For me, June has been a month of enjoying the simplicities of life; enjoying a thermos of fresh ginger tea on cold mornings, lighting candles in the early wintry evenings. With all the rain we’ve had here, I’ve been chasing the sun on the days it has appeared and soaking it up. I’m feeling like my solar battery has been filled up again. Sunshine is a balm!
Over the last few weeks, I’ve also had to slow down a bit to take care of some health stuff and in turn cut out some activities and simplify. The art of stripping things back to the bare essentials and re-checking for oneself what really needs to get done, what can wait, what wasn’t very important in the first place is rather liberating. And perhaps most importantly, highlights what really matters and what’s most important.
When I boil it down to what’s important for me right now it’s about resting and taking care of myself, having time with my wee niece Lucy, prioritising my coaching clients and staying connected with friends, family and the Start With You community. When I look at my diary, my day or my week through this lens it really sharpens my clarity around what to spend time on and what is superfluous.
I’ve learnt over the years from my own experiences and those of my clients that if we can look through the lens of what’s essential even when we don’t feel the need to stop and slow down, we are likely to run a more effective work week, feel like we are achieving more of the right things and thus feel more satisfied, and so enjoy our downtime more fully. That’s the kind of enjoyable week I’m talkin’ about!
3 Things
One of the simplest practices for this is to simply take a post-it note at the end of your work day and write on it the three things you most want to get done tomorrow – the things that will make the most difference and be the most satisfying to achieve.
Do one of them in the morning before you check your inbox.
This is one of those practices that seems deceptively simple but I’ve seen it make a profound difference to many people over the years, and it is still one of my first go-to’s when somebody wants to feel more in control of the week and to re-train the brain to focus on what really matters in the day.
Do it. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Karen x