - i like the ones that begin with breathing exercises & muscle relaxarion. I like ones that involve trees because trees featured heavily in a positive way in my life when growing up in chaos & abuse - i always feel calmer when with trees. I would like to work on a better morning routine so will think about what i can do for that, but it's tough when my brain acknowledges i must get up & start the day,, but my body is screaming that i just can't do it. I'm more of a night owl (husband's a lark) so it's the opposite way at night - my body is so tired but my brain can't shut down, which is why the meditation helps. At one time i used to do a lovely meditation which started with the usual breathing & relaxing, it took me slowly down a stone staircase to a door which opened into a beautiful wood - trouble is, i never got to see the wood as i always fell asleep before i could get through the door! So i did the meditation during the afternoon when more awake so i could experience the trees. I've tried adopting a similar thing regarding the walking & exercise - trying to fit them in at a different time of the day (building up slowly of course), but it never seems to work as, by then, i'm always either too tired or emersed in something else (i do a lot of crafting, as you know, so it's always something sedentary i get engrossed in). So i need to have a rethink as to how it can be done because it has to be a good thing to do. Going to bed earlier doesn't seem to help - makes no difference as to how i feel in the mornings when waking - & my cptsd is always worse in the mornings, too, which is why i tend to miss the mornings out altogether. A bit of good news is that i have at last got an appointment through for therapy for cptsd after having been on a waiting list for a year - the telephone assessment went really well, so here's hoping. Btw, my husband is in the construction industry - he helped build the studio where the filming for Wallace & Grommit etc takes place! Sending good vibes for peace & positive energy to you across the ether. Belle.