Cultivating a Less Busy Life and Mindset - Part 3
Here are some additional tactics you can try out to be more intentional about your time:
▫️ Make decisions in advance ▫️
If you start paying attention to the times you feel most overwhelmed, you will likely notice some patterns. Maybe you feel most overwhelmed during certain periods at work (the end of the year, when deals are closing, during summary judgment briefing, etc.). Maybe you feel most overwhelmed when you have multiple weeknight events. Maybe you feel most overwhelmed when you have meetings scattered all over your calendar with not enough time to do any substantive work.
Make some rules for yourself based on those patterns. Decide in advance that you always say “no” to certain things at certain times.
▫️ Weekly evaluation practice ▫️
When we are doing our planning, it is usually forward looking. But when we don’t evaluate the past, we are inevitably going to do the same thing over and over. Take 5 minutes when you are doing your weekly planning to review the prior week and decide what you want to keep or change about how you spent your time. What worked? What didn’t? What would you do differently? (H/T to @Olivia Vizachero for this idea)
▫️ Prioritize Rest, Relaxation, Pleasure and Joy ▫️
When we plan out our days around our work and everyone else’s needs and wants - and then try and squeeze in taking care of ourselves or even just enjoying ourselves - the latter easily falls to the wayside.
Try scheduling in your rest, relaxation, pleasure, and joy first, and then building the rest of your schedule around it. Even if it is just 20 minutes a day or a couple of hours a week. Doing this and making that time non-negotiable will make it much more likely that you actually get to it. (H/T to @Kara Loewentheil for this idea)
A ❤️ note to you: Where people struggle is actually implementing these strategies. All the thoughts come up (I can’t, I shouldn’t, I have to) and all of the feelings (guilt, anxiety, shame). That’s where I can help. Send me an email (jenn@jenndealcoaching.com) or sign up for a free call with me at jenndealcoaching.as.me/consult to get started.
