Listening to Podcasts is a great way to expand your knowledge and be inspired. There are some awesome experts out there creating downloadable radio type shows to inform the masses. We have our favorite shows that revolve around – YOU GUESSED IT – health and nutrition. On our drive down to Florida a few podcasts sparked a flame inside of me to help improve:
- Productivity
- Managing your life
- Making lists and sticking to them
Here are the top five ideas I took from these shows that I am going to apply to my life ASAP. I’m not waiting until January 1st to get started. These will not be resolutions. They will simply be my new way of doing things.
- Morning routine – This is something that I have already begun doing a few weeks ago. Having a morning routine helps you get your day off to a good start. Your routine should be something that will be enjoyable for you. My morning now starts with a 10-20 minute meditation followed by journal writing. Then I wash up. I feel fresh for the day and can get into my chores of making breakfasts, lunches and doing dishes. Notice how I called theses tasks chores and did not include them in my morning routine. A morning routine should be for you. I may even begin to get up earlier for a short run or yoga practice. Find what works for you!
- Water with lemon – You are probably saying “What? This makes you more productive? Are you kidding me Shoshana!” Well, this is also something I do. I start the day with a big warm mug of water and I try to remember the lemon. This is not a magic potion for multitasking. It is a way to get the inside of my body off to a good start. Detoxify. It also encourages me to eat healthy whole foods throughout the day keeping my mind sharp and allowing me to complete my jobs or tasks the best to my ability.
ABC-lists – Okay. This is a new one for me. I am great at making lists. I make them in books, journals, on paper, on the back of receipts, on my phone, in my head…EVERYWHERE. And – there is no better feeling than checking off those items on a list. Ah, I’m getting that light feeling right now just writing about it. Here is the game changer for me. ABC-lists. I will now have one place for making lists. There is software you can buy, but I think I can makeshift it right now. I have had things on my lists for months. Things that would make my life better, but I just don’t want to do it, so I don’t. Well, that changes today. I have so much to do: Things for my teaching job, things for Plant Trainers and things for being a Mom. I am about to become a task machine.
A-List: Things that are most important. These are the things that must be done today. On this list I will put things I may not want to do, but must do. For example: Meal planning (I’ve been putting this off and it will make life easier), finishing report cards before my deadline, completing my Wednesday blog, and calling the contractor and preparing a new recipe for the website.
B-List: Things that need to get done soon. For example: checking out the new website I head about, planning for my next month of teaching, baking and freezing burgers.
C-List: Going to the store for a new lamp, hanging a picture in the hall and filing my receipts.
My A-list will get done today. No if ands or buts…
- Making my A list a priority. There are always other things that need to get done. They sneak up like little ninjas. Well, I am prioritizing the word PRIORITY. I will not use folding the towels as an excuse not to meal plan. If my mom wants me to look at a website, it will have to wait until I’m done or I can put it on my B list. I will block out time to get my A list done and try to stick to it as best as possible. Things will come up. I may have to pick up a sick child from school or walk the neighbor’s dog as a last minute favor, but the main idea is get things done off the A list if I want to or not.
- Power off. How many times have you turned on your computer to get concrete work done and found yourself browsing social media for a half hour? Have you been organizing your files and heard your phone ding alerting you of 10 new emails? When I have A-list time scheduled into my day, I will turn off all distractions. No social media, no other emails. It also means that I should schedule my tasks according to when I need to be home alone and when my kids are home. Or I just need to do a better job at training my children to respect my workspace. (But that is a whole other blog – being present with my children and with my work.)
This blog is definitely longer than I planned it to be. But now that I have shared these productivity ideas with you, I will be more accountable for following through. It’s not that I wasn’t efficient or I was a procrastinator before. It’s just that I want to be that much more successful going forward. I have a lot to balance, as I am sure you do too.
Having said that, we really appreciate you taking precious time out of your life to read these blogs. We hope they inspire you to be even healthier – physically, mentally and spiritually. Feel free to reach out and start up a conversation with us on Twitter, Facebook or through Email.
Shoshana Chaim
~ Plant Trainers
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