Hello again…I think I can get used to this meeting up twice a week thing…good thing, cuz if you missed last week’s episodes, I announced we’re gonna get to chat about Redeeming your Time on Tuesdays AND Thursdays. Tuesdays are shorter and sweeter and I promise to give you a tip (or two) that you can implement immediately to help you better use your time. On last week’s timely tip I introduced you to the concept of the 1 Thing. Have you used the 1 THING focusing question from the book by that name? Here it is again just in case you had great intentions, but didn’t implement…yet. Ready to take notes?
What is the 1 thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will become easier or unnecessary?
I’m not gonna take up precious time today to flesh that all out again, I’ll just direct you back to Episode 95 for a recap. For today, let’s assume you’ve identified your 1 thing- the 1 area of attention and the 1 action you will take…now all you have to do is to be consistent with your intention to make it a habit (aka get to the point where you don’t have to think so hard about it because it’s become natural…doesn’t that sound way better than grunting your way through? Amen sista!)
So with your 1 Thing in mind, let’s dive into a timely tip that will help make it obvious. But first, let me tell you a story about how I helped make a new habit obvious to my family in our old house. It doesn’t matter if your kids are young, teens, or are grown adults, you may have found that people (I will leave my people unnamed) tend to leave their stuff around, cluttering up the counters, the coffee table, the floor, the couch…anyone else experienced that? What I found was that me telling them to take their stuff back to their room fell on deaf ears- actually they did hear because they responded with an appropriate, “Yes, Mom”, but there was never (or rarely) follow through by taking action when they finally left that room. To which I would always ask, “Why didn’t you take your stuff with you and put it away?” I always seemed to get a blank stare with no valid answer beyond, “Cuz I didn’t think about it.” So I decided if I wanted the great room to be clear of their clutter, I needed to take matters into my own hands and make it obvious- so obvious in fact that they couldn’t miss it so there would be no excuse. What did I do? I put any misplaced stuff in a large basket that fit perfectly from wall to wall in the hallway that would lead them anywhere they wanted to go outside of that room (including the bathroom and their bedrooms). In other words, they would have to trip over it, step over it or notice it….and hopefully have an a-ha moment that maybe they should grab what was theirs and put it away. It made a big difference because they no longer had the excuse, “I didn’t think about it”
Now that they’re grown and moved out, I have to do this technique less with those who are still in my house- if you have any tips on how to get the dogs to put their toys away, I’d be forever grateful… but even though the nest is empty I find it helpful for me to make things obvious when I have a new habit I want to do (or one I want to undo cuz it can work both ways). I’ve used the technique of physically setting things out so I can’t miss them- such as to remember my seed rotation for hormone balance, to add something to my grocery list, to start to read a book or work on a project. But if I were to physically make things obvious for EVERYTHING I needed or wanted to do, I wouldn’t be able to see the counters, tabletops or floors…and that’s not the kind of DWELLING in my vision. So instead, I implemented the concept of Implementation Intentions from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
I won’t go into all the background of why it works cuz my purpose today is to give you an actionable tip to get you moving, but in his book, he describes how studies have shown that using this simple idea makes all the difference…if you’re curious, you’ll need to go check out Ch 5 entitled The Best Way to Start a New Habit. I’ll jump right to the formula to create your own so you can start using it. Got your journal or notes app ready?
I will (ACTION) at (TIME) in (PLACE).
Easy to remember? Now let’s apply it to some of the areas of attention you may have chosen as your 1 Thing…
FAITH-WALK…I will pray for 5 min at 7 am in my favorite spot on the couch.
FAMILY or FRIENDSHIP…I will reach out to check in with 1 family member or friend on Sundays at 1 pm at my kitchen table (this one the location may not seem to matter as much as the other, but it’s because of an advanced tip we’ll get to in just a min)
SERVICE…I will work on the homework from my life-coach for 20 minutes at 8 am in my office.
STEWARDSHIP…I will check the bank account and expenses for the week at 4 pm on Friday in the kitchen.
WELLNESS…I will do a 20 min workout with my fitness app at 6 am in my basement.
PASSIONS…I will read an inspiring book for 15 min at 9:30 pm in my bed
DWELLING…I will do a kitchen reset for 10 minutes at 6:30 am in my kitchen
Those are some of the implementation intentions I’ve personally set for the habits I am creating in my 8 areas of attention.
Now it’s YOUR turn. Take your 1 action in your 1 area (aka the 1 thing you’re focusing on right now) and write your own implementation intention.
I will (ACTION) at (TIME) in (PLACE).
Got it? To start, you may need to put that sentence on a post-it to put up in the area where you will do your action or maybe even put out an item that will trigger your new habit. Here’s the thing, the more days in a row you do your new action, the easier it will get because it’s becoming a habit. The key is to start with just 1 specific thing and declare your intentions with an implementation intention to make it obvious….and then do it each day.
Remember the goal is to make your new habit so natural that you don’t have to think about it because you naturally do it. That’s what we call a routine, which is simply a flow of several habits right after one another. Chances are you have plenty of habits or routines you’ve already created…brushing your teeth, washing your face, making your coffee, getting dressed…doubtless you have hundreds of things you do every day that you don’t have to think much about. So leverage that to your advantage with your new habit. This advanced technique is what James Clear calls HABIT STACKING. And it’s a great way to make your new action or habit even more obvious without having random items (or post-its) around your house as reminders.
For example…
My FAITH-WALK intention …I will pray for 5 min at 7 am in my favorite spot on the couch is because I’ve stacked it onto the habit I’ve already established of reading my Bible for 20 min at that time and place.
My FAMILY or FRIENDSHIP intention …I will reach out to check in with 1 family member or friend on Sundays at 1 pm at my kitchen table is stacked on top of a habit I already have of eating Sunday dinner with those who are in my home that day
My SERVICE intention…I will work on the homework from my life-coach for 20 minutes at 8:30 am in my office is stacked on my business startup routine.
My STEWARDSHIP intention…I will check the bank account and expenses for the week at 4 pm on Friday in the kitchen is right before my routine of making my grocery list and ordering on Instacart.
My WELLNESS intention…I will do a 20 min workout with my fitness app at 6 am in my basement is stacked on top of turning off my 5:55 alarm on my phone, going to the bathroom and getting water.
My PASSIONS intention…I will read an inspiring book for 15 min at 9:30 pm in my bed is attached to my nighttime routine to get ready for bed on time.
DWELLING…I will do a kitchen reset for 10 minutes at 6:30 am in my kitchen is stacked on my habit of making my coffee…and gives me something productive to do while I wait for it (and I also listen to my personal purpose statement, my Redeem Her Time vision statement and our Ephesians 5:15-17 passage while I’m cleaning and waiting- that’s triple the habits at once!)
Try stacking your new habit on top of one you already have and you’ll find it takes consistency to a whole new level (and with less effort I might add). In which case, let me share a big win I’ve had in the past few months…every 6 months when I go to the dentist and they ask how often I floss, I have to be honest and say hardly ever, but that I’m going to be better this time… but I’m not…and show up again 6 months later with results to show my lack of consistency. So after this last dentist visit, I decided to make flossing obvious. I made an implementation intention that I would floss at 9:20 pm in my bathroom and stacked that new habit right before I brush my teeth, which is a no-brainer habit for me. And guess what…I haven’t missed a day because I declared my intentions and paired it together with an already established habit. I can’t wait to see what they notice when I go back to the dentist soon. All of that to say, it works, no matter what size the new habit or action is.
So what’s your 1 thing? What is 1 thing you will do? When will you do it? Where will you do it?
(and BONUS what habit or routine will you stack it with?)
Can’t wait to hear how this timely tip makes a difference with how you use your time, so be sure to send me an email at lissa@redeemhertime.com or leave me a voice message with the link on the podcast page at redeemhertime.com/podcast
Thanks for joining me for this timely tip episode and until next time, remember…
You DO have ALL the time you need to do ALL He has called you to…
focus on who + what matters most to Redeem your Time…
cuz you are here for Such a Time as This.
