Experiencing a sense of accomplishment is incredibly motivating, but alas…these days, that feeling tends to be elusive as more things are added to our “to do” lists. The more common feeling we experience is that of swimming upstream and struggling not to burn out.
Last year, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear. The book has many great suggestions for how to make sustainable behavior changes, but my favorite take away from the book is thinking in terms of 1%.
James writes, “The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero.”
Keeping with my simplicity theme for the year, I used that logic to tackle several house projects that have been weighing on me…namely getting my kitchen pantry and cabinets organized and organizing my bathroom closet.
I wrote these things down in December as projects to be completed in the New Year and then broke them down into 1% behavioral actions. I decided the 1% action would be to organize one shelf in the pantry per week and then, one cabinet per week once the pantry was complete.
To break that down even further, I gave myself two days in the week to get some organizing ideas from the computer, then I had a couple of days to look at what resources I had available and purchase any items needed to help me organize, and last I gave myself a couple of days to organize the shelf.
I’m happy to report my kitchen pantry and cabinets are done, and I’ve managed to do one shelf in my bathroom closet!
What I was reminded of in this process was that breaking big projects down into very specific actions focused my mind. This in turn created more energy and motivation so I got the kick back of feeling a sense of accomplishment as each part of the project was complete.
The most challenging part of this whole process was deciding how to break the projects down into small actions. I tend to be a big picture thinker; breaking things down into smaller steps is not my natural mindset. In order to get my mind to think that way, I asked, “what is 1% of getting one shelf organized?” With that came:
1. Get organizational ideas
2. Assess resources and purchase what is needed
3. Organize the shelf
Focusing on 1% helps your brain prioritize and take action because it has a recipe of clear action steps. This in turn creates energy and motivation to accomplish your projects and goals.
Dedicated to raising your consciousness!
Traci
P.S. This blog was written before the current Covid-19 situation that we are all facing. This is a stressful time for many people. Below, I’ve included an exert from one of last year’s articles on 5 things you can do avoid catching the stress bug…just good reminders on how to manage stress during this time.
So what can you do to avoid catching the stress bug?
1. Create More Self Awareness
The body subconsciously picks up on the emotional cues of others in the environment. Start to pay attention to when your body feels anxious or tense. Immediately begin taking deep breathes as you consciously identify the source of the stress. I like to say when you name it you tame it!
2. Breathing
Inhaling turns on your sympathetic nervous system - the one that ramps everything up and gets the cortisol flowing. Exhaling turns on the parasympathetic nervous system - the system that calms everything down.
Inhaling to a count of 3 and exhaling to a slow count of 10 is one of the most effective ways to bring conscious awareness to the situation that is creating the stress, while at the same time the breathing reassures your fight, flight, freeze system everything is okay. You take back control of your physiology.
3. Write it Down
There are two ways to utilize this tool:
a. There is so much information coming at us these days and it is hard to remember everything. Write it down so you don’t create more stress by trying to keep everything in your brain.
b. When you’re upset about something getting it out on paper is a powerful way to work through it and let it go. Once you write it down and get the frustrations out, throw it away!
4. Relaxing Hobby (a.k.a. Recharge your batteries)
Enough said! You should have some form of down time that you enjoy doing! If you don’t know what that is make this your highest priority. You cannot keep going when the system is burned out. You must know your way to recharge!
5. Separate from the Source
Whenever possible, move away from the source of the stress or at least limit your exposure.
