I wanted to share an answer to a pain point from a member in one of my Stronger Together coaching groups. Also sharing a #HabitHack that goes along with it. The issue related to attempting to balance implementation of lots of healthy habits at once and feeling like there weren’t enough hours in a day. My solution👇🏼

Try tackling the implementation of one thing at a time. If you try to do everything new all at once, it can be very challenging.

I find that a lot of the women I coach struggle with having a long list of things they want to accomplish as new habits in much the same way as we all tend to struggle with a long daily / weekly to-do list. When the list is too long, we end up spending a lot of time trying to decide which one to work on first each day. But, if you limit yourself to a very short to-do list, you are able to tackle those with clarity, and your productivity skyrockets!

It seems counterintuitive to limit to just a few things (I recommend 1-3) but you’ll be surprised how fast it adds ups when you aren’t overwhelmed or wasting time struggling with what to do first. I like using a post-it note because it only fits about 3 things. Each day, I visit the long weekly to-do list (I shared about this list in my morning routine highlight) and decide what are the 3 non-negotiables to accomplish that day. I write them on the post-it note. If I get those done, great! I have met my goal and feel accomplished instead of overwhelmed. If there is more time, I can always attack other things on the long to do list.

Circling back to the original concern, we can take this principle for productivity and apply it to implementing new habits. Start with just 1 or 2 to focus on until they are an easy habit to keep. Then you can add more in once they are. You’ll be more likely to succeed at keeping them long term and it feels less overwhelming. I know we tend to want to do #AllTheThings, but remember this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we can get there eventually.

I love what Ecclesiastes 4:6 that says: “Better is one handful with rest and patience than two handfuls with painful effort and vain striving; working too hard is like chasing the wind.” We can only do so many things well at one time, especially if they are still in baby habit phase. Only once they become more familiar habits and auto-pilot kicks in, should we move on to adding in the next new habit.

Reader questions:
1/ Does this resonate with you at all?
2/ What are your best tips for adding things into an already full schedule or new habits into a busy life?

P.S. If you have questions, concerns, or thoughts around this subject, please feel free to share here in the comments, or reach out to me directly here if you prefer to discuss things privately! Or, if you know you need help with tackling habits 1:1 and want to schedule a call or jump into 1:1 coaching, you can do that too!

Are you ready? Let’s get growing!

|Kaci