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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 Feb 10, 2023
Friday Feb 10, 2023
Declaring paper clutter bankruptcy and starting fresh was a game changer for me, and today, I’m going to share with you how I did it.
Transcript:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2-ish 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 felt like I just had to tell you more about paper clutter, because I’ve fallen victim to the trap of paper everywhere and feeling so overwhelmed. I heard about declaring email bankruptcy years ago and I’ve adapted it to paper. I’ll share about how to clear your inbox tomorrow.
So when it comes to paper. I want to focus on the paper that happens to be printouts of a freebie, a handout, drafts of work you are doing. It’s the paper around your office that are notes, Post-its, all of those pieces of paper.
I am a paper lover. I write notes on paper, not on a computer. I look at drafts on paper. I print too much. And what happens over time is that those notes accumulate. And the piles get bigger and bigger. What I have found is that I can get a box - I like to use what is called a “bankers box” . It is a sturdy box that has a cover that is meant for paper.
You can take this empty box and literally put all of the paper that is cluttering your space inside the box. Immediately you declare bankruptcy on this paper.
Your desk and work space feels lighter and you can think clearly. It’s a great feeling. It’s also a great feeling because you haven’t thrown anything away. You don’t have that stress of wondering if you will need to reference something later.
Then, if you are like me, you can take that box into your living room, put on a fun TV show and slowly go through the paper and categorize it as necessary and also, discard what is no longer necessary or useful to you.
I also use this method to grab my laptop and make a list of notes or to-dos so that I can throw away the little post-it note and have only one piece of paper moving forward. And let’s be real, I’ll probably print that piece of paper and tuck it into my paper planner, but at least it’s just one piece of paper.
I needed to declare paper bankruptcy for my mental health and if you walk into your work space and see piles of paper, I invite you to also declare paper bankruptcy and see how it feels.
If you are interested in a proven path to diminish paper clutter, check out the Everyday Happiness link in the show notes to the Paper Cleanse. Until next time, remember, kindness is contagious.
The Paper Cleanse: https://www.cleecawley.com/a/2147507426/jSi8hVBL
In the spirit of full disclosure, if you enroll in the Paper Cleanse via my link, I'll receive a small commission. Because your success is important to me, I only recommend systems that I've personally used to create real results in my own life. The KARMA system works and C Lee is a great teacher.
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 Feb 09, 2023
Thursday Feb 09, 2023
Banishing the piles of paper and the clutter in favor of a more tidy space not only allows you to have more Intentional Margins®, it also promotes happiness.
Transcript:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2-ish 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 yesterday we talked about our surroundings and how they contribute to our happiness. When our surroundings are less cluttered, we feel calm. When we feel calm we are contributing positively to our mental health. Let’s be real. When I’m not calm it feels like a squirrel with ADD in my brain. That does not feel like happiness. Like fulfilled happiness. It feels overwhelming. When I am sitting in a cluttered office or the kitchen counter has a stack of mail from the last few weeks - oh yeah, I’ve been there - it feels overwhelming. And that doesn’t make me feel all the happy vibes. So our surroundings matter. Come on. You know this. You know the feeling when your house is clean. Or, my favorite, when you walk into a hotel room - it’s pristine. No stuff - until you unpack - but that’s a different episode.
I always say, randomness causes overwhelm. If you don’t know exactly how you are going to process your mail, if you don’t have a system or a habit, it feels hard every time. And you know what our brains do when something feels hard. They push it aside and say “not today”. Yeah - that’s how we end up with piles of paper.
This is why my dear friend C Lee started helping people cleanse. Cleanse the paper. Banish the piles with her super simple KARMA system. So that we can get back that time, create Intentional Margins to focus on what matters most. Isn’t that what we all want? To spend less time dealing with paper and more time living in our Intentional Margins? That’s what I want. Which is why I am proud to share this quick course with you - so that you can have a little more time confetti in your day and reduce your stress, because you won’t be looking at piles of paper that need your attention.
When we clear our physical space, it is beneficial to our well-being. Moreover, “Fresh air and sunshine make us happier and healthier. A bright room can boost your mood and decrease depression and anxiety.“
We have the tools to clear the clutter and refresh our spaces. If sorting paper is something you want to tackle, you can click on the show notes for the Everyday Happiness link that directs you to the course to learn more. I’ll see you there. And in the meantime, open the windows and let the sunshine in. Until next time, remember, Kindness is contagious.
The Paper Cleanse: https://www.cleecawley.com/a/2147507425/jSi8hVBL
And her FREE Masterclass, The Proven Path for Conquering Paper Clutter for Good Masterclass https://www.cleecawley.com/a/2147507426/jSi8hVBL
In the spirit of full disclosure, if you enroll in the Paper Cleanse via my link, I'll receive a small commission. Because your success is important to me, I only recommend systems that I've personally used to create real results in my own life. The KARMA system works and C Lee is a great teacher.
Inspired by: 4 Ways Your Physical Space Can Support Your Emotional Wellness
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 Feb 08, 2023
Wednesday Feb 08, 2023
When your physical space is cluttered, your well-being suffers.
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 if you are anything like me, the pandemic has forced more time at home and it has really opened my eyes to reflect on my personal space.
The science indicates that your physical space contributes to your emotional well-being. Today, I wanted to talk about our office space as so many of us are working from home now more than ever. Even if it is not a physical office, there are spaces in our homes where we do some sort of work. And, if we’re getting granular, everyone has some place that they do the work of running the household.
My friend C Lee has a great program and she’s come up with a brilliant system - called KARMA - to tackle the paper. So much paper. And what I love about this system, is that it’s for digital dinosaurs. It’s for those of us that still like paper and have no intention of scanning everything and putting it on a harddrive.
The research says that clutter “makes it difficult to think efficiently because when you’re processing so much external stimuli, it’s hard to solve problems and make good decisions.” Let’s be real, we didn’t need science to tell us that. We feel it. Am I right or am I right?
I am always more relaxed and more creative when I have a tidy space to work. The piles that stack up in the to-do pile get bigger and bigger and seem like a mountain of overwhelm that I push to the side. Well, that isn’t helping me emotionally. So this paper system was perfect for me. I invite you to check it out for yourself, C Lee does a class a couple times a year to help you sort those piles and banish the mountains of paper for good. She’s doing a free masterclass to teach you her fool proof system. You can click the show notes for a direct link, through Everyday Happiness. Until next time, let’s toss 10 pieces of paper today and see how that feels.
And remember, kindness is contagious.
The Free Masterclass: https://www.cleecawley.com/a/2147507426/jSi8hVBL
Join The Paper Cleanse Course Waitlist: https://www.cleecawley.com/a/2147507425/jSi8hVBL
In the spirit of full disclosure, if you enroll in the Paper Cleanse via my link, I'll receive a small commission. Because your success is important to me, I only recommend systems that I've personally used to create real results in my own life. The KARMA system works and C Lee is a great teacher.
Inspired by: 4 Ways Your Physical Space Can Support Your Emotional Wellness
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 Feb 07, 2023
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
As we head deeper into the new year, I have a challenge for you! I dare you to want less...tune in today to find out what I mean by this dare, how to do it, and how it will improve your happiness.
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 I am making a conscious effort to stop accumulating. One thing that the global pandemic has taught me is how little we need. And how much excess we have. There is this theory that the less you own the happier you will be. If material items don’t matter, you don’t seek them out. You are not in a state of constantly wanting for more, like we talked about yesterday.
Even the book, The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo has gotten so much attention they made a TV show about it. It got me thinking. Will less stuff bring me more happiness? My gut reaction is telling me is YES! Less stuff will make me happier. Less to clean, less to tidy, less to keep up with, less decisions to make -- for example, what to wear?
I am also really trying to have less email. For so many of us, email seems like the one thing that no one ever feels totally caught up on. For me, it can often be a running to-do list of things I need to take care of.
I’ve really been thinking about how I create a more simple life for myself - while still nurturing my ambition. It’s the harmony of it all. Ironically, I think Intentional Margins is the filter that gives me the clarity on where to start. Setting my priorities first. Committing to less stuff, less obligation, less email, less time in front of screens. More time with people who I love. More time on activities that bring me fulfilled happiness. Being busy and balanced is achievable when we align our priorities for this season of life and that has me excited.
Do you think less stuff would make you happier? Do you have any tips on decluttering? As I process this, I’d love to continue this discussion with you. Just send me a DM on Instagram @everydayhappinesswithkatie
And don’t forget, kindness is contagious.
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 Feb 06, 2023
Monday Feb 06, 2023
By wanting less (going after fewer materialistic things), you can improve your happiness. Check out this new episode on practicing minimalistic consumerism and how it will boost your happiness.
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 I’ve been recently obsessed with this idea that wanting less will boost my happiness. I know that I could “have” a new handbag, I could financially afford it, but do I need it? No? Do I want it? Maybe not? I’ve started looking at material goods through the eyes of happiness and satisfaction. What do we really need to be happy?
Sometimes I find myself so anti-material status type things, that I am running around in my athleisure all day not even trying.
Of course we want to reach for the next rung on the ladder and have this feeling of satisfaction within us. I am not sure us humans are hardwired to achieve satisfaction. On some level, we are all reaching for the next step. Whether that’s a goal, a professional achievement or the material thing that only makes us feel happy in the fleeting moment.
I’m consciously trying to get off the treadmill and it’s hard. We are hardwired to want. We’ve talked about this, the hedonic treadmill. We think satisfaction is getting what we want. The promotion, the achievement, the material thing. But really, satisfaction is wanting what we have. The hard work is keeping satisfaction. When you are satisfied with what you have, and a week or a month passes and even a moment, and you truly don’t want for more.
What I’ve found is that this is something that needs constant awareness for me. When I can check myself and ask myself, why do I want this? I am better equipped to make a rational decision of whether I truly need the thing I want.
Celebrating the wins also helps to solidify the achievement. Most of us tend to chase the next thing, rarely slowing down to celebrate the achievement. So this is a great way to slow down and feel the feelings.
Today is a great day to reflect on whether you actually do want less. Ask yourself if you require less and if so, how are you going to stay mindful about this as we run full speed ahead like I know we will.
If you are enjoying this podcast, consider subscribing so you get this downloaded on your favorite podcast player.
And remember, kindness is contagious.
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 Feb 05, 2023
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Another great happiness interview with the exciting full spirited and my friend, Angela Germano. She did our happiness takeover on Episodes 566-570 with a bonus episode right before 566 and she brought the fire. I can’t wait for you to hear how an award winning teacher who has been through excruciating childhood trauma looks at happiness.
Transcript:
Katie: 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 today I was chatting with my dear friend Angela Germano, and I asked her how she describes happiness. Welcome to the show, Angela. I'm so tickled that you are here. I cannot even believe it. I love this so much. This is the best.
Well, share with us how you describe happiness? What is happiness? What does it mean to you? What do you think about when you hear that? What have you got?
Angela: I love happiness. I love it. I want more of it. Oh, it's great. I want to bring more happiness to this world. But what is happiness? We got to start there. Happiness looks different for everybody. I mean, happiness could be like a striking love affair. It could be a beautiful family that you have that you always dreamt of, your dream home, a nice vacation, a bustling career, good health. I mean, it could be a simple smile.
For me, how I would define happiness. Oh, gosh, what makes me happy? Happiness is being in the moment. It's being alive. Truly alive in the moment, not thinking about the future, not thinking about something that just happened. In the moment and completely appreciating all that moment is. Soaking it all in.
I think it sounds kind of cheesy, I guess, but to me, yeah, happiness is being alive. I had a pretty tragic childhood. It wasn't a great childhood. I don't even know if I got to have a childhood. I was taking care of my mom as she was passing away for five years, and we didn't have money, and my dad took a bike to work when he had work.
So to me, being alive is a complete blessing. That makes me happy. We gotta live it up. We got to live hard. Live hard and just enjoy everything that we possibly can. And we do that by being in the moment.
So happiness, to me, that's an excellent question. It's about being alive and truly living.
Katie: Oh, I love it so much. And you are an epitome of that because you live life so full and I love it so much. Thank you for sharing with me and sharing with our amazing listeners how you define happiness and what that looks like.
So until next time, remember, kindness is contagious. Go out there and spread some kindness in the world today. Thank you, Angela, for joining us. And until next time, go spread that kindness.
About Angela:
Angela Germano is an award-winning middle school Language Arts teacher, Communication professor, multi-faceted professional writer in the global medical and self-care sectors and produces inspirational documentaries. In these roles, she coaches people through their academic, career and life challenges and is devoted to positively impacting people’s lives so they can achieve their dreams.
She is a #1 International Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author in the Inspired Impact Book Series including Women Who Rise, Women Who Illuminate and Leading with Legacy. Mrs. Germano has been featured in The Jersey Storytellers Project, part of The USA Today Network. She has also been a guest on educational, lifestyle and mental health programming such as Everybody with Angela Williamson on PBS, Aggressive Optimism with Jenna Edwards, LaDolce Vita with Virginia Rose and others.
As an Inspirational Speaker highlighting the specific topics of overcoming adversity, building confidence and leadership. Angela also coordinates Selfie Celebrations where children practice positive self-worth activities such as yoga, meditation, positive affirmations, goal setting and vision boards.
Angela earned a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Monmouth University, Magna Cum Laude and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology: Integrating Technology, Learning, and Psychology. Her long-term research interests include studying the learning of students in middle school as a consequence to a specific way of goal setting, where they have buy-in and more ownership of setting their own goals, monitoring and readjusting them, and then understanding how self-produced goals impact learners’ engagement, focus, scores, comfortability, confidence and control levels. To further these research interests Angela intends to use quantitative methods to understand perspectives and experiences of learners to increase long-term learning, success and happiness.
Angela’s long-term professional interests include consulting and developing programs to help learners of all ages, backgrounds and communities reach goals with less stress, continue to write books to inspire self-growth, as well as create university courses teaching the self-produced goal setting methodology and design.
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 Feb 04, 2023
Saturday Feb 04, 2023
Through the Intentional Margins® IMPACT Method, you can design a more fulfilling life by actually scheduling your priorities rather than just your necessities.
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 today we are talking about my concept INTENTIONAL MARGINS®.
INTENTIONAL MARGINS® is finding the buffer of space and time to create harmony between our todos and our priorities.
The INTENTIONAL MARGINS® method is called I-M-P-A-C-T.
I-M is the words INTENTIONAL MARGINS
P - Priorities (what and why)
A - Action Items (how)
C - Calendar (what gets calendared gets done)
T - Timely Evaluation of the PAC (are your action items completed and reaching your intended priority goal)
Example:
I want to spend time with my husband.
Why: because I want a healthy marriage that is seperate from raising kids
How: coffee chat in the morning.
-- quarterly getaway, date night. There are a million ways to do anything, you get to decide what works for you.
Calendar: time blocked on my calendar so calls don’t get scheduled.
Timely: review monthly and see if this is still both working for us.
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 Feb 03, 2023
Friday Feb 03, 2023
When you look back at the week, did you do something for yourself? Not something on the to-do list, but something that made you happy? Through Intentional Margins®, you can make that a regular part of your week.
Transcript:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2-ish 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 today we are talking about my concept INTENTIONAL MARGINS®.
Yesterday, you looked at your calendar and wrote down all the have-tos. The commute, the meetings, the kids activities, the dentist, all the things you have to do.
The rest is your margin. And the big question is how do we make the absolute most of our time so that we create a fulfilling life in our Intentional Margins®. What I’ve found, is that when we aren’t intentional, we look back, over the day and wonder, what did I do that was in my priorities. I felt so busy all day.
Days become weeks, weeks to months, months to years and pretty soon we’re checking the to-do list, but we’re on auto-pilot.
INTENTIONAL MARGINS® is a filter to identify what matters most, your priorities, and figure out how to make time for them. So that, you can look back at the week, and have a win, recognizing that you did live in your priorities and you are in fact creating a fulfilling life.
For a lot of us, it’s just about awareness. When we, for a split second, turn off auto-pilot.
Now, if you think that’s not you - you don’t actually have a moment for your priorities, I invite you to think about how much margin you might have. Those pockets of time. And what are some priorities that you would like to focus on during that time? It could be 15 minutes here and there or an hour or two in the evening.
A priority can be books or a TV show with the kids, game night on Friday night, coffee with your husband on Saturday morning, a walk, quiet time to read or do a hobby, a night out with friends. The ideas are endless but most importantly, it’s what matters to you. We all get to do our own thing.
If you want to grab a template to help you think this through, I’ve created a daily page PDF that is a tool to bring your priorities into focus and your tasks into alignment with your abundantly busy day. You can jump over to www.katiejefcoat.com/blog and grab your free printable daily page today.
Until next time, remember, kindness is contagious. Go out into the world and 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/
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Have you heard of Intentional Margins®? They allow you to let go of the rat race and take a breath through intentional planning. Tune in to see how.
Transcript:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2-ish 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 today we are talking about my concept INTENTIONAL MARGINS®.
INTENTIONAL MARGINS® is finding the buffer of space and time to create harmony between our to-dos and our priorities.
Do you ever feel like you are running on that hamster wheel of to-dos and afraid to jump off for fear that everything will crumble? You’re overwhelmed and can’t see the vision and all you want is some clarity. Yeah, me too! Or at least that was me, before I started getting super consistent with my Margins. The space and time in the day, that wasn’t a crisis or a “have to”.
Now, you might be thinking, I don’t have any margin, I go non-stop all day.
But let’s unpack this. If you look at your calendar you might have some commute time to work or running kids to and from school, activities, all the things. You might have an appointment or an important conference call or meeting. Perhaps, you have a job, like my sister, who is a nurse, and she’s working 9-5+ hours and there is no break. She’s basically on, all day.
Whatever that looks like for you. I encourage you to take a traditional week and put all of that in your calendar. Then, add your sleep times. If you're an overachiever, put in the calendar the dinner making and cleaning up time too.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about what’s left on that calendar. In the meantime, if you want to grab a template to help you think this through, I’ve created a daily page PDF that is a tool to bring your priorities into focus and your tasks into alignment with your abundantly busy day. You can jump over to www.katiejefcoat.com/blog and grab your free printable daily page 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/
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Following The Reverse Bucket List method by Arthur Brooks, I have written a list of my accomplishments and what I have already in my life that makes me happier. What would you write on your list?
Transcript:
Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 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 I started my reverse bucket list that we talked about in the last episode.
The reverse bucket list is writing a list of your haves and trying to detach yourself from the wants (a traditional bucket list) by focusing on the haves - what you already have, what you already have accomplished.
It’s also, over time, eliminating the “wants”. Will that elusive “thing” really make you happier?
For me, I keep notes in my phone, so I can look at them whenever I want, and I have three categories under my reverse bucket list of “haves”: material things, achievement, seen & done. It’s a great reminder for me.
Some people might think this is writing down all the things they are grateful for. There are a million ways to do anything and I invite you to do what works for you.
If I were focusing on gratitude, I would say that I have this chair in my living room. It brings me so much joy to sip warm coffee in this chair. I have a body that serves me. Hands that work, legs that allow me to walk. I have a mind that sees lightness through the dark that innately searches for positivity when life feels hard. I have a family that I am obsessed with. Kids who are healthy. A marriage where we prioritize one another and a husband who is kind, patient, generous and who loves me. I get to give and receive love with the people that I love.
I’ve traveled the world to amazing places and had incredible experiences.
My haves list is beautiful and long. And it’s showing me that my wants are nice, but not what will truly make me happier. I have everything I need to be as happy as I can be, right now.
I’m curious if you had any ah-ha moments when you started writing out your haves list?
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