Self-Inflicted Bootcamp in Porto: taking control over things I didn't even lose control over (control freak alert).

Nov 8

About 3 weeks ago I came to Europe to shoot a wedding over a weekend in Spain and decide to hang around a bit (ok, a little more than ‘a bit’). My partner in crime and favourite person to get lost in the world with (also the one who took the photo above) met me in Barcelona and after 5 days enjoying Gaudi, tapas and wine we drove down to wherever the wind blew us. I was lucky to be blown all the way to Valencia and spend a whole weekend with friends from college I hadn’t seen in a million years but still kept in touch - and met their beautiful babies, followed by a couple of days in Granada to visit the Alhambra and eat a good deal of churros, then a few days in Seville to get lost in those little streets, visit La Giralda and the Alcazar and give my boyfriend a chance to overdose on Jamon Serrano and then we headed to Lagos, in Portugal, to enjoy a vacation from our vacations by the most beautiful seaside I’ve ever seen.

While I was working most of the time, I did take most of the week off to do this city hopping. And as I knew it would happen, at the last 3 days I was hit by a gigantic stress.

When I was in my previous corporate life I would never feel guilty to be on vacations, I would, instead, feel relieved and yet a little stressed because I knew something would come up that would need my immediate attention during my time off (yes, I know, not ideal, but this is life in the retail biz). Now that I’m flying solo it’s a whole other level of stress - an anxiety and guilt inducing type.

What is weird is that every time I travel and I surround myself with all the new stuff around me I get super inspired, have a lot of new ideas and I get home excited for the new week and put everything on the paper - and then hopefully off of it. But this time the overwhelming amount of ideas and projects along with all the things I have to do by end of year became a huge source of anxiety.

Luckily - and by luckily I mean thanks to therapy and self-development - I know myself and my own patterns too well and while I was having this anxiety I knew exactly how it would play up, as I also knew what I had to do to shut it off for another couple of days so I could enjoy the wonderful Lagos ocean in peace: take control over the things that seemed to be falling apart.

So I made the decision to extend my European time by another week and a half and force myself into a self-inflicted body, mind and work bootcamp: I booked myself a week in a (maybe a little too) hipster-millennial hotel filled with quinoa, yoga and welcome drinks but known to be a destination for digital nomads and therefore very work friendly in the heart of Porto, north of Portugal and home to a lot of good wineries. The hotel is called Selina and they are in a bunch of amazing destinations around the world - not to mention it is super affordable and has a million types of rooms.

In order to regain control over the things I felt I lost, even though I knew for a fact that I didn't, I decided to create a structured routine to follow throughout the week that would help with getting back into my circadian rhythm and improve my productivity overall so I could check off all the things I need to get out of my mind - and my to-do list.

What this means is that aside from the regular week planning, tentatively daily exercising and occasional meditation (that I literally skipped for the past three months) I gathered a bunch of pre-existing habits I used to have at home, combined them with new habits I wanted to get in the rhythm of doing from two books I’ve read recently and added a system to organize my tasks in a ways that makes me more productive - and happier.

I’ll explain:

I’ve recently read this book that teaches about the circadian rhythm and how we can add certain habits to support the natural flow of our bodies, release bacterias, improve focus and productivity and digestion amongst other amazing benefits according to the Ayurvedic Medicine. I first read about Ayurveda and learnt about my predominant dosha (hello, Kaphas) many years ago which is what made be go from waking up at 8:30 in a bad mood to waking up at 5:30-6 without an alarm, and I decided that it’s about time I paid some more consistent respect to my body so it would love me back after a month of limitless indulging, haha. To be honest I only had to adapt a few things here and there since some were already in place, but having a full week with these habits active would surely be beneficial.

I also (tried to) read The Artist’s Way, a reference book amongst artists that helps with becoming and continuing to be creative, and I decided to give it a shot to writing morning pages. I’m sure a lot of other books and people already suggests daily journals and i'm a little late to the trend, but I was always skeptical about it and never quite saw the point. However, upon reading how much writing can unlock creativity and get into a productive flow I decided it was my turn to do something I always silently laughed at.

Lastly, I really needed to hydrate my heels. They did not look good (and still don't at the time I'm publishing this post). Like, at all. So I added that to my daily routine list.

Here’s more or less what it looks like:

Wake up between 6-6:30 (I use Sleep Cycle to waking up and I can’t say enough about how amazing this app is)
Scrap my tongue to get rid of the bacteria that build up overnight
Drink a full glass of warm (I know) water
Write morning pages
Lightly exercise before breakfast (yoga, a 20 min walk, whatever feels natural second to staying in bed)
Shower + breakfast + work + lunch
Before eating my breakfast I have a shot (non-alcoholic I promise) of any combination of ingredients that are bitter or sour which is recommended to an unbalanced Kapha (Ayurvedic stuff here). Today I had a Turmeric-Ginger-Lemon shenanigans and it does not taste good.
At some point before 8PM I have a light dinner, preferably avoiding carbs
Then I read a book, hydrate my heels with one hundred layers of moisturiser and go to bed between 9-9:30

But you follow me on instagram so I won’t lie: since I’m in Portugal I added a glass of wine to my dinner, and that’s my carb. The thing with the carb is that it isn’t as much about dieting as it is taking it easy on my digestive system so it rests well and functions well the following morning - if ya know what I mean.

I’m also avoiding screens before bed so it doesn’t get in the way of melatonin production (although I don’t normally have trouble with falling asleep). Good thing that my bedroom doesn’t have a TV (weird, since it's a hotel, but good).

The point is to have a structure of great habits while also keeping a good space for spontaneity - which is very important to me personally. I need that feeling of breaking my own rules daily. So in between tasks I grab my computer and walk around to a different cafe, take pictures of the pretty places, speak to strangers and then back at it. So long I’m keeping up with the very long to-do list, I’m happy.

I’m also adopting some productivity habits in how I organize my weekly tasks, which is based on the concept of Deep Work and productivity blocks. But I feel like I already wrote way too much for a post that should be quick, so if you want to read more about this process and the whole week in Porto and know if I succeeded on it, drop a comment below to make me happy(ier).

Obri,

Fernanda.