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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
Friday Dec 31, 2021
Friday Dec 31, 2021
Happy New Year to you. I hope you can look ahead and see something to be excited about in 2022. We look forward to engaging with you, our community, in this bright, beautiful, magical 2022.
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 Happy New Year! What a ride 2021 has been, right? I know a lot of people are hopeful and optimistic about 2022 - me included. I’m excited. I took this quiz called Strengthsfinder by Gallup and it said my top strength was “futurist”. I couldn’t agree more. I’m always looking toward the future. Usually it’s a strength, but not always, which is why we’ve done so many episodes on being present. That’s the flip of a futurist.
Anyway, I’m excited about 2022. I hope you can look ahead and see something to be excited about as well. We look forward to engaging with you, our community, in this bright, beautiful, magical 2022.
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/
Thursday Dec 30, 2021
Thursday Dec 30, 2021
Eeeek! This is so exciting! What do you think? What do you want to hear about in 2022. Send me a DM or an email at katie@kickstartwithkatie.com
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 wanted to share with you what we have planned for early 2022. We are going on a little adventure here at Everyday Happiness and we hope you come along for the journey. We are exploring the question: What is happiness?
As a follow-up to this big and tangled question is: How do we create more happiness within ourselves? We know that as evolved humans, we have some control and we can, in fact, make ourselves happier, but the how is tricky.
What I think is that the nuance is unique for everyone. My friend Jenna always says, there are a million ways to do something, pick what works for you. I think we’ll find some guiding science-based principles and then we’ll, hopefully, reflect on how those principals can apply to our individual lives.
I’m here for it. Right along with you. So I hope you’ll join me in January as we explore the question: What is happiness? And the follow-up question, which I am so excited about: How do we get more of it?
Until next time.
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/
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Ahhhhh!!! We could all use a little more margin, am I right?
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 the last 2 years have given me an opportunity to reflect on what matters, where the kids are in the age and stage of life and how we show up.
Saying no to almost everything was also a time to reflect on what I, personally, want to return to as 2022 is looking more and more open during the current global pandemic.
I’m a master at creating margin in my life. I mean, I created the concept Intentional Margins® as a way to show others how using the margins of your day, of your life, have the biggest impact on your fulfilment. And aren’t we all trying to live a fulfilled life? That’s such a loaded question. It’s easy to say, of course, but it’s hard to actually do it. Especially without a plan, a guide, a way to see clearly what we should be saying yes to and what we need to say no to.
Intentional Margins® has become a movement, where people get to identify what matters most to them, what lights their hair on fire, what is a priority and then, be intentional about fitting that into their day, their week, their year.
For example, if spending quality time with my partner is a priority and the way we decide to do that is a weekend away, we need to get that on the calendar. Maybe it’s date night, that also needs to go on the calendar. It’s where we get to enjoy the best parts of life, because we all know the todo list will be there and if you are like me, it’s easy to try to fit in one more thing. Especially if we don’t have real protected time on the calendar, like date night.
Of course, this could be anything from knitting to calling a friend. It’s whatever you need, in this season of life.
So in 2022, I invite you to identify your margin and what you want to do with that margin, what are your highest priorities in this season, and explore how that will make you feel. It’s a super exciting time.
And, of course, if you are open to it, I’d love to hear how you are creating Intentional Margins®, so post on social and tag us or send us a DM.
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/
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
Who would have thought? But, after this episode, I can see how this works and how we might be setting ourselves up for failure without even knowing it.
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 what seems to be universal in the happiness science, is that creating happiness is completely counterproductive to goal setting and productivity. Which has got me thinking a lot as we approach 2022. So many of us, me included are thinking of aspirations, intentions, goals, habits, successes we want to achieve in 2022.
With a goal, you focus on the goal and you achieve the goal.
The happiness science implies that you shouldn’t focus on one aspect of happiness at the exclusion of other parts of happiness.
Happiness is not linear. The simple definition is that happiness is 1) happy emotions, joy, contentment, love, positive emotions, and 2) satisfaction and purpose. Together, you get well-rounded, fulfilled happiness.
We need all of the aspects that I like to call the happiness wheel, like a pie chart, to achieve fulfilled happiness. It’s harmony, one aspect might be more critical at a certain time, it’s not equal devotion to each part, it’s recognizing that happiness is much bigger than one achievement and when we are in harmony, this yin and yang, we can uncover lasting fulfilled happiness.
Look, we’ve all been there. When I get this thing, when I get that raise, when I buy the house, I will *then* be happy. But what happens, hedonic adaptation happens and what we were waiting for comes and goes and we are back to baseline.
We need to temper our innate desire to create a goal setting approach to happiness. In happiness, you need it all, and where you spend your time is determinant of what needs the attention in this season of life. In other words, you need the entire wheel to roll into your personally designed happy and fulfilled life.
But don’t forget, unlike achievable goals, happiness is not a destination. Happiness is the process of creating a life that brings you the joy, purpose, satisfaction and fulfillment you desire. Only you know what you need. This podcast explores ways that can increase happiness, and you’ll know, if that is something for you - or not. This is your smorgausboard, take what you want and leave the rest.
Until next time.
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/
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Monday Dec 27, 2021
I should have known there would be more inspiration to share for the 22 for 2022 list. It’s just been so much fun. Are you joining me?
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’m still thinking about 2022. I love it. I love the idea that anything is possible. Yesterday we talked about 22 for 2022. What a fun idea and I’m fine-tuning my list, but I had another idea that I think might help you, like it did me. I thought about this in categories. Personal wellness, business, family, finances, relationships, my environment and my own Intentional Margins®. This is helping me to get to a micro level on what I want to aim for this year.
And let’s be real. This list is not written in stone. Reevaluate, pivot, make it work for you. This should not feel like an obligation, but rather, something fun.
I have a section for Intentional Margins®, but you could easily do 22 Intentional Margins®. These are things like, spend time meditating, play the piano 3 times a week, call a friend each week to check in, take a walk each week, wash my face every day. Or maybe its, focus on creating time Intentional Margins® of 10 minutes before and after every meeting. Maybe it’s an aim to add the buffer of driving to an appointment into the calendar so nothing else gets scheduled.
You could have a financial goal of paying down debt or student loans. The ideas are endless.
You can also look at this from the lens of who I want to be, instead of what I want to do. See the difference, how fun is that?
The options are endless and I encourage you to see what works for you. Perhaps it’s a mix of different things. I am definitely adding some “who I want to be” into my already aspirational task heavy list.
I can’t wait to hear what you put on our list. So make sure you let us know. You can find us @everydayhappinesswithkatie on social, tag us, drop into our DMs, send us a carrier pigeon, we want to hear from you.
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/
Sunday Dec 26, 2021
Sunday Dec 26, 2021
This is so fun, I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this before. Wait until you hear how the 22 for 2022 list works.
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 in early December I listened to a podcast from Gretchen Rubin about her 22 in 2022. In fact, she’s been doing what she calls “aims” for years, 21 in 2021 and so on. And I just thought it was such a great idea, I wanted to share it with you quick.
The idea is that you write down 22 things you want to accomplish in 2022. These are things you can look back at the past year and say yes or no to accomplishing them.
I’ll share some of the things on my list, to help inspire you. One thing is the “album of now” that you can learn about in episode 203. I am totally doing this.
Some other things, that are not so glamorous are:
- Get my Real-ID
- Organize my closet
- Walk around my house and video everything while narrating for insurance - in case of emergency
- Complete the children’s baby books.
- Download all of my iCloud photos and organize them by year (setting the bar low)
- Review yearly photos and label and organize further (an extension but another achievable task to break down this massive project I have)
- Create photo albums of past years on a photo sharing site
- Compile all of our iPhone videos to create a digest of the children’s lives.
Really all of these photo related topics are because we have so much media, I’m obsessed with creating photos and video and it’s not really organized well and I just hate the idea of going into another year with no organization around the things that are most important to me.
And I have some health goals that I want to make sure I am focusing on in 2022
- Drink ½ my bodyweight in water daily and track in my habit app
- Do at least 50 push-ups a day and track in my habit app
- Consume my vitamins daily and track in my habit app
What I was finding is that I believe these are all important, but I just lost focus and the habits slipped. So I want to be incredibly mindful and intentional this year, in 2022.
I may add a focus to walk a certain amount each week as well. Daily is hard for me, but weekly, maybe I can do that.
Of course I have some business aims too, they include
- Create and offer Everyday Happiness Merch
- Open the membership community to new members
This has been a great exercise to identify what I want to aim for in 2022. I’d be curious if you plan to do something like this, or if you already have. We’re over @everydayhappinesswithkatie
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/
Saturday Dec 25, 2021
Saturday Dec 25, 2021
Wishing you a Happy Everything for the holidays you celebrate this time of year and throughout the year. Your presence on this planet makes it better.
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 we wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas from all of us over here at Everyday Happiness. From Blessy, Jemiy and me - Merry Christmas. We hope the magic of this holiday season is sprinkled on you and that you get to enjoy this time in exactly your perfect way.
We recognize that the holidays are not always filled with happiness and magic and we want to honor you, exactly where you are at. The happiness science indicates that even a moment with your thoughts to find gratitude or appreciation can turn around a stressful mood. I get it. We’ve all been there. There can be a lot of personalities around this time of year, but in the end, we invite you to look for the magic - there is no doubt it will boost your happiness.
We are sending you virtual happiness for a holiday filled with magic and joy.
Wishing you peace and love.
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/
Friday Dec 24, 2021
Friday Dec 24, 2021
Hey friend, Merry Christmas Eve to you. Today I invite you to create a short Intentional Margin® to gather your thoughts as we head into what might be a busy couple days.
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 Merry Christmas Eve. It’s a big night in my house. Santa arrives in the morning. The children are already stirring. They’ve got cookies for Santa and a little reindeer food too. But with all the excitement I wanted to reflect on this season.
If you are anything like me, the hustle and bustle of the season has you exhausted. We’ve worked hard for this day. I want to honor that and in doing so, I invite you to grab your coffee, especially if you are listening to this first thing in the morning and gather your thoughts and your appreciation for this season. Appreciation for what you’ve accomplished and what you are about to pull off over the next few days.
For me, this morning looks like this. Sitting in my favorite chair in the living room, it’s still dark outside, but the Christmas tree lights are glowing and I am sipping a warm cup of coffee from my favorite Mary Poppins mug. This is when I get to reflect on where we are and what I want to be intentional about today. How do I want to show up for myself and my family? How can I make getting into those matching family jammies fun for my teenager?
Since order is one of my core values, (when there is order I feel way more calm) what can I do to help myself feel like things are in order, while also being in the moment with the family. As I think about this, that looks like a quick prep for lunch this morning, laying out our clothes for the next couple days, and emptying the dishwasher this morning too.
My intention for the day is to be reminded of the little things I love. I will focus on this intention by being present in the moment and reminding myself to savor the moments - as we learned from the happiness professor, Dr. Laurie Santos -- savoring is so important for happiness and today, I intend to savor.
I invite you to savor a little happiness as well. Happy Holidays, whatever holiday you celebrate, I am wishing you the happiest.
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/
Thursday Dec 23, 2021
Thursday Dec 23, 2021
Like many of us this time of year, we’re thinking about closing 2021 and looking toward 2022. Right now, I share a few things I am doing to create some Intentional Margins® for my highest priorities.
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 as a natural consequence to the closing of yet another year, 2021, we find ourselves closing loose ends and focusing on aspirations for 2022. Which can be so fun, especially if you are a future thinker like me.
I think a lot of it is human nature. We want something to look forward to. The past 2 years have felt different for a lot of folks, me included. It’s different kinds of things now. Today I wanted to share with you how I am living in my Intentional Margins® this week. One of my focuses this year and next is to connect with my angsty teenager. Well, she’s not usually that angsty, but I really like the idea of quality time with her. She’s growing up so fast.
So last night we saw a musical together with her BFF and her BFFs mom, who just happens to be my BFF as well. We’ve been a foursome since the girls were babies, born about a week apart, we met at a music class when they were infants and have been friends ever since. Of course, my little guy joined the crew and the husbands too, but the girls, we like to do special things together when we can.
For me, this time of year, my Intentional Margins® surround the theme of quality time with the people I love, both together and separately. Today, we cook. My daughter really enjoys cooking and baking and she’s quite good at it, so we have a few recipes we’re trying out for the holidays. These are the times I think, I’ll look back on and want to remember, the best parts of life. So, I’m making the Intentional Margin® to make time and be present.
I hope this inspires you to think about something special you could do with someone you love, make a memory, spend some quality time together, play a game, do a puzzle, there are so many options. It doesn’t have to be this big thing and it also doesn’t have to take a long time. It’s more about being intentional and present. I invite you to add an Intentional Margin® to your todo list today.
Until next time.
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/
Wednesday Dec 22, 2021
Wednesday Dec 22, 2021
This is a fun idea. Who doesn’t love the ABC’s?
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 was listening to the Gretchen Rubin podcast and they shared a letter from a listener about her hack to remember their vacation memories. What they do, as she said, either in the car on the way to the airport or while traveling home or shortly after returning home, they come up with the ABC’s of their trip.
So, we’ve all played this game in one form or another. You start with A and go through the alphabet coming up with some memory from the trip. This mom was pretty funny, she shared “S” was for spilled sunflower seeds, specifically the package that spilled all over the back seat on a particularly long car drive and then, getting creative, “V” was for vacuum, for vacuuming up said sunflower seeds. So creative right?
The writer said that it accomplishes a lot for their family. It gives them something to do, it helps them recall fun small but special family moments. It also helps solidify the memories.
I think I might try to adopt this in my own family. I think it’s such a great idea. What do you think? Have you ever done something like this before? Share your ideas so that your ideas can inspire others.
Inspiration was taken from the Gretchen Rubin Happier podcast episode 356.
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/