✍️ Desk of Amy Suto: Growth Weeks vs. Maintenance Weeks
Another way to look at how you spend your month -- and, matcha tasting in Kyoto.
Happy Sunday! In today’s newsletter, you’ll read about…
✍️ An afternoon spent matcha tasting in Kyoto, Japan
☕️ The power of scheduling Growth Weeks vs. Maintenance Weeks
😎 How to prevent burnout and refill your creativity
📖 3-Minute Story: Growth Weeks vs. Maintenance Weeks
Ippodo is a famous tea brand here in Kyoto. When I arrived at their cafe, I felt a wave of calm wash over me. My partner and I ordered a matcha latte with cinnamon crisps and a seasonal drink with a soft sweet-tasting dessert wrapped in a banana leaf.
The matcha here is extraordinary, and the frothy soy milk made the drink pillowy soft and perfectly sweet.
I’ve felt extraordinarily grounded and at peace here in Kyoto. Japan itself is a living answer to the question, “what if everyone followed society’s rules and was kind to each other?”
During a gentle morning walk to the Blue Bottle Cafe today, I started thinking more deeply about how I wanted to preserve this sense of calm I feel here.
Enter: Growth Weeks vs. Maintenance Weeks.
Some weeks, I’m ready to take on the world. I’m energized, excited, and am ready to see and do it all.
Other weeks, I’m exhausted and sluggish, feeling generally out-of-touch with my energy source and in need of smaller, more focused to-do lists and more downtime.
Last week was a Growth Week: I trained with a Samurai master, took a ramen cooking class, made it to my yoga class 4 days in a row, wrote a short story for upcoming competitions, started working with a new client, and explored Kyoto.
This week? It’s giving Maintenance Week vibes. I’m lowering the bar a bit on my to-do list, blocking out time for the essentials only. If I make it to two days of yoga and get my steps in, that will be a win for me.
We all need Maintenance Weeks to help stave off burnout, renew our creative energy sources, and let ourselves off the hook for a bit to restore our well of energy.
Women especially have to be mindful of how our 28-day cycle affects our energy, and to not push too hard during weeks that our body is begging for rest.
It’s within this awareness that we create spaciousness. Depth of work stems from this acknowledgment of the ebbs and flows of the tide of life.
How do you pace yourself during the month? Would love to hear in the comments:
Here are more posts of mine you may find interesting:
✨ 2 Things I’ve Read and Loved This Week…
Working With Your Hands Is Good for Your Brain from the NYTimes. Writing (by hand!) might be better for your brain than typing. Makes sense, right? I used to do this when I was a teenager, penning my annual novel for National Novel Writing Month one notebook at a time, and there was something that sparked differently when I wrote my pages by hand. I will experiment with handwritten prose and get back to you! But even if you prefer typing, there are benefits of working with your hands in the form of other hobbies like gardening or knitting.
Throne of Glass, Book #4. I’m still on my Sarah J. Maas kick, and there’s a reason she was the #1 bestselling author in the world last month. While I still don’t think Throne of Glass executes on the level of her A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series, it’s a worthwhile read if you’re into fantasy books about assassins.
✍️ 1 Journal Prompt
Unplug to Reconnect. When was the last time you completely disconnected from all digital devices for at least a few hours? Journal about what activities could fill your time if screens were not an option, and how regularly unplugging might help you recharge your creative energy.
Feel free to leave your reflections in the comments:
💻 New Blog Posts on AmySuto.com
Working Remotely in Seoul, South Korea (Digital Nomad Travel Guide)
Book Review: Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig
📸 Photo of the Week: Working Remotely from Kyoto, Japan
I’ve done so many nature walks lately in Kyoto, and hiked up to a nature preserve where a bunch of monkeys roam free. It’s been so nice to wander through beautiful parks and breathe in fresh air — highly recommend if you’re feeling creatively stuck!
Follow me on Substack Notes or Instagram for more!
⚡️ Upcoming Wednesday Edition: 6 Reasons Why I Became a Minimalist
This Wednesday, ✍️ From the Desk of Amy Suto paid subscribers will get an exclusive issue about…
✨ How minimalism changed my life
🧪 The 6 reasons why I became a minimalist
📚 Why minimalism is essential if you’re a creative of any kind
Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,
-Amy
p.s. I create my newsletter voiceovers and my podcast episodes using the tool Wondercraft AI, a text-to-speech tool that speaks in YOUR voice. 🎙 Use my code SUTO50 or this link to get 50% off your Wondercraft AI subscription! (paid/affiliate link)
Amy! I love this idea, thank you so much for sharing. I struggle with perfectionism in a lot of ways, and so focusing more on how to approach each week feels so much more doable, and I'm thinking mostly in terms of my social media presence. I'm always feeling like I need to go-go-go, post more often, come up with great content, be creative, etc, etc. But, then I'm overwhelmed by my inability to really "do" social media well, that I just don't do anything half the time. So, one week being a bit of a growth week and the next, just maintaining, feels much better and has already given me a sense of calm. So, thank you again!! Glad you're enjoying your time in Japan, and I'm loving following along.
Lovely pictures Amy! The matcha has now been added to my "why I want to go to Japan" list 😂
I really love your references about Growth vs Maintenance week. In March I attended a Women's Day conference and the host referred to the female cycle as the earth's seasons - spring and summer are our times for pushing ourselves, socialising and growing (just like the earth) while autumn and winter are the times we may want to wind down and be a little introspective. The analogy really helped me understand my body a little more and it's very similar to your Growth vs Maintenance idea!