Recalibrating for the Last 90 Days

Instead of “locking in” for the last 90 days, I’m going focus on recalibrating for the last 90 days of 2026. My nervous system is feeling a bit frazzled by all the things. I’ve realized some things from watching videos and reading some things these past few days that make me realize a recalibration is in order.

I have been very focused on efficiency and productivity for the past…well, for quite a while. I started a shift to something different this Summer, but quickly have settled back into a mode of stress, rush, guilt, task checking, and just general efficiency.

I noticed this past week that I took no photos between Monday at Girl Scouts and the end of the week. It was like the weekend ended and all joy left the building. I scheduled meetings and had other people schedule meetings during the hours I have given myself to grade and prep and take a walk on my later start mornings. I had online speech sessions in the evening when I want to be making and eating dinner with my family. In person work felt like one big stressful complaint session with a few spots of positivity mixed in. It was, unsurprisingly, totally exhausting. I didn’t sleep well. I didn’t do much to take care of myself. I didn’t eat healthy – and sometimes no lunch at all. It was just a week of doing things, many that I didn’t even want to do – at least at the time I was doing them. And I didn’t really plan pockets of joy.

So, we’re heading into what is soon to be the last 90 days of 2026 and I want to recalibrate.

I want to adjust the accuracy of my processes. I want to readjust my thoughts, focus or actions in order to more balanced and aligned (I am purposely skipping that “effective” part, although I obviously will need a little of that as well). I am so out of balance right now. And I don’t mean work/life balance, I mean wholistic living balance. I took the Psychology Today Healthy Lifestyle survey and wow….that was a little scary. Seriously. I need to make some changes!

Recalibration #1 – Sleep

In the past year, I’ve averaged only 6 hours 12 minutes a night of sleep. Past 3 months, 6 hours 15 minutes. Past month, 6 hours 14 minutes. Past week 6 hours 1 minute. At least I’m consistent. But, I am constantly exhausted. I often am falling asleep on the couch or feeling like I can’t focused in the afternoon/early evening. This past week, I had one night of only 4 hours 52 minutes of sleep and 4 out of 7 days were less than 6 hours. And it shows! I have zero energy to do anything beyond what I absolutely have to do. So, what’s my problem? Menopause. Pets that want to be let out in the middle of the night. Sleep schedule changes staying up waiting for my daughter to get home from activities or babysitting. Drinking caffeine in the afternoon. Poor sleep hygiene. You name it, I’ve got the problem! So, what can I control to recalibrate my sleep?

• Exercise at least 30 minutes daily (this will also come up in a later wheel item).
• Stop drinking caffeine after 2 pm in the afternoon.
• Read at bedtime instead of playing Candy Crush (get rid of the phone or other screens at least an hour before bed)

Recalibration #2 Eating

My eating has been truly hit or miss since that week that I posted the meal plan. I skip breakfast a lot of days. Some days I will eat breakfast, but skip lunch. Some days, I eat lunch at 3 or 3:30 pm in the afternoon. And my lunch is sometimes more like a toddler lunch – the other day I had an apple sauce squeezer, chocolate covered donettes, sliced strawberries, and a sparkling water (!). It is a bit ridiculous.

I also have a ton of food in my house. I cleaned out my pantry and refrigerator last week and my garage freezer yesterday. We have half a pig in the garage freezer amongst a lot of other leftovers and frozen proteins. I did eat a scramble this morning with some left over chicken and bell peppers. It was very tasty. I need more of that and less bowls of Corn Pops.

Eating is a challenge for me. I think it is may be some undiagnosed ADHD problem – I’ve discovered a few recently. I really struggle with sticking to a plan I’ve made. I think we’ve all become addicted to the taste and convenience of fast or faster food (processed, frozen meals – not just actual fast food restaurants or food trucks). When we do cook at home, we often find it to be good and much healthier. Then, we turn around the next day and nothing is prepared because we’re tired or lost track of time or it just feels hard.

But, I did put all the items in our fridge, freezers and pantry into a document in Google Docs that I can now plug into ChatGPT and ask it for meal plan ideas from what I have in the house with minimal additional purchasing. So, what’s the plan for recalibrating my eating?

• Eat three meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – every single day.
• Make those three meals balanced with protein and vegetables and maybe some fruit. Limit sweets.
• Limit eating out to one time this week.

There are a few other areas I need to recalibrate, but this is getting quite long, so I’m going to make it a two-parter. Next, I will talk about recalibrating my movement, social life and spiritual life.

If you have some things that work for you in the area of sleep (especially those of you who are perimenopausal or menopausal), please let me know! And of course, any easy hacks for eating healthier or more regularly!