Habits Reboot

With the beginning of school a week away and major projects to accomplish between now and then, it is time for a major Habits Reboot. I don’t know about you, but a lot of my favorite good habits have slid over the Summer and now as I try to get back into Go Mode I’m spinning more than I should. Enough of that, it is time to get back to it! This week is all about rebooting habits, creating space for clarity and movement, and reclaiming my ability to get stuff DONE.

Are you with me?

Weapons of Mass Distraction

I’m starting the week out with a bang so buckle up and get your snorkel on. Today we are going to address three areas of distraction and make effective changes, setting ourselves up for success with everything else to come this week and beyond. The first two come from Jay Shetty’s podcast, episode 256, and the third is a personal adaptation from FlyLady.

WMD #1 – Cognitive Overload

How often do we get impatient while listening to someone share something or ask for an opinion? We want them to hurry up and get to the point, or even stop talking and not even ask whatever it is because we simply don’t have the bandwidth to listen and think about whatever they are saying. Guilty? I am. Drawing from Daniel Levitin’s The Organized Mind, this is known as cognitive overload. We have too much information coming at us all day and too many decisions to make, leading to decision fatigue. From the moment we wake up we are bombarded with decisions to make – what to wear, what to eat, what the day will be like, what to plan for lunch, dinner, activities for the kids, etc. It is no wonder that by the time we get to the important parts/work we are already grumpy and feeling done.

Habits Reboot #1

Today we are going to flip cognitive overload and decision fatigue upside down. By the time you’re reading this you’re surely several hours into your day, too late to implement starting first thing in the morning, so we’ll set the stage today for it to all work starting tomorrow. The idea here is to minimize the number of decisions that need to be made in the mornings thus freeing our morning minds to work on the important things.

1. Identify which decisions can be made ahead of time. We are going to make these in the evenings, therefore eliminating them from our mornings. Come up with your own list, but it may include things like:

Discussing the next day’s schedule with your family
Planning meals and prepping if necessary
Choosing clothes for the following day
Planning workout specifics
Identifying VIP to-do list items

2. Decide on a time dedicated to doing this every day. I am choosing 7pm, right after dinner as I go into clean up the kitchen mode. My brain is freshly fed from dinner, still sharp before melting into nighttime mode and it fits with the energy in the house.

WMD #2 – Email

The second weapon of mass distraction is Email, specifically starting our workday (or the entire day) with it.

Just say no.

NO!

I don’t think I really need to say a whole lot about how harmful this is. Email puts us into a reactive state rather than proactive. This is not productive and does not create momentum. Yet, we do it.

Habits Reboot #2

Today we are going to decide on and commit to specific times of day when we will check and respond to email. Once and for all! It could be a time on the clock or a “once all of these other things are done” type of thing – you decide what is best for you. My days are a little more fluid so option B fits better for me. Be bold but also make it fit your work and life. The major point is to not open the workday with it, instead setting the day’s energy with the most important tasks.

For me, I get up early to journal, read, write these blog posts, and write a daily love letter. I do not check my email until all of these are finished. I want my mind to stay focused while it is fresh, so no email. Some days take longer than others or I start at different times, so a specific time email time is not reasonable to choose.

However, once I’m into email, I tend to check it way too many times during the day. So, my habit reboot will be to get bold and limit myself to three times a day. THREE!

After my important morning things
2pm, when I typically eat lunch
5pm, before switching into dinner/family time

That’s it! If anyone needs my attention outside those times there are other, better ways to connect. Checking my email more than that is a dopamine fueled curiosity, that’s it. Do you think I can stick to it?

WMD #3 – Clutter

I have kids. Kids are messy. I am messy. My home is always cluttered. Physical clutter leads to mental clutter and lack of focus and clarity. Don’t we all love a clean desk to work on? A cleared kitchen before cooking? A blank page to draw new art on?

I typically subscribe to the Do It Now principle, meaning that when you pass by something on the floor, stop to pick it up and put it away NOW, not later. However, if I did that I would get nothing else done all day, moving from item to item, room to room, chasing the clutter trail.

Habits Reboot #3

Enter one of my favorite tools that I started using when my oldest was a baby…

Home Blessing Hour

This one comes from FlyLady and I’ve adapted it to include the entire family. We haven’t done it in awhile and it is high time we start again! TODAY! It works like this:

Decide who is participating
Assign 6 areas to declutter to each participant
Set a timer for 10 minutes
Go tidy as much of that area as possible during the 10 minutes
Reset the timer 5 more times, moving to the next area each time
If any area is finished in under 10 minutes, you may go back to a previous area to finish something left undone
Marvel at how much better the house is in only one hour

This is such a fun game with kids – they love to race the timer! For very young kids, maybe move it to 5 minute blocks over 30 minutes, or whatever fits.

Home Blessing Hour eliminates the all day long clutter chase and puts tidying into a block. Do It Now, but during that block.

Ok, your turn! Do these three today and tomorrow we will move onto more, so don’t procrastinate. Habits Reboot is happening and we will all be better for it!

GO!

Preplan – no more cognitive overload
Email – be bold and choose times
Declutter – Do a Home Blessing Hour

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