Does your to-do list?
Do you find yourself often running on autopilot, mindlessly accomplishing tasks barely aware of what you're doing...and maybe even why you're doing it?
Do you ever look at certain processes at work (or at home) and think, why do we even do this? Or, why do we do it this way? And the only real answer is because that's how we've always done it.
I have. Especially the to-do list thing.
Living your life on autopilot, doing things just to check them off a list, doing things simply because we've always done them...these are all signs of mindless living. And mindless living can, quite easily, lead to anxiety and depression. (Case in point: my list making started as an anxiety coping mechanism. (Write it down then you won't worry about forgetting to do it.) But it eventually turned into an anxiety inciter when the lists started running my life.)
When you're asleep at the wheel of your own life, following an outdated roadmap that someone else created, it's nearly impossible to have a meaningful, fulfilling life. Which is why it's so important to wake up.
An easy-to-relate-to mindless living example is to mindless eating, because pretty much everyone has done it at least occasionally.
Mindless eating looks like eating by a clock rather than by your body's cues. (It's 7am, time for breakfast. Noon? Time for lunch. 6pm? Dinner.) Mindless eating also looks like habit. (Whenever I sit down in front of the TV at night, I must have a snack. Because I'm hungry? Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But habit tells me: snack!) Mindless eating can also be multitasking while you eat. (Eating while you watch TV, read, check email, work, or look at your phone.) Mindless eating is looking down at your plate (or bag of chips, or container of ice cream), shocked to find it empty. How did I eat the whole bag or the entire pint? It's really any kind of eating in which you're not actually focused on the food and the act of eating.
I think most of us are aware of the concept of mindless eating. And most of us have experienced it ourselves--for some of us at every meal. But what about mindless living? Blindly following the schedule. Living for checking things off the list. Accepting and following cultural norms simply because they're norms. Letting something outside ourselves tell us how to spend our every minute.
It's not good, friends. It's just not. We need to wake up and check back into our lives. We need to find a better way.
For me, right now, that better way is something I call, The Next Right Thing.
The idea is pretty simple: Instead of mindlessly moving from task to task each day, or being stressed out by the length of my to-do list and how I'll get it all done, I simply focus on one task at a time.
When that task is done, I pause and think about the transition to the next thing. I consider what to do next and ask myself what feels right. Am I hungry? Maybe it's time to eat. Am I sleepy? Do I need to move? Step outside for some fresh air? Go pet the dog for a minute or two?
I just ask myself: What's the next right thing? And then I let my intuition (body/gut/instinct/little voice inside/whatever you want to call it) guide me.
Of course, we all have certain things that are scheduled to start at certain times and we need to respect the time we promise to other people. But if you give it a go, I promise you'll find more times than you might expect throughout your day that you can ask yourself, What's the next right thing?
Right now, as I'm writing this blog post, I can sense myself getting a little antsy. I can tell I need to move soon. (I notice this because I'm learning to become more tuned in to my body and the signals it sends me.) So, I'm going to practice what I preach right now. I'm pausing here for a moment to ask myself: What's the next right thing? Is it finishing this post before I do anything else? Or is it taking a break to stretch and maybe eat something, and then coming back to finish this? (Answer? I need the break.)
I'm back and feeling more able to focus and less heavy-eyed, so I think taking a break was the right choice. And before I came back to writing, I asked myself again: What's the next right thing? Because maybe I needed spend some time painting or gathering laundry or working on novel revisions before I came back to this task. And that would be okay.
I find that if I tune in to my body, my body is pretty clear about what it needs and when. I also find I'm more successful at tasks when I take cues from my gut. It feels like doing the right thing.
Try it out for yourself. Experiment. Pick a day to slow down and tune in and give some thought to how you spend your time. Do you really want to spend the next twenty minutes scrolling social media? Maybe you do. But maybe you're just mindlessly doing it because it's a habit, or it's right in front of you, so it's easy. Maybe, if you checked in with yourself you'd rather make a cup of tea or go for a walk or organize your filing cabinet.
Until next time, ask yourself: What's the next right thing? And try doing that.
Namaste in bed.
Namaste, bitches.
Namaste.
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