04/19/2021
April BLOG
LIGHTEN UP!
How many things do you do in a day that you don’t want to do?
How many things do you do that bring you joy?
If we balance that ratio and then continue to tilt the scale, how much of your time each day could be joyful? Over the weeks and months, how much could subtle changes affect your outlook on life?
There are many ways to handle all of the things that do not bring you joy in your life. I am currently working with clients to go through their schedules and color code the things that feel heavy and feel light. The purpose is to find ways to fill our calendars with more “light “and improve our quality of life.
In her book, Steering by Starlight, Martha Beck suggests a solution for the heavy things on your calendar. She calls it Bag-It, Better It, or Barter it.
BAG-IT – let it go and don’t feel guilty
You do probably do things in a day that you dislike that you don’t HAVE to do. Hand it off, or just stop. Learn how to say “no” so that you can start focusing on things that will make your life better and bring you closer to accomplishing your true goals.
Better It
I have many ideas regarding making something that you don’t like to do “better” or more fun. Listening to music, a podcast, or an audiobook are all things that could help when it comes to menial work like cleaning the house, for example.
Barter It
When you look through your schedule, consider what your time is worth to you. Would it be possible to trade an activity that you don’t mind doing with someone who will take over one of the things on your heavy list? Do you have a friend who loves to clean but needs help balancing her checkbook? Would your son shovel the dog s**t if you baked a pie? Would you rather spend a few bucks an hour to have someone do some chores so you can free up some time for fun or relaxation?
One of my clients is paying someone a minimal amount to teach her helpful computer systems. She calculated that this investment of money and time would save her a lot of time and frustration in the long run.
Reward Yourself
I have a client who rewards herself with work. She gets all of the heavy stuff off of her list right away. Then she has the rest of the day for the work she likes. She said to me,
“you just have to eat your frog.”
I had no idea what she was talking about.
It turns out she was referring to a book based on a quote from Mark Twain. He once said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” In his 2001 book Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, Brian Tracy suggests you should tackle the most challenging and most important thing on your to-do list first thing every morning.
I have never read the book, and the metaphor is gross, but the technique of heavy loading your list early on has merit.
Whatever your methods for keeping a calendar and lists, I highly recommend doing the activity. Write down everything that you have to do. Color code the items that feel light and the items that feel heavy. Consider the balance and think about what you could do to make every day better.
I would be happy to help. This is one of the many activities I share in my six-week life-coaching program, “Spring Cleaning For your Mind, Heart, Soul, and Home.” Email me so I can send you more information. [email protected]
If readers have suggestions for lightening up the heavy “to-dos” on your list, please share!
