Category: Habits

Here for the WIN!

2/27/2020

Want some big wins every day? Pause periodically and check in with your WIN - What’s Important Now.

We all want more time. How to not fritter the precious moments on things that don’t really matter and just lead you down a path covered in shiny objects that are costly to productivity and skillful attention?

We all want to feel accomplished. How to stick with the priorities, stay energized, and not use a boat-load of motivation and willpower to get things done?

We all want the feeling of flow. How to adapt easily, instead of resisting hard, to the changes that invariably take place throughout the day?

You got it! By keep WINning.

Instead of trying to cram the day into the way you think it should go (aka creating more stress and tension), take a moment to pause so you can re-assess and decide what the next most important thing to attend to is. Oftentimes it’s not what you had initially planned but it does keep you ahead of the change game.

I check in with my WIN every time I’m done with a deep work block, complete a task or set of emails / phone calls, come back to my desk, or take a mini ultradian body break. It makes a huge difference!

Try it on and see how you can win with your WIN.

Sending you lots of Peace,
Shanti

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Got Rhythm?

2/19/2020

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Just like you, I’ve got a ton of things that need my attention through the day. There are a lot of pieces to keeping a business prosperous and, if I’m not careful, shiny objects can’t tantalize my attention away from what’s really important. I want, and need, to stay focused.

My tendency, though, is to be a pendulum swinger, going from being FULL ON for days and then, invariably, swinging in the other direction and feeling fizzled out. I swing from 100% to near zero… and then have to energize myself to get going again. This wide swinging is terrible.

Something I’ve been doing for the past year, though, has changed all of this. As much as possible, I work with my ultradian rhythms throughout the day.

I’m sure you’ve heard of circadian rhythms. These are the 24 hour cycles we go through each day that help us with sleep-awake cycles. They’re connected to our hormonal system, specific brain activity, cell regeneration, and other biological processes.

Ultradian rhythms are smaller chunks - typically 90 minutes on then 20 minutes off. During the 90 minutes, we can give it our all and be really energized and focused. After that, though, we need to take a rest of at least 20 minutes, doing something that relaxes our body and brain or changes the energy of what we were doing before. AKA, this means not scrolling on-line, staying seated, or trying to hammer out “one more thing” even if it’s a small task. Be ALL IN and then be ALL OFF.

Personally, most of the day I break this 90 minutes down even further into 30 minute cycles, giving myself a 2-5 minute break in between. I do a few simple stretches, 10 deep breaths, bio break, or check in with my WIN (more on that next week). This helps me stay refreshed and energized, without the end-of-day-dead-tired. And when I do the bigger 20 minutes break, I take a walk, do some jigsaw puzzle, sit in the sun and play ball with Suki, meditate, or take a nap.

And speaking of napping: Yes, yes, yes do it… but not more than 30 minutes. Anything beyond the cat nap situation will begin the 90 minute sleep cycle… which is why it can take hours to “wake up” after a longer nap.

Try working with ultradian rhythms this week and see how your day flows and energy stays more balanced. Again, it’s all about experimenting with optimizing our lives.

Sending you lots of Peace,
Shanti

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Keeping the System Going

9/16/2019

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Yeah! The kids are back to school and a new routine has begun. It feels refreshing to get organized after the meandering days of summer… at least I love it. It’s like a reset button has been pushed.

What are some of your strategies? How do you develop habits that are going to last more than a few weeks, that will carry yourself and your family easily into next year and beyond?

At home, some things you might be looking at:

Having easier mornings - YES please
Keeping up with preparing healthy meals and snacks
Study skills that your kids will do on their own (or at least with less whining)
Exercise and keeping the body moving
Finances - seem to always top of mind
Quality time for relationships

At work, some things you might be looking at:

Reducing time wasters that slow-drip your energy and focus
Feeling more accomplished and less “spent” at the end of the day
Taking breaks so your body and brain can refresh
Dealing with email overload
Slowing down to listen to people instead of rushing the conversation along to get to the next thing
Having patience be a continual part of your day

If you’re human, after a few weeks of staying on point, things inevitably seem to slip back to the same old thing. Life gets interrupted and you’ve exhausted the energy of trying to keep the new habit alive… its too much work and willpower is spent. It’s easy to get frustrated when you give up, to go back to the same old thing even if it wasn’t working that well. And then you end up feeling bad because you let yourself down againand didn’t keep the change. What a crappy cycle.

I want to encourage you and let you know, though, that it’s not you. It’s the systems that are in place.

Habits Made Easy is a new favorite workshop I’m offering, one that’s good for you and good for your kids/teens (they’re encouraged to attend. What a great way to have them get active in developing personal management strategies.)

Habits Made Easy keeps things in balance, reduces stress, adds ease, reduces resistance, guilt, and shame, improves esteem and confidence, and builds self-efficacy. Sounds pretty great to me!

Check it out. It's happening twice at the end of the month - plenty of time to plan and get it one on your calendar. Registration is needed and easy HERE.
Peace and Love,
Shanti

And by the way, Habits Made Easy isn’t an app or a set system per se. It’s the name of my workshop... one where you learn the process of how habits are built, how they crash and fail, and how to install new ones that are truly functional for everyday living.

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Here for the WIN!

Got Rhythm?

Keeping the System Going

Author - Shanti Douglas

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