by Debbie Rodrigues | Jun 4, 2018 | Challenge, Planning
Discover what I did to create space to make better decisions with journaling when I reached a crossroads in my life. Learn how to stop procrastinating and get more done one day at a time.
The year was 2000, and I was 25 years-old.
After the end of a long relationship, I decided it was time for me to finally go after my childhood dream of studying abroad.
I had started working full-time right after finishing high-school and saved all the money I could.
No parties, no shopping, no trips, nothing.
It wasn’t always a comfortable price to pay, but it was the only way to afford attending college in a foreign country.
When the opportunity came, however, I felt uncertainty. I was about to embark on one of the biggest endeavors of my life.
I was about to deplete the savings I had sacrificed for. And, my loved ones weren’t entirely on board. They felt like I was “abandoning” them – at least for the next few years.
How could I move forward mindfully without regretting it later?
Writing it all out
I couldn’t talk to anyone about my reservations because no one close to me was impartial.
The solution was to write everything I had in my head.
I’ve always found it easier to brainstorm with a piece of paper and a pen in my hands anyways.
It was a huge step in my life, and there was a lot at stake personally and financially.
Even though my home in Brazil would always be there, it was hard to take the plunge and leave.
So, I grabbed an old notebook and started right away.
The process
I took me weeks to get everything out of my head.
Mainly because whenever I wrote about one pro, a couple of cons came up. And the other way around.
Many times, I felt overwhelmed and scared of the Pandora box I had created for myself.
But my writing exercise forced me to think about solutions too.
Slowly, the fear of taking risks made room for certainties.
I formulated a plan A and B as well as C, D, and E.
No matter what I wrote out, I couldn’t anticipate all of the challenges I might face.
But my brainstorming gave me the tools I needed.
Create space with journaling
If you also reached a crossroads, it’s time to make room in your mind to make better decisions.
Grab your favorite journal and let it all out.
Begin by writing about the tasks, projects, and dreams you want for yourself.
Some of the questions you can answer are:
- What are these projects?
- Why are they important?
- How will they impact you and your life?
- What can go wrong?
- How can you fix potential problems?
- Who’s your support system?
- What would make you confident about your choice?
Use these questions to get unnecessary worries out of the way.
Stop wasting your time and energy and start making conscious decisions that will bring you closer to your goals.
Find out what steps to follow next on the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You.
Get all the support, motivation, and accountability you’ll need to create space in your life for the things that truly matter.
Before you go
Can you answer the following question in the comments below, please?
Have you ever used a journal to brainstorm?
by Debbie Rodrigues | Apr 9, 2018 | Challenge, Planning
Discover how you can use journaling to be more focused, productive, and successful. Understand why it’s the best investment in yourself and your lifestyle.
You go to bed thinking about how productive tomorrow will be.
You have a mental to-do list a mile long, and your plan is to sleep well, wake up early and check off those tasks like a boss.
The morning comes, and you hit snooze. You just need a little more rest before you tackle your day, but you’ve got this. Then, maybe you hit snooze just one more time.
Once up, your morning coffee takes a little too long to brew. You can’t start anything without that. Then, you grab your phone to scroll Facebook.
You’ll get to your list once you’ve woken up a bit more…
Before you know it, most of the day is gone, and even though you have crossed some items off your list, it isn’t nearly as many as you had intended on.
Many of us call ourselves procrastinators.
While we do actualize some of our goals and complete our responsibilities, we don’t take action as much as we hope to.
We aren’t focused enough.
Instead, we go from one task to another, mindlessly. Keeping ourselves busy doing empty tasks (like scrolling newsfeeds or doing the bare minimum). Because we let our attention be pulled into different directions, we end up feeling overwhelmed all time but accomplishing little to nothing.
It happens at work and home.
At the end, there’s so much distraction that we lose sight of what’s meaningful to us.
This is how to stop hoping to get things done and plan with focus
To avoid being exhausted every day, the only solution is to concentrate our energy and attention purposefully. We need to plan. This starts by centering in on actions that bring us closer to our goals.
Otherwise, life feels like a constant struggle between a lack of time and packed to-do lists.
The first step most of us take is buying planners.
There are so many available on the market that it’s hard to stick to just one.
But no matter the price, brand, or size, they can’t do the work for us.
The truth is no amount of pretty stamps, washi tapes, and markers will actualize your goals for you.
A beautifully decorated planner is just that: a beautifully decorated planner.
The only way you will be productive is dependent on:
- Your consistency,
- How you plan your days,
- What your priorities are,
- Your mindset, and
- Your focus.
Focus
Whether you use an electronic tool such as Evernote* or a notebook like Erin Condren*’s, your overall focus will improve if you start journaling daily.
Five ways you can use your daily loggings to get the most out your time are:
- Know yourself,
- Define success,
- Create a plan,
- Develop your mindset, and
- Review your progress.
1. Know yourself
What are your strengths? What are the areas you can improve upon?
2. Define success
Sit down and write out your definition of success. Is success money related? Is it based on professional or personal accomplishments? Or, is it making a big purchase like buying a home or going on a dream vacation? Put your pen to paper and define what success means to you.
3. Create a plan
Based on your skills and abilities, what do you need to do to achieve your goals? If it helps, work backwards. Start with your definition of success and then brainstorm ways to get there.
4. Develop your mindset
Do you see yourself living the lifestyle of your dreams? Do you feed yourself with positive images and affirmations?
5. Review your progress
How far have you come already? What quick-wins have you successfully implemented? What habits have you improved?
One day at a time
Let me ask you to set your planner aside.
Instead of working on your list of tasks, appointments, and responsibilities, I want you to take a moment to reflect.
Grab your favorite journaling tool and write down all ideas you’re having after reading this blog.
Let it all out of your head.
Only stop when you feel have nothing more to share for today.
Then, read everything. If possible, read it out loud.
Answer the following questions:
- Is your focus clearer now?
- Do you have a better idea of what you want?
- What are your priorities?
- What needs to happen for you to have a productive day?
- How are you going to achieve it?
Now, go back to your favorite planner and put together a mindful to-do list.
If you help to have more clarity, focus, and motivation, come to the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You.
Get all the support and guidance you need to become a better version of yourself one day at a time without stress.
Before you go
Can you answer the following question in the comments below, please?
Do you know how to keep a journal to boost your focus?
*Disclaimer: Some links are affiliates. If you choose to buy anything from them, I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read full disclaimer here. Thank you for your support!
by Debbie Rodrigues | Mar 26, 2018 | Challenge, Planning
In times when we talk about being more with less, let’s have a look at how conscious shopping can also help us become more efficient.
During college years, I was pretty much broke.
I had worked for over six years to afford to study abroad. I didn’t have any extra cash.
After graduating and finding a job, I finally had money again. The time came where I could go into a store, and instead of wishfully browsing, I could get what I wanted.
In the mornings before work, I headed to the mall or my favorite big box store to get cute outfits and colorful workout gear. When I look back, I was probably buying one new outfit each week.
But it didn’t stop there.
I loved loading up on craft supplies to make what was trending. And I made sure to outfit my home in the latest décor.
It was as if my years of no-spending had created this need to buy everything my heart desired. Because I’ve always been good at managing my expenses, I was never at risk running out of money.
I didn’t need these purchases. But I had the money, so I thought, “Why not?”
The impact of my mindless shopping
Despite the fact I had the means, I was contributing to a very real problem.
As I went out and bought mindlessly, I was in denial about the environmental and ethical impact my purchases made. Behind those great sale prices were underpaid workers, pollution and more.
Since my purchases weren’t made to last, I ended up disposing of them quicker than I’d like to admit.
Conscious shopping
One day, when trying to organize my copious amount of stuff, I realized I had enough.
I didn’t want to waste my precious time cleaning and putting away items that I rarely used and had no function anymore.
I had to declutter and be more minimalistic if I wanted to save time and money to achieve meaningful goals.
How the wishlist works
I started by reflecting on the issues that were bothering me the most.
Some of the questions I asked myself were:
- What do I really need?
- Where can I save time?
- How can I carry less?
- How much am I willing to spend?
- What’s the cost-benefit?
Once my questionnaire was ready, it was time to search for products that met my expectations.
The shop
I found Nomado Store when surfing the Internet for Traveler’s Notebooks.
They’re an online shop based in Belgium that ships worldwide.
Their assortment of handmade products from Japan caught my attention because of their price and quality.
Also, they helped me simplify what I was doing.
The products
One of my purchases was The Superior Labor engineer shoulder bag.
It fits everything I need for a session with clients or a weekend trip. It’s so practical I ended up making it my every-day-carry.
Another item I fell in love with was the LOADSTAR key hook also from The Superior Labor.
It’s true that I’ve bought my collection of teddy keychains for a good cause, but they were in the way.
Not only they didn’t fit any pocket; I got sick and tired of standing in the rain trying to find the door key in my bag.
How to save time and money
In times when everything seems to be expendable, I decided to live mindfully.
Instead of acquiring stuff just for the sake of getting something new, I opted for conscious living.
I don’t want to spend hours of my days with the endless cleaning of drawers and shelves full of items without a purpose.
Becoming a conscious consumer is a choice in favor of freeing time and money for truly important things and people.
And it’s an exercise easier than you imagine.
If you want to learn more about conscious shopping and how to be intentional in other areas of your life to boost your efficiency and effectiveness, come to the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You.
Get all the support, motivation, and accountability you need to overcome not-so-obvious productivity killers one day at a time.
Before you go
Can you answer the following question in the comments below, please?
Have you ever done conscious shopping?
*Disclaimer: I purchased the products mentioned in this blog post. This isn’t a paid review or a sponsored article.
by Debbie Rodrigues | Mar 19, 2018 | Challenge, Planning
Discover why it’s so important to have Goals to be more successful. Start asking yourself the right questions that’ll lead you to your Dreams.
Most adults do not become the profession they envisioned of as kids.
Dreams of becoming a professional football player, doctor or police officer are replaced with jobs in business administration, sales management, and customer service.
As we grow older, we get a better idea of where our strengths and weaknesses lie.
That may mean you slowly move away from the vision of becoming an Olympic gold medalist in exchange for education and a stable career.
In accepting what’s the most practical, however, we run the risk living a life where we become stagnant.
We stop chasing dreams of success.
We get complacent and fail to set goals to achieve success.
Do you hear a lot that you need to have goals to be more successful?
I hope you do because there’s a lot more at stake than you might think.
Your definition of success
Before talking about goals, let’s take a step back and get clarity about what the word “success” means.
How do you define success? Is it:
- A state of mind?
- Owning the house or car of your dreams?
- Going on vacation to a far destination?
- A raise?
- A job promotion?
- Changing jobs?
- Retiring?
- Graduating?
- Becoming a volunteer?
- Getting married?
- Having kids?
The options are endless.
Throughout life, the meaning of “success” evolves and changes, which is natural.
New experiences transform our perception of what an ideal life looks like.
That’s why most of us don’t follow the career we dreamed about when kids.
But one thing we can’t lose sight:
We need to know what success means to us to be able to achieve it.
The Success x Goals connection
Let’s say your idea of success involves living in a big house with a swimming pool for the kids and a lounge area for visitors.
What Goals do you need to set for yourself to achieve it?
First of all, look at your current situation.
Some of the questions you can ask yourself are:
- Are you making enough money to buy that house?
- Is your current job ever going to provide the necessary income?
- What changes do you need to do in your lifestyle to save the money?
Once you define what needs to happen in your life for you to become successful, it’s time to set goals.
If you come to the conclusion that your current job position isn’t going to take you closer to your dream, you might determine that you need to apply for a promotion.
It can be your mid to long-term goal.
For the near future, however, what are your next steps?
- Do you have the education necessary for the new job?
- Do you work at a company that supports growth?
- What areas do you need to improve?
The same way as your priorities must bring you closer to your goals; the latter has to guide you towards your vision of success.
It’s important to keep in mind to avoid:
Steps to achieve goals
Even if your idea of success involves a state of mind, you’ll probably still need to work for it.
Unless you’re where you’ve always wanted to be, you’ll need to take action.
And that’s why you have to create space in your schedule.
Come to the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You and learn how to overcome procrastination and start prioritizing your Goals.
Remember that time will pass anyway.
Why not using it wisely so that you build a successful lifestyle?
Before you go
Can you answer the following question in the comments below, please?
What’s success to you?
