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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
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Does life ever feel boring, repetitive, and tedious? We are not bound to a Sisyphean life; tune in to find out why!
Transcript:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness, where we create lasting happiness, in about 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 do you ever get the feeling that everything is futile? You do the dishes to have another sink full of dishes the next day. You wash the laundry to have another three loads to do by the end of the week. You go to work every single day, just to have to do it again and again for decades on end. When life is phrased in a Sisyphean nature, it can seem beyond tedious, but my favorite happiness scientist, Arthur Brooks, disagrees.
As a quick note, the word “Sisyphean” refers to Sisyphus, the king from Greek mythology who angered the gods by cheating death and got sentenced an eternal life in the underworld to push a boulder up a hill, to have it roll back down and need to start over again. Therefore, any task combining struggle, stress, boredom, and futility can be categorized as “Sisyphean.”
As I mentioned, many tasks in life may feel Sisyphean in nature, which can be frustrating. However, in an article published in the Atlantic, Brooks takes inspiration from Albert Camus, a philosopher and creator of absurdism. Camus challenges people to redefine Sisyphus as being happy, which completely warps the idea that daily struggles are tedious.
Camus cites that people experience true joy and happiness even though they lead Sisyphean lives filled with monotony and struggle. Brooks quotes, “Even Sisyphus was happy, according to Camus, because ‘the struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.’ Simply put, he had something to keep him busy.”
So, what does this mean? Rather than falling into the trap of a futility mindset, embracing each moment for what it is will serve you better. We should laugh as we complete little daily tasks and be happy in spite of them. By embracing a mindset shift, we can redefine the moments that bug us the most into something positive and fulfilling.
Rather than washing the dishes because they are dirty, you are washing dishes to achieve a beautiful home. Rather than doing laundry again, you are providing your children with their favorite clothes. Rather than going to work every day, you are providing yourself with the core necessities of life AND creating opportunities to do something you love. Be fully present in what you are doing and just relax into it.
Plus, Brooks suggests looking for little opportunities to do good. While we can’t influence wars and natural disasters, we can do acts of kindness for others that will bring both them and ourselves happiness. Remember, kindness is contagious.
Life is heavy enough, we shouldn’t have to search for happiness. Get the exclusive happiness email, delivered with a smile twice a month to your inbox. https://www.katiejefcoat.com/email
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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