Monthly Habit: Ditching the To-Do List

In March I focused on creating a habit of meditation.  You can read all about my intention for March back here.  When I first started this idea of creating a new habit each month this year, I had the ridiculous notion, that I’d decide on the habit I wanted to create, map it out and then each month, just switch it on like a light switch.

Three months in and I’ve learned it doesn’t work quite like that.  Well, I suppose it only took me into February to realize that because I crashed and burned fairly hard in February.  Naturally I was hard on myself for falling short, but upon deeper introspection, I learned how to better approach it, which I’ll call a success because that really is the whole point of this exercise.  The goal isn’t to be perfect, it is to be better.

Heading into March, I was much more measured in my approach.  Instead of setting that standard of meditating 5 days a week, I gradually eased myself into it.  I allowed myself some space to feel through what would work best in this phase of my life.  I tried a few different approaches, a few different times of day and a few different locations.  If something didn’t work well, instead of beating myself up about it, I just crossed it off the imaginary list I had in my head and moved on.

It felt so good to allow myself the opportunity to make some mistakes.

The first thing I figured out was where and when.  I’m typically at the gym about 5 days a week, so it made sense to link my meditation with my time at the gym.  Whether I’m there early, or mid-morning, I’m at least by myself, which felt like step one: Not being interrupted.  The next question was regarding where.  While I’ve always listened to podcasts at the gym, I didn’t really want to be meditating while I was lifting.  Nor did I want to cram myself in a corner.  I was really looking for a space where I could lean into the quiet and I’m so grateful to have found it.

Each day, post work out, I head back into the locker room, remove my sneakers in favor of some flip flops and head into the sauna.  It is typically empty, but even if there are people there, it generally still feels like a private space.  While there I’ll often times set a timer on my phone and then tuck it away before beginning my breathing exercises (I outlined the format I love here) and allowing myself to relax into my meditation.

In the first weeks, I did a few varied approaches, but at the very end of this month, I found exactly what I never knew I always needed.  Simply Sadie’s Meditation Guides.  You guys.  They are total game changers.  They popped up in my Instagram feed and since this is where my focus has been all month I, of course, had to learn more.  I bought both the adult and kids/teen guides and we’ve been using them every single day.  They are the perfect balance of guided meditation, along with allowing enough space for myself.  I honestly, just truly love them!  They aren’t too ‘woo woo’ and really speak well to my heart and within my personal framework.  Check them out if you’re wanting t get started and aren’t sure where.  They’re the best ones I’ve found.

Sooo, heading into to April.  I debated on a couple of habits I wanted to form this month — for the record, thus far, I’ve been able to carry every habit on into the next month.  In January, I created weekly capsule wardrobes to make getting dressed easier and I'm still doing that.  In February, I went on a spending fast and while I’m not on a spending fast every month, I’m still feeling the benefits of that reset in February.  I'm loving the mindfulness so much, I'm sure that will keep carrying over as well.  Coming in to April, I’m hitting my busy season in both work and home.  You know all the end of year recitals and responsibilities, paired with increased real estate activity.  It’s important I stay organized so I can always approach things from a space of clarity.

For April, my goal is to ditch my ‘to-do’ list, an idea I got from my favorite podcast, The Life Coach School with Brooke Castillo.  I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but really, I think I can ditch all those silly scraps of paper with tidbits from here and there that I’m trying to remember. Here’s how I’m going to do it.

Each Sunday night, I’m setting aside 1 hour to sit down and write out every single thing I need to do for the week.  Cook dinner, phone calls to make, closings to coordinate, carpools to drive. EVERYTHING. Word vomit on a piece of paper.  Once It’s all on the paper, I’m going to begin putting it in my calendar.  One by one, I’m going to create space for each thing that needs to get done and if there isn’t enough space, well then my list is getting edited.  I tried it this week for the first time and I’m happy to report, I got Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday fairly mapped out.  I’m writing this on Monday and I can already tell you 2 things: More is getting done and there has already been a lot of movement in my calendar as I adjust for things that are popping up.  I’m hoping I can get better at anticipating the things that pop up, as well as, creating a schedule that allows for those things.

I’m hopeful working on this in April will save my bacon in May.  Major bonus: I’ll be out of town one of the weeks, so that one shouldn’t be too hard to map out.