All or Nothing?
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Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.
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PROJECT OF THE WEEK
As a perfectionist, I have focused a lot of energy and effort on changing how I work.
My default has always been locked into go mode. I tend to start a project and will not stop until it's done.
Often, this means means one of two things happens. Either, I work past the point of being efficient or I procrastinate getting started because I know that I do not have the time to finish the project the way that I would want it to be finished.
For me, learning how to work in shorter spurts has been a game changer.
It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing mentality.
Getting Started
Last week, we discussed the concept of progress over perfection. The idea of just starting with small bite-sized pieces of work and watch as progress is made. The idea of all or nothing coincides nicely with the progress over perfection concept.
First, you have to know yourself, your habits, and your personality to determine what in your life can be all or nothing. Then, it’s important to know that you can change habits and strategies as you learn and grow.
But, realistically, it's always easier to change our environment than to change ourselves.
When working with clients, we often make a plan together. The plan includes what tasks will be completed and when. The plan is realistic and leaves open time to accommodate the unexpected.
However, having a great plan will only get you so far. It will ultimately be up to you to complete the tasks and manage your time.
I have many conversations with clients about the barriers to completely a well-conceived (if I do say so myself!) plan. What’s getting in the way? Where can we pivot? And, what can we ultimately change to make our well-conceived plan achievable?
The number one reason why clients aren’t able to work their plan consistently? They take a planned break and choose to participate in an activity that is REALLY hard to stop.
The opposite is also true. The client completes all their tasks for that portion of the plan and then treats themself to an activity that causes them to stay up way too late and then be unproductive the next day.
Here’s where all or nothing applies.
A client recently told me they only used to play video games on the weekends. Now, they are completing a handful of tasks to make their lives easier day to day and celebrating by playing video games during the week. Their love of video games exceeds their love of sleep and this client often finds himself up until 2:00AM. This means he will sometimes oversleep, miss his morning class(es) and ultimately be behind in work. He’ll play catchup and then reward himself with more video games. The cycle continues.
Another client told me that their planned 15 minute break, turned into a TikTok marathon that lasted over an hour. She lost time and had to cancel working on her tasks for the day in order to prioritize a more important work project.
While there are may strategies to "manage" your time better and "manage" your devices better, those are NOT my go to strategies.
Instead, I prefer the all or nothing approach.
If you can't go on TikTok or YouTube for less than 1 hour, it's not an activity to do on a break.
If you can't stop playing video games with your friends at a reasonable hour, it's not a smart idea for weeknights.
Know yourself better.
Sometimes it's smarter to stop all together than try to moderate.
Ready to Get Started?
If you feel excited about implementing this strategy and want some additional accountability and support to get started, the It’s All in the Planning Starter Pak was designed for you!
A Note from Happy Spaces
The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:
Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.
We understand how challenging it can be to implement new habits and systems. For additional support please go to HappySpacesBySarah.com.
Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®
Sincerely,
Sarah Weingarten
Meet Sarah
Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.