If you’re craving some sort of change but 1. you’re at capacity and just don’t know if you have the energy for it or 2. you don’t know where to start, today’s post is for you.
It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with change and finding ways to improve my life. I especially love finding tiny ways to make that happen. It’s oddly satisfying to implement a small change that brings about enormous impact.
Here are five easy changes that’ll up-level your life.
Up-level your life with these 5 easy changes
Honor the alarm clock (keep the promises you make to yourself)
It seems so simple, I know. It might also seem insignificant; it’s not. Think about it, the very first thing you do, the very first decision you make each day is what you’re going to do when that alarm goes off. It might seem like it doesn’t matter if you slap snooze and roll over for a few extra Zzzs. But what if…
What if your entire day looks different just because you decided to keep the promise you made to yourself.
What if you fight through that initial grogginess and get to enjoy a peaceful moment to have your coffee.
What if you make a better breakfast choice because you’re already on a roll…
The thing is, when you choose to keep the promise you made to yourself very first thing, you set yourself up to keep that momentum going. You set the foundation to treat yourself better throughout the day, to actually show yourself the respect you deserve. And when you do that, suddenly you start expecting that same respect from others (and guess what, they actually start to show it).
Yes. I mean it. All of those things can change just by keeping one small promise to yourself and not hitting snooze.
Imagine what else could change if you kept the other promises you make to yourself.
Set daily intentions
It’s so easy to slip into a monotonous existence. Our lives are so routine that if we aren’t purposeful, the days start to blur together and we stop growing. We stop evolving.
Intentions don’t have to be anything serious. Intentions don’t necessarily have to be tasks to complete or goals to achieve. It can be as simple as “I intend to show kindness in all of my interactions today.”
Intentions just keep you in the driver seat of your experience. We forget that we get to design how our days go, even with things that we can’t control. Hate your job? I get it. Set an intention to notice the things that you like about your job that day. Does it change your situation? No. But it does change how you experience your situation.
Obviously intentions can go big, too. Intentions can help you walk the path to achieving a big goal.
But if intentions freak you out, and you tend to be paralyzed by todo lists and big-picture dreams; start with the smaller stuff.
Trade out “I’m sorry” with a thank you statement
I apologize for simply existing all the time. This became painfully apparent when I was in the hospital earlier this year. I wish there had been a counter keeping track of the number of times I said I was sorry. I was literally there because I couldn’t move — and yet, I apologized over and over again for needing help. In. A. Hospital.
When I got home, the experience made me feel sick. So I decided to do something about it. Whenever I felt the urge to say “I’m sorry,” I looked to see if there was a “thank you” alternative. For instance, at the hospital, instead of saying I was sorry for not being able to stand up and requiring assistance, I could have said “thank you for helping me.”
Running a little late for a meeting? Instead of saying “Sorry I’m late,” replace it with “thank you for your patience.”
Need to make a special accommodation that makes you feel like a burden? Instead of apologizing, say “thank you for accommodating.”
You get the point. I’ve been doing this where possible since January. And it has made such a difference in how I feel in certain situations, but it has also changed how my interactions feel as well. Highly recommend.
Establish a “closing shift” routine
I used to be really on top of my life. And then I became a full-time WFH SAHM to a wild toddler. My mood and how I feel day-to-day is hugely affected by my surroundings. But also, I’m tired.
I got into the habit of just leaving stuff for the next day. I never used to do that because I lived by the idea of doing my future self a favor — but present Joey is exhausted and just can’t.
I locked myself in to a vicious cycle. Fed up, I decided to figure out a way to make it work. I crafted a closing shift routine. Ever work at a restaurant? In order to get cut, you have to complete your closing shift duties — your “side work” if you will. On the nights you were anxious to get out of there right at closing, well, you’d start your closing shift duties as early as you possibly could. You’d get crafty and creative with it.
I started to implement that same strategy at home. Determine what needs to get done each evening to set yourself up for a peaceful morning. Literally make it into a routine — an evening task list — and cross things off as you do them. Write the tasks in permanent marker on a dry erase board and check them off each day as you do them. Whatever works for you.
Take decisions out of the moment (Eliminate decision fatigue)
The best (and probably most common) example of this is to meal plan. By 4:30 on any given day, the last thing I want to do is make another decision. I meal plan and grocery shop on Fridays for the upcoming week so I don’t have to think about meals again until the next Friday.
There are other ways to do this as well. I project manage pretty much every area of my life. I have to for work, it’s the only way I’d stay on top of things with the craziness going on in my house at any given moment. But I found that it’s helpful with cleaning schedules, closet rotations, toy rotations, etc.
I use Asana for this mostly, especially for work. I also use the Reminder’s app on my phone (which I have set as a widget on my phone home screen and my desktop wallpaper).
The trick is to batch make decisions so that in the day-to-day you’re just cruising right along. It makes such a difference not just in your productivity (if that matters to you) but also in how you feel.
Alright, friend! That’s it for me today. Until next time! XOXO
Excellent! You are right. The sorry one, is this a female thing? I feel like I say it to start every sentence.