timemanagement

Decluttering Help

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The books that really helped me change my relationship to stuff and homemaking are the ones by the author Dana K. White.

Dana’s approach is what resonated with me the most during my big decluttering project that took place in the 7-week lockdown this time last year.

Today, I started listening to her amazing podcast as I went about my spring-cleaning because I felt so much overwhelm as I looked at the clutter that accumulated over time at my kids’ rooms and remembered how much better I felt listening to her guidance.

Lucky for me, Dana happened to make a recent episode summarizing her unique decluttering approach. For example, she emphasizes the point of never creating piles of stuff when you declutter, because if you ever get distracted or interrupted for any reason you would have made the place look worse than when you started. We also first tackle trash to feel visible progress, like throwing away broken stuff, empty packages, old paperwork and so on, and that instantly reduces the amount of stuff we have in the room and improves how it looks.

Dana knows what she is talking about ; I highly recommend you read her 2 books: How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind and Decluttering At The Speed of Life. They were dear companions to me last year and I will go back to them as I clear up more space in my house this season.

Decluttering Help

Motion Vs. Action

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“Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practicing.”

-James Clear

I love this idea so much by James Clear in Atomic habits. Reading it for the first time was a lightbulb moment for me. I do love my motion so much. I spend so much time planning and tracking. Being aware of the difference, however, helped me realize I may be acquiring clarity but not actually making progress towards my goals.

This week, after a super first quarter of the year, I gave myself permission to enjoy motion only. I spent my mornings doing the first quarterly review of the year on 2 different planners, mind you, plus re-thinking and re-writing of my goals for the second quarter, and simply reading. I did not record a new podcast episode. I did not create a mid-week post for Instagram. I just enjoyed the motions.

This on-purpose break is the exact thing I needed. I’ll make it happen more often, maybe this is how each quarter should actually start. As a result, I am definitely feeling more ready to jump into action again.

Motion Vs. Action

The 10-Minute Rule

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Still reflecting about the podcast episode I wrote about yesterday where the author Nir Eyal shared the 10-minute rule as a way to reduce distraction.

He said that as human beings we fear abstinence. Announcing “I will never do that thing again” might trigger the rebellious side we have and make it difficult to break our negative patterns.

What should we do instead?

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The 10-Minute Rule

Pain Management

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I gained great the insights from this podcast interview of Nir Eyal with Greg McKeown where he said “Time Management is Pain Management” meaning if we know how to manage our uncomfortable feelings we will be better able to manage our time. We are the ones who initiate distraction to feel better emotions.

There is no harm in indulging in social media or Netflix as long as we do it with intention. Plan to spend an hour on those things in a certain time of the day, then when that time comes enjoy it guilt-free.

The experience is radically different when done on purpose rather than as an escape mechanism.

Pain Management

This Happens 4 Times A Year

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I am so looking forward to this special week for three reasons:

  1. Doing the Weekly Review today. (#13 of the year)
  2. Doing the Monthly Review over the weekend. I’ll do it by reviewing the 4 weekly reviews of the month.
  3. Doing the Quarterly Review over the weekend. I’ll do it by reviewing the past three monthly reviews.

See, this system worked wonderfully last year, and I am thrilled to maintain it this year.

I invite you to start this habit small by committing to weekly reviews first. It’s my keystone habit for life tracking.

P.S: You can find all my favorite planners and journals here.

This Happens 4 Times A Year

For The Love Of Timers

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My podcast short format artwork, featuring Time Timer

I use timers all day long, they are one of my favorite tools to keep me conscious of time passing and to motivate me to do daily tasks.

My first timer was a digital kitchen timer that I used to track my morning routine and and to get myself started on house chores like washing dishes.

Then I got this big, gorgeous timer for my kids called Time Timer that I am featuring in my photo above to help them visualize what I mean when I say they need to do just 5 minutes of clean-up for example and to manage their screen-time, so when the timer goes off the TV gets turned off.

Continue reading “For The Love Of Timers” →
For The Love Of Timers