[00:00:00] Aneta: We often hear people wishing us a long, happy, and healthy life, but what if the length isn't what matters most? What if instead, it's the breath depth and purpose of each day that matters most? Welcome to the Live the Width of Your Life podcast. My name is Aneta Ardelian Kuzma and join me weekly as I interview guests who made changes in their own lives to live more fully with intention, gratitude, and joy. Be prepared to be inspired by their stories of how they shifted their mindset, took courageous action, and designed the life that they always wanted to live.
Welcome back to Live The Width Of Your Life podcast today. It's a solo episode. I'm going to start doing more of these and just allow you to hear from me. I'd love to share the things that I'm seeing that many of my clients are struggling with or things that they're asking me about.
Today, we're going to talk about something that I'm really passionate about. I think you're in to discover just my inner nerd a little bit today. So those of you who know me well know that I am obsessed with planners and journals, and I've been using a planner for the longest time. I mean, I was always a kid who loved buying school supplies right at the end of the year.
But what I'm noticing with my clients is that many of them are struggling with a never-ending to-do list. They're feeling completely overwhelmed because there's not enough time in the day to get the things that they say are most important done. And then they end the day and they don't make any time for themselves to eat, to exercise, to spend time with loved ones.
And they still don't feel successful because they didn't get everything done that they wanted to. So if this is you and many high achievers struggle with this, I think that you're going to enjoy today's episode. I'm going to talk to you about how you should treat your planner like a road map instead of a to-do list and why this is a huge game changer This changed my life and it's a lot of me to be very productive but also live a very integrated and balanced life. We're gonna talk about how to choose a planner that aligns with your values and your goals. The power of setting a daily intention and practicing gratitude. Techniques for identifying and focusing on your top three priorities. Strategies for effectively like time blocking so you get things done that you want to focus on. Methods to eliminate distractions and stay focused.
And then there is the importance of reflection at the end of the day. If you implement these techniques, you will see your satisfaction increase, your sense of balance improves, your ability to make more time for yourself, your productivity increase, and your reclaiming of time, which is really important for all of us.
Things to keep in mind: It's about progress, not perfection, and you could just start small. So the first step is to choose a planner that you love. I've used so many planners, and I just want to show you the one I use right now. It's a Ramona and Ruth planner. And if you're watching this on YouTube, you will see what I do with my planner.
So there's an opportunity here to focus first on setting your intention and your gratitude for the day. And I love this. I love doing this part because setting your intention is setting you up for success. You will already be in a much better place than other people are. And then starting your day with gratitude, really asking yourself, what am I grateful for?
What am I thankful for? It's one of the highest emotions that we can have. And it's going to make such a huge difference when you start your day with a sense of positivity that you will be in gratitude the rest of the day as well. The next step is to identify your top three priorities. I don't want you to pick more than three and you might just have one or two or three, but don't have any more than three.
And the reason this is so important is that many of us have a to-do list with like a hundred things on it. And sometimes we tackle the things that we have time a minute here, a minute there, and we never get to our top priorities. And then those things continue to get pushed down till tomorrow. We kick the can on the weekend or in the evenings when our energy might be less.
If you focus in on your top priorities first, identify what those are, and then I want you to time block. I want you to look at your calendar and say, am I set up for success today? Did I make time for the things that I'm saying are most important? And if the answer is no, one, can you make the time move something off, create more“
If the answer is no, then that can't be a priority for today. You're telling me by your calendar, by your choices, that something else is a priority. That's where it gets really important to be strategic and use some discernment. So if you have additional tasks, and this planner I use has the priorities, there are also opportunities for additional tasks.
Maybe there are multiple tasks under one priority, for example. Allocate how much time you think it's going to take you to get that task done, and then make sure that you have that time on your calendar to get it done. This is important. We either overestimate how long something will take, and then we procrastinate, or we underestimate how long something will take, and then we never have enough time to finish it.
So it's really important over time to start getting better at allocating the right amount of time and figuring out how long things actually will take. Now, when you're looking at your tasks and your priorities, I want you to ask yourself, are these in alignment with my daily, my weekly, my monthly, my quarterly, if the answer is no, then the second question is, okay, why is it on the calendar? And if the answer is yes, but you can't seem to get to it, then ask yourself, can I automate it? Can I delegate it to someone else, or can I eliminate it? So, focus on those three things. The next thing is to stay focused. We are open to so many distractions.
The amount of distractions that can come in through so many different channels, and sometimes we just create that space for ourselves to be distracted, is huge, more than ever before. So one of the things that I do is close unnecessary browser windows. It's so overwhelming to have so many of them open, so close them down.
Your computer will be great as well. It uses less energy. Then I set my focus on my phone and my computer so I'm not interrupted or distracted by other people trying to come in, especially when I'm focused on getting work done. I also use the Pomodoro technique. You guys have heard me talk about this before, where you just allocate a timer.
25 minutes on in deep focused work, five minutes off. Or if you know that something's going to take you longer, set it for the entire time and then create a little bit of space for a break afterward, which is the next thing to add breaks throughout the day. It's so important to give yourself space to add some breaks, to make sure that you are recharging.
For me, I love having a cup of tea in the afternoon. I love doing some breath exercises, stretching, moving my body, and going outside if it's sunny out. Just give yourself an opportunity, just put music on too. That's a good thing to do as well. And then in the evening, my planner has the ability to do reflection.
So, in the back, which is still day, you see here it's empty right now, but some of the things that are here are my planner tracks: What did I eat? How much water did I take in? What was my act of self-care today? And then it asks me to circle what kind of movement or exercise I got today.
There's an opportunity for a note section for any lessons learned. What did I learn? There's a question around what is your favorite part of the day? And then setting your top three priorities for Tomorrow. Now, one of the things that I also love to do is just track my energy and say, how energized do I feel at the end of the day?
Why or why not? Maybe if I feel super exhausted, like, why is that? Did I try to do too much? Did I focus on really hard things? Did I allow in distractions? Were there other unforeseen circumstances that came up, being able to do the reflection allows you to celebrate your wins. To acknowledge how amazing you are and the choices that you made and to learn from challenges, and mistakes, so that the next day you just get better and better and better.
And you know, we talk about 1 percent better. As James Clear says, that's all you need to do. 1 percent better every day, 5 percent better at the end of the week. It has a compound effect. So, if you start to implement these things, you are going to feel so much better because you're going to show up for yourself.
You're going to list your personal and professional goals here. You're going to make sure that your daily choices, your calendar, and your schedule are aligned with your values. You're going to make sure that you celebrate your wins, that you show up for yourself, and that you use your lessons learned to do something different tomorrow so we don't find ourselves stuck in the same pattern over and over again.
This is what I've done for years. And especially when I started my business, this year started a year seven for my business. This planner and this approach have been everything for me. And I want to remind you that inspiration motivation and momentum, follow the action. So take the action first and the momentum will come afterwards.
So if you found this helpful, share it with a friend, share it with someone else who may be struggling with this. If you found the lessons learned were awesome and you're not subscribed to my newsletter, I would love for you to join my community. I share a lot of new products services and classes that I offer with my community.
And I just want to say thank you for joining me again today and for being a part of my community. Have an amazing day.
[00:10:05] Aneta: Thank you for listening to today's episode. If today's conversation inspired you to dream again, break out of your comfort zones, or reflect on what it means to you to live more fully, then please follow this podcast because every week you'll hear more stories from people just like you who took imperfect action towards their goals, created more joy and are living the life that they always dreamt of living.