For the first time in my life, I find my biggest challenge each day is getting out of bed and getting started.  Starting anything, chores, exercise, reading, even watching my favorite television shows have no appeal.  No longer with the clock-in requirements of a fulltime career, or the responsibility to get kids off to school, I’ve determined that I am lazy (no other word for it). 

Not only that, my aging body sometimes refuses to yield to my will.  I found in the first few months of COVID isolation I needed a new routine in life.  I needed that something that would get me up and moving, a defined task each day, a goal to accomplish and give me purpose.

My husband swears by what he calls “systems,” a fancy term for list-making and noting accomplishments. Written rules that are self-imposed for personal achievement. I’m not a natural list maker. I’ve never checked off items on a piece of paper. But I thought I would give it a try and to do this, I needed help.

I was gifted a Create Your Own Journey Mary Square Spiral Planner and what a gift it has been! This is no ordinary calendar. It is a goal setting, tasks oriented “system” for defining priorities and meeting challenges each day.  A year ago—with New Year’s resolutions on the brain—I began using the planner. What immediately caught my attention was the inspirational phrase at the beginning of each month, it was spot on.  To get the full benefit of the planner, I completed the monthly action plan.  This took a little time of contemplation because it not only requires articulating goals for the month, it incorporates action-oriented steps, as well as the identification of potential challenges (this part gets easier with each passing month). There is a monthly calendar and a daily calendar with plenty of space to outline to-dos. 

But the best part of this little book is the end-of-month section.  There is a place for reflections and self-accountability. After using the Mary Square Spiral Planner for several months, not only did I get more organized, I saw patterns in how I think, act, and accomplish tasks. I found that I do accomplish what I set my mind to do…. but at the expense of everything else.  I’ve always prided myself in multitasking (to survive motherhood, it’s a requirement, right?).  But perhaps I’m not as good at multitasking as I once thought.  For when I cram multiple to-dos into a day or even a week, I can’t seem to follow through to completion. Even simple tasks don’t get done. I’ve learned so much about myself by using this planner.  In findingJOY my focus now centers on just ONE THING each day that I can bring to completion. 

Maybe you are a list maker, a “systems” connoisseur.  If so, you’ve got the ONE THING, or perhaps many things nailed. But if you are struggling to complete tasks, to organize your responsibilities, to get started each day, to accomplish that ONE THING, I have three recommendations:

• Hold yourself accountable.  Get a personal planner/calendar to get organized.  I recommend the Create Your Own Journey Mary Square Spiral Planner, but any calendar that is prominently displayed (it cannot be in a kitchen drawer) will do.

• Focus on just ONE THING each day that can be brought to completion. From changing the smoke alarm batteries to cleaning out the refrigerator to picking up the dry-cleaning, complete one simple task each day. It makes you feel good!

• Rise early and knock out the daily chores (more on this in a later posts).  Start your day a few minutes earlier—easier said than done for us night-owls—but it will bring you immense JOY every evening.

Even at 50+ I am still evolving, growing, adapting to life.  I may no longer roll out of bed at 6AM going full speed, but I am rising and each day I am findingJOY in accomplishing the ONE THING.

Lagniappe. Thinking about getting a Mary Square Planner? To see the planner pages, go to the Lagniappe page at TraciCanterbury.Com (link below). From there you will find a link to purchase the planner from a third party. I’m not paid to promote this planner. I just love it that much!

https://www.tracicanterbury.com/tracicanterbury/lagniappe-landing

Visit TraciCanterbury.Com for more findingJOY inspiration.

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