“Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life someone else will.”
– Greg Mckeown in Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Wellness Tip:
Try Distanced Self-Talk
Most of us suck at taking our own advice. We can tell our friends to skip leg day if they’re tired or calm down if they’re stressed. So why can’t we see our own situation so clearly?
Fact is, we’re too deep in it. But here’s something we can do: create psychological distance using what’s known as “distanced self-talk”. Try:
- Switching up your internal dialogue to use second or third person pronouns (you, he, she, they, it) rather than first-person (me, I).
- Referring to yourself by name. E.g. “Why can’t Jane focus?”
- Take a compassionate voice with yourself. “I can see you’re stressed today, but…”
Research shows that distanced self-talk can help us take a step back and better regulate our emotions. Why not give it a shot?
Productivity Tip:
Make Meetings Better
How much time do you lose each week to rambling meetings? (Too much… 🙄)
Here’s a simple tactic. Make sure every meeting has a set objective – i.e., a written statement of exactly what it is you want to achieve.
Your objective statement guides what goes on the agenda. It gets shared with everyone present so you’re all on the same page. And it acts as a clear path you can quickly guide people back to when they stray off-track.
If you’re not the one who controls the meetings, consider asking the question “What’s the objective for this meeting?” to prompt whoever is.
Here’s a guide to setting objectives. Try it and see if you can make meetings better!
Routine Breakdown
Raquel Tavares, Founder of 4th & Heart
Entrepreneur and mother of two Raquel Tavares credits 20 years of Ashtanga yoga with helping her keep a balance between work and life. She:
- Wakes at 6am and does her coffee-making ritual. “I grind beans, do a pour-over-style drip, and add grass-fed cream and a splash of ghee.”
- Has a relaxing bath with mineral salts. According to the Ashtanga method, “it softens the muscles and relaxes the mind.”
- Makes her kids breakfast then does yoga or a workout.
- Does a morning meditation from Deepak Chopra’s twenty-one-day meditation.
Why it works:
- Small rituals have big powers, even if it’s something as simple as making coffee.
- Warm baths can improve breathing, relieve pain, and relax muscles.
- Research shows Ashtanga yoga indeed has some strong potential benefits.
- Meditation is all good things – if you haven’t yet tried it, you should!
Raquel’s emphasis on self-care is worth paying attention to. Are you doing enough of it?
“The world is chaotic… so I’ve gone back to meditating, writing in my gratitude journal, and even writing positive affirmations on Post-its,” she says. “We all need to take care of ourselves mentally, spiritually, and physically and not feel that we have to apologize for it.”
