Edit Your Schedule

5 Key Ways to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

How has 2016 been for you so far? Did you make a pile of resolutions for yourself this year? Kept any of them?

I used to be the queen of New Year’s resolution lists. I’d think of one resolution, which would lead to another, and another, until, on paper, I’d completely transformed my life. The new me! Yes!

I could usually maintain the momentum of the new lifestyle I had documented for myself for about 2 days. Maybe a week.

And then each of my newfound habits dropped off one by one.

But last year, I actually stuck to a resolution. All. Year. Long.

So what are the tricks for making New Year’s resolutions stick?

1. Set ONE goal only. This is the most important thing. The temptation is to think we can change everything at once. But we never can. We have to work out what is the ONE thing that we most want to change, and focus on that only. Some people aim for one goal a month. But I decided to focus on one goal for the year. For me last year, that was running. And I managed to throw every ounce of motivation I had at that one goal. And it worked.

2. Start small. I didn’t set myself the goal of running a marathon, or running far, or fast. I just had to put on my running shoes each day, and head out the door. I slowly built up my fitness and capacity, but didn’t set the bar too high; if we do, we risk putting ourselves off even getting started.

3. Do it everyday. Doing something everyday means your brain more quickly builds a new neural pathway. Our brains love habits, and when you know you’re doing something everyday, you don’t have to engage in a mental negotiation process about whether today you can justify having a day off. You just go. Obviously there are exceptions, but the exceptions are circumstance based (like getting sick, attending to an urgent matter, a pre-determined day of rest), rather than decided on a whim. I didn’t run on Sundays, but other than that, as much as I could, I stuck to my goal.

4. Choose a time of day for that new habit. Again, our brains require less energy when we  do things based on habits and routines. If a time of day doesn’t work, try linking the habit to another activity. e.g Meditate for 5 minutes after dropping the kids off at school, or do 5 minutes of yoga stretching after doing your teeth. The more you can tie a habit into your existing routine, the more chance you have of making it stick. Compare it to brushing your teeth; you probably do that at a pretty set time each day, and your brain requires no mental energy to make it happen, you just do it.

Habits are first cobwebs, then cables.” – Spanish proverb

5. Try and find the enjoyment in the habit itself. If your’e only running to try to lose weight, it can be hard to stay motivated if you don’t see results. But if you slowly learn to enjoy and see benefits in the run itself –  the fresh air, the chance to be in nature, the silence, the headspace, the extra energy it gives you over time – you’re more likely to stay for the long haul.

What’s the number one thing you’d love to integrate into your life this year?

5 Powerful Stress Busters To Find Your Place Of Calm

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

We are a culture addicted to stress and busyness. And it’s killing us.

stress2

I used to use stress as my motivational tool, but I’m slowly learning that I can function better and get stuff done more efficiently and effectively, when I operate from a place of calm.

So I’ve stepped off the stress treadmill, and on to a different path. This one looks more like a country road than a treadmill. There’s time to stop and smell the roses. Sometimes I forget where I am, and start acting like I’m on a treadmill again, and get focussed on reaching the finish line. But then I remember that’s not the goal anymore. That being present to this path I’m on is what it means to live life to the full. Getting to the end, fastest, is not.

Here are the 5 best ways I’ve discovered, to spend less time on the stress treadmill, and more time enjoying the beauty of the country roads:

1. Think about dying

Death freaks us out. So thinking about it seems a counterintuitive approach to reducing stress. But there’s a method to my madness. Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, outlines the habit to “begin with the end in mind”. He’s talking about reflecting on your mortality, and one of the exercises involves writing your own obituary. It’s pretty powerful. Taking the time to sit down, and reflect on what you want your life to have looked like when you come to the end of it, will help you assess whether your current state of play accurately reflects where you’re planning on ending up.

The more I’ve reflected on what’s important to me, the more my to do lists and priorities have changed. Because I’ve realised life isn’t about completing the to-do list. It will never be complete. I’ll be chasing it for life. So as I let go of the need to achieve, and refocus my priorities, I’m learning to embrace life’s “interruptions”, realising that often those interruptions are what life’s about, far more than completing that relentless to-do list.

2. Buy less stress

The purpose of advertising is to make us feel dissatisfied with what we have, and with this comes a constant low level stress. The more I’ve jumped off the bandwagon of consumerism, and pursued a lifestyle of less, the more free I’ve felt. Learning to be grateful for what I do have has brought down that niggling stress of always wanting more.

Hand in hand with this comes decluttering, and owning less. Having less stuff in the house means less tidying, less hunting for stuff, less cleaning, less visual clutter, more space, and more peace.

3. Give yesterdays and tomorrows stresses the flick

Mindfulness is the act of paying attention to the present. A lot of our stress revolves around what might happen (stressing about the future), or what’s already happened (stressing about the past). The more focussed on the present we can become, the more we can relax in this moment. Don’t know where to start? Here’s a great mindfulness app to check out.

4. Run the stress off

We all know this, but why is exercise so often the first thing to go? This year, I’ve prioritised exercise, as a non-negotiable daily activity. I’ve done this by setting a regular time each day, early in the morning, before the demands of the day swallow it up. And it’s had arguably the biggest impact on my stress levels of anything I’ve done.

5. Eat less stress

Changing my diet to healthy, sugar free, whole foods has changed my life. When I had 3 kids under 3, I existed on coffee, chocolate, and the kids’ left overs, followed by a glass of wine at night to bring the stress levels down. Over the last couple of years, I’ve drastically cleaned up my diet, and now follow a whole foods diet, along the paleo, low sugar, lines.

I’ve made the changes incrementally, as drastic changes generally result in blow outs, and going back to where we started.

 

So as you enter the busyness of the Christmas season, is there one small change you can make to start the process of bringing the stress levels down?

The 6 Best Ways To Unclutter Your Mind

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

I’ve written about decluttering your physical space, but there’s somewhere else that you live, that tends to get cluttered. It’s your mind.

Because we can’t actually see the mind-junk, we all too easily allow a cacophony of unchecked noise and distraction to run riot in our heads.

So what are the best techniques to tackle the mental clutter?

1. Switch on your brain

We have thousands of thoughts racing through our minds each day, and we need to learn to reign these in. Mindfulness meditation is scientifically proven to tame our distracted, unfocused minds.

  • If you’re just getting started, mindfulness of the senses is a great place to start. This technique brings your focus into the present, into your body, away from the racing thoughts in your brain. Even just 2 minutes a day can reduce the noise going on in your brain for the rest of the day.
  • If you’re looking for a great app, try Headspace.
  • And if you live in Auckland, the mindfulness course at Renew Your Mind provides a brilliant introduction to mindfulness. I highly recommend it.

2. Don’t switch

We associate multi-tasking with efficiency. But research has shown that you are far more efficient when you do one thing at a time. Despite what you may think, your brain cannot focus on more than one thing at a time. The more you try to do at once, the less productive you become. By being fully present to the task at hand, you allow your brain to function optimally, rather than being divided and distracted.

3. Switch off

Multiple browsers, notifications, text alerts, news updates … endless noise and distraction are constantly pulling you away from the present. If you want to learn to have a calmer, more uncluttered mind, switch off all the noise. Turn off notifications. Learn to work without hundreds of browsers open. Move away from your phone. Focus on the present. If you haven’t already, check out this clip. It’s pretty powerful.

4. Switch foods

The more I’ve pursued a diet of whole, unprocessed food, free of refined sugar, additives and preservatives, the clearer my head has felt. Want some convincing about the effects sugar is having on your brain? You have to watch this.

5. Switch on your body

Exercise. We all know this one. Since I’ve prioritised exercise as a daily part of my routine, my anxiety levels have been lower and my head’s been clearer. I know, because the days I skip it, I notice a shift in my mental state. I exercise first thing to make sure it gets done before the demands of the day squeeze it out.

6. Switch off the excess

If you’re doing too much, your brain will be on constant overdrive. You need to do less. Declutter your schedule, and get rid of all but the essential things in your life. Look critically at every commitment you have, and assess whether it is truly important to your life. I’ve written more about this here.

 

None of this is rocket science, but we all (myself included) need constant reminders of these key activities, that we all too easily neglect in the hustle of life.

The Best Technique for Getting Things Done

The Best Technique for Getting Things Done
~ Rachel King ~ 1 Comment

Do you feel like there’s never enough time in your day? Like you’re juggling too many plates and wearing too many hats to get it all done?

Here’s the answer to getting it all done: Do less. 

I’ve read a lot on time management and productivity. And when it comes to getting things done, there are two main approaches. There’s the “how to be more efficient so you can jam 5000 things into your day without coming up for air” approach. And then there’s the, “evaluate what’s important, essential and beneficial to your life, and cull the rest” approach.

No prizes for guessing which camp I’m in.

Not everything that you’re trying to pack into your day is important or essential. You need to identify what is, and edit the rest.

So how do you wade through all the crap to assess what’s most important?

You need to view your schedule the same way you view your stuff; only keep what is useful or beautiful.

The Best Technique for Getting Things Done

1. Write a list of all your roles and commitments during the average week. Here are a few possible categories and examples to get you started:

  • Professional/Career
  • Relationships (wife/husband, friend, daughter etc)
  • Home responsibilities (housekeeping, cooking, cleaning, tidying, groceries etc)
  • Parenting (looking after preschooler, taking kids to school, sport, doctors, helping with homework)
  • Recreation (running, reading, craft, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TV, internet shopping, blog reading, internet browsing, You Tube, eating out – add whatever you tend to do in your downtime)
  • Other: include any committees or boards you’re on, sports teams you coach etc

2. What roles on that list are important or life giving in your day?

Underline those things.

3. Which are the top 5?

Keep those, and cull the rest.

Sound far too drastic? We all have the same 24 hours to work with. So fighting against time is fruitless; you will never, ever have more time than you do now. But by having the right amount of commitments for the time you have, you’ll feel like you have more time and space to breathe and to be.

Here’s my current list of roles and priorities:

  • Professional: Life Edit
  • Parenting: prioritising time with my 3 kids
  • Relationships: making time for coffee/dinner/wine dates with my husband, friends and family
  • Health & recreation: running, meditating, reading, crafting, travelling
  • Housekeeping: cooking, cleaning, organising, groceries, etc

You might split your categories up more than I have, or group more together. Some seasons (like the early years of parenting) have enough subcategories of their own to take up all your time, I know! Up to you how you break it down. There are no rights or wrongs; it’s an exercise in reflecting on what things are most important to you, and whether your current schedule reflects this.

And having determined your priorities, when anything new comes along, you can check if it fits into one of the categories that you have predetermined as being the most important to you. If it doesn’t fit, don’t do it.

A decluttered schedule is a beautiful (and useful) thing.

Life Edit: Simplifying Your Life To Find The Gold Within

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

Hi there! Welcome to Life Edit, my newest blog venture, where I’ll be sharing insights from my own journey towards living a simple, uncluttered, and purposeful life.

Why do we need to edit our lives?

Life in the 21st century offers us endless opportunities to buy and do anything and everything. To the point that our houses and our lives are bursting at the seams. But being busy, overloaded and unintentional has become the new normal; we don’t even notice we’re living lives full of clutter and distraction.

We have to learn to edit. Edit our possessions, our calendars, our priorities and our relationships.

Do not have anything in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

The architect and designer William Morris penned these words, and they’ve become my mantra for editing; both my home, and my life.

Getting rid of the clutter in our lives enables us to see more clearly – who we are, what we’re here for, what we love.

However, the great paradox of simple living is that it’s hard work. It’s far easier to allow non-essential things to creep into our lives, than it is to live intentionally with less.

But the beauty and freedom of simplicity is worth all the hard work. I’m sold on it. So if you’d like some extra motivation, some tips, thoughts, and ideas, from my own journey, I’d love you to come along for the ride… Welcome aboard!

Rachel xx

P.S. For everyone who subscribes to Life Edit by email this week, I’ll put you in the draw to receive a free copy of “Organised Simplicity“, one of the books that spring boarded me into this journey towards simple living. And to anyone who lives in Auckland and signs up, I’ll offer a half price 3 hour professional organising consultation to kick start your simple living journey 🙂