Quick note! Apple podcasts (and perhaps other apps, as well) now offer full transcriptions of all our podcast episodes inside their app. There’s a basic overview below, but if you want to read every word I speak (ha!), you can do so there.
Today we’re talking about an amazing, exciting, powerful phenomenon that happens literally every day here at LearnDoBecome. And it can happen for you too!
It’s the ability to have your mind totally at ease when you have a lot to do.
Most people don’t know it’s possible. For example, I have a friend who teaches that you just need to get used to being overwhelmed. And I often hear people say just to “rip up your list” or “don’t worry about the things you can’t do.” Or some people WANT to have their minds feel crazy because that is evidence that they are doing a good job and being responsible and worrying about a lot of things.
The problem with the philosophy of “you’re just going to be stressed, so rip up your list” is that you never learn what to do with all the things that are going to go undone. Either your list gets longer or you end up keeping more things in your head–but that causes stress, and so most people just live with stress.
And the problem with the philosophy of “I want or need to feel crazy inside my head so I know I’m productive and responsible” is that you don’t actually enjoy your life because you’re living with constant tension. Have you been there?
I’d like to read a beautiful message we received from Amanda, one of our STEPpers, and I want you to pay attention to how much she has on her plate, but compare that with how her mind feels.
I LOVED this for so many reasons. Hearing how she is finding balance, how she is caring for her family, how she is increasing in her leadership skills…. This is amazing!
You may wonder how this happens. Some people think we are here to teach you how to organize your house, but it’s actually about organizing our minds.
David Allen, author of Getting Things Done,® changed my world in 2008. He showed me how I could have a resting place for everything in my mind.
Prior to that, I had things sitting in piles everywhere. And it all had to be where I could see it. A pile for a book I wanted to write. A pile for the class I was teaching. A pile for every facet of my personal and professional work.
It’s just that I either had “active work” or things in my filing cabinet
He showed me how there were more categories than that, but not an infinite number. Just a handful that if I could memorize, and create as part of my system, would help me finally have a calm mind.
Here are a few tangible examples (detailed more in the audio–or you can search the website using the search tool at the top for these terms and get lots more support!):
- Current Project Support Materials – These cubbies, file folders, stacking trays, etc. give you can a spot for all items related to your current projects (and current routines). No more piling things by your bedroom door!
- Someday Folder – This took so much pressure off my brain and gave me a way to delay things, but not forget them.
- Next Actions List – This stopped me from procrastinating and rewriting things–because I now knew exactly what the next step was, and I had a flexible way to work on all my tasks throughout the week!
And as I implemented these and adjusted some of them to meet my needs as a wife, mother, and business owner, I found that I started feeling so much more peaceful and joyful. Then I started teaching others, and that’s how I ended up here at LearnDoBecome doing what I’m doing!
When your brain doesn’t have to hold onto a bunch of details, it feels calm.
The trick is to create the optimal system that can hold whatever you need, and when that is built, it changes everything.
I hope you are working on your STEP Command Central!!
Please check out the links below–especially the one about our new events happening at the end of April. 🙂
xoxo
April
More Related Links!
Our ARISE membership – an amazing gathering place for community members that are using their Command Centrals to refine relationships, health, finances, individual purpose, and more. We focus on a new topic each month, and this is an amazing opportunity to receive coaching and support from Team LearnDoBecome. You can sign up for a free, 7-day trial here.
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