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Do you feel overwhelmed with your todo list? Is "creating fulfilling happiness" missing from that list? Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat is here to help you. In 2-minutes a day, over time, you’ll discover how to reduce overwhelm and create lasting happiness through Katie’s signature method of Intentional Margins, happiness science, and musings about life. Start your day with a positive mindset. Many of us can get deep in the feeling of overwhelm. The anxiety of our own ambition can weigh heavily on our thoughts and emotions. We lay down and close our eyes at night and our chest begins to feel heavy. More items on the to-do list than the day before. How will we ever going to get off the hamster wheel of to-dos? When are we going to start living life for more than the hustle? As a recovering lawyer and passion driven entrepreneur, Katie knew something had to change. What she found is that you can have harmony, be intentionally productive and create massive impact, all at the same time - without feeling guilty. So she asked herself a simple question: "How can I get off the hamster wheel and how can I show others how to do the same? She knew she'd had a system for herself, but she’d never put it into defining words. On August 15, 2019, she sat down at her dining room table with her friend Jenna (her business bestie). Post-It notes covering the table. This is where she first defined the concept of Intentional Margins. What are Intentional Margins? INTENTIONAL MARGINS™ (n): A buffer of space and time to create harmony between your to-do’s and your priorities. Now you can get the support you need to manage your overwhelm, one little tip at a time. Regardless of the industry, Everyday Happiness blends inspiration with a pragmatic approach to finding Harmony. You'll be encouraged to throw “balance” out the window for a more achievable approach called harmony. Through Intentional Margins™, you'll be encouraged to develop what harmony means to you, by identifying your priorities at work and at home. Every day, we'll end the podcast help you feel equipped to jump off the hamster wheel of overwhelm and go out there and crush your day. --About the Host-- Katie Jefcoat is a community curator, speaker, author and motivator who supports ambitious women (and a few good men) move from feeling hectic to harmonious. As a recovering trial lawyer, she knows first hand what it feels like to have a demanding job. As an entrepreneur with a passion that lights her hair on fire and a busy family she’s in the thick of it with you. Many people strive for balance and think overwhelm is just a part of life. Sadly, the hustle culture and our never-ending to-do list is creating a life where our priorities are getting the leftover scraps of time. Katie introduces people to what she calls - Intentional Margins™ - a kind of life in which they reduce randomness, create harmony between their to-dos and their priorities and intentionally enjoy the meaningful parts of life - without feeling guilty. Without exposure to a different way, we remain stuck on the hamster wheel of to-dos and never find the “balance” we yearn for. Katie works diligently to expose her community to different ways of doing things, because she fundamentally believes we deserve to make time for our priorities. We deserve to live a life of harmony. And it’s within our control to create it. Katie curates a smorgasbord of content related to managing your calendar, handling overwhelm, setting boundaries, reducing randomness, saying no, self-care, the power of your choices, and more in her Intentional Margins™ Membership Community -- which she calls the coziest virtual coffee shop (on Facebook). Connect and learn more at www.katiejefcoat.com.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
When February felt like the wheels were about to come off the bus, I did what I am calling a “decision dump” and it helped me to gather my thoughts and triage my most important decisions to get through what was already a hectic month. I explain the stress and process in this episode.
Transcript:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day, through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life.
I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and I've got a confession. Even the best laid plans don’t always work out as expected. In February, I put too much on my plate. I didn’t leave enough room for my very important Intentional Margins® and I felt stressed. And honestly, I did it to myself. I had a couple home improvement projects that I tried to shove into a tight window. I traveled for 2 long weekends. I had decisions I needed to make, and for me, it wasn’t enough time to deliberate. I was left with the feelings of stress which manifested into some general anxiety and overall short-tempered behavior.
My daily big 3, which are the three tasks I prioritize to get done each day, was more like a big 7, and frankly, that’s just too much. I said yes to too many things and I felt it.
As projects wrapped up in late February and with an intention to not sabotage myself again, March arrived with a renewed sense of calm.
This got me thinking about how stress and happiness are so intertwined. We live in such a high stress, high productivity society, I wonder if that is ultimately hurting our ability for achieving fulfilled happiness?
I know that for me, one of my highest values is “order”. When things feel in order, I feel calm. This looks like having a tidy kitchen and living room. This looks like having a Big 3 roadmap for my day. This looks like having my calendar in check - with white space.
I guess this episode is just to say that we all have those times, those seasons when things feel stressful and a little crazy, but it’s important to remember that this is a season. This too shall pass and we get to wake up in the morning with a desire to find harmony in our day. To be busy and balanced, by prioritizing the right things right now. Sometimes it takes a month to go through the hectic. And that’s ok. With all the tools I have, if I can still feel stressed, then please know you are not alone when you are feeling all the overwhelmed feelings. I get it.
But even in the most stressful times, I believe there is room for happiness. One way that helped me was to brain dump all of my “decisions”. Everyone talks about a brain dump of all the tasks you have to do. I get that. That’s a great idea. But what I am suggesting is a list of decisions you have to make. I found that the feelings of stress, unbalance and fatigue were coming from a large amount of decisions I needed to make to keep the wheels on the bus. So I invite you to make a decision brain dump if you are feeling stressed and see if triaging those decisions would help you find your harmony.
As always, kindness is contagious and I hope you are inspired to spread a little kindness today.
Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness
And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram
Links: https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/
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