We all have To-Do Lists. Maybe you even have more than one. It’s so easy to get focused on the little daily chores at work and home that we can lose sight of why we are doing those tasks in the first place. Instead of starting the year off with another extended list of what you want to accomplish, how about rededicating yourself to living a happier, more fulfilling life by making a list of what you aren’t going to do. Let’s start your Don’t-Do List!
Know Your Values—How many things do we do each day that are expected of us but don’t align with our values? A lot, right? Think about all the little things you do each day that suck up your time and energy—things that aren’t important to you. For example, have your co-workers or boss come to expect you’ll answer emails and texts about work while you are at home? That might lead to you working all hours, instead of helping your child with their homework. Or spending much-needed downtime with yourself. Deciding what’s most important to you is the first thing you need to do to start your Don’t-Do List. If you are spending time and energy on things that aren’t important to you, come up with ways you can get out of doing them.
Avoid Energy Drains—These might be tasks or people that make you feel negative. Or things that take a lot of time and effort to deal with and resolve. Think of coworkers, acquaintances, and even family members who suck the life out of you. They might be too needy, talk trash about everyone, or criticize you whenever you are around. Come up with ways to avoid these people without being rude. Life is too short to spend care-taking people you don’t even like! The same goes for tasks that are draining your time and energy. You should perhaps reconsider the time you spend bowling every Tuesday night. What would you prefer to be doing instead? Find a way to get off those committees and teams that no longer light you up.
Evaluate Task ROI—Every item on your To-Do List has an ROI or Return On Investment. Too often we get caught up in thinking we are the only ones who can do something. When in reality, that only keeps us busy and exhausted. Take a look at your task list. What items are going to improve your life? What’s truly important for you to handle? Consider delegating or outsourcing things that you don’t need to take care of yourself. For example, is it vital that you cut your grass each week? No? Then why not pay a neighbor kid to do it? Tired of spending your weekends managing your finances and investments? Why not hire someone with the right credentials to do that for you? They will be able to do it faster and probably better than you can. And, it will free up time that you can be spending doing things you enjoy with the people you love.
Maverick, pictured above hiding from his To Do list , is a part of the Positively Daily family and a ‘ghost writer’ for us to share tips and suggestions for general topics and posts.
I had never heard of the pareidolia phenomenon before Julie wrote her blog post about it but I’ve definitely experienced it! Here’s one of my favorites – a true gentleman that you encounter only by going the opposite direction on the forest path. He’s part mushroom, part tree, and part moss (a common enough mixture in these woods) but the pieces add up to a great composition that greets me on my second left turn and makes me feel safe on this jaunt.
Another one I’ll add is this formally known as a tree now called spidey stump.
Crawling under the sidewalk and house foundation disrupting the sewer and water pipes, sadly this 50+ year old specimen had to go in order to save the 100+ year old house
Somehow this just captures the moment when a struggle becomes a shelter. No longer feeling that the walls are closing in but instead they are in fact supporting and embracing you. What used to seem very difficult can become easy if you shift your perspective.
The ol’ proverbial rock and a hard place. How do you see the scene. Is it trapped or just perfected fitted to the situation.
I would prefer to think it is just at the right place at just the right time.
Perspective shift. With a splash of positivity of course. Daily.
I do tend toward giving inanimate objects a personality or sense of personality and I look at this stone… soft leaves on each side, a sculptural formation on either side that could almost appear soft and gentle… depending on your perspective… An embrace perhaps.
Sammy, pictured with her hedgehog, is a part of the Positively Daily family and a ‘ghost writer’ for us to share tips and suggestions for general topics and posts.
7 Micro-Habits That Will Change You For The Better
It’s common to avoid making changes, even though we say we want to. One reason for this is that we try to make multiple significant changes all at once. Science has proven that making a few small habit changes is the best way to create effective and lasting change. If you are ready to get started – check out these seven simple micro-habits.
1.Set Boundaries—What is the one thing you consistently do that depletes your time and energy? Maybe it’s a committee which you no longer want to be part of, or a weekly get together with friends that you’ve outgrown. Now’s the time to choose yourself over these non-essentials. Plan a way to get out of these time and energy draining activities. And when new opportunities come up, take some time to decide if they will genuinely enhance your life or end up merely stealing your time. Say no more often.
2.Start a Journal— We should credit ourselves more often for the positive choices we make. One way to begin acknowledging our accomplishments is by starting a journal. Journaling helps us work out problems, counteract stress and track our progress in life. It’s easy to overlook all the little gains we make during a single year, and looking back through a journal is a great way to see how far we’ve come. We can dream about where we want to go next.
3.Exercise—Moving our bodies around is good for lots of reasons beyond staying fit. It’s also about releasing those feel-good hormones that keep us happy and energized. Look at your schedule and see how you can work 30 minutes of exercise into your day. After a few days, you’ll start to wonder how you managed without the stress relief and energy exercising gives you.
4.Plan your MIT’s—Ever get to your desk in the morning and wonder where even to start? Too often we live and work in survival mode and never get around to the tasks that matter. One simple way to combat this is to plan your MIT’s—Most Important Tasks—for tomorrow before you leave work for the day. When you arrive in the morning, you’ll exactly know what to start working on, and you’ll avoid wasting time thinking through what you did yesterday.
5.Dedicate Time to Interests—When is the last time you did something during the week that you enjoyed? Many of us say we’ll participate in a hobby on the weekend, but when the time comes, we spend it doing chores or taking care of things that didn’t get done during the week. It’s time to change this. Instead of watching mindless TV or scrolling through social media after you wash the dishes, spend time doing something you love. Put together a puzzle, knit a scarf, pull out those watercolors. Whatever passion you think you are too busy to enjoy anymore, make time for it and watch how much joy it adds to your life.
Starting here with a series on the inspirational sources for us at Positively Daily. Dr. Joe is one of the biggest.
I have been a huge fan for a long time .. back in the day living in Portland Oregon I was able to see the movie What the Bleep Do We Know in the Bagdad Theater where it was filmed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And if you have seen it, you know what the million exclamation points.
On top of that – after the movie they turned up the lights and had the producers of the movie on stage for live questions! Wow. of course it was incredible.
At that time I was focused more on the general amazement of the topics, actually thinking I could follow the ideas of quantum physics (!) and the endless possibilities of the universe. Later I delved deeper into Dr. Joe and the miracle of his story and it has been a driving force in my life for health & happiness and all those words starting with H. There will be many a post about him and his philosophy! What a resource!
