There has been a lot of talk this year about “being intentional,” so far in all the professional development sessions I have attended. It comes up in sessions about teaching practice, mental health, self care and achieving goals. It’s such a lofty topic. The most common definition is that “when you are intentional, you choose to make decisions and take action on what’s important to you. Being intentional means getting clear upfront about what you want to achieve. You intentionally set an intention to achieve a specific outcome or result in the future that is important to you.” That’s great but how do you accomplish that? It’s so difficult to put into practice; however, I have been introduced to some really great resources. So, for those of you who are wanting to be more intentional in your daily life, you may be interested in some of these too!
- THE ULTIMATE INTENTIONAL PLANNER: 2022 EDITION
- Gretchen Rubin’s podcast: Happier
- Rachel Kable’s podcast: The Mindful Kind
- Before You Know It by John Bargh, PhD
- Rest, Refocus, Recharge: A Guide for Optimizing Your Life by Greg Wells, PhD
- Mantras
- Strides app
- Science of Well-Being offered through Coursera
Summer is coming and I am really trying to be “intentional.” I am trying to be productive and have fun. Sometimes, I get into a bit of a funk when the school year ends. I “take a break” but then it becomes a slump and I end up spending way more time on the couch “vegging out” than actually having fun and doing something with my time. This has really become an issue the last couple of years; maybe it’s my age or just the circumstances going on in my personal and professional life.
So much of my time is highly “routinized” externally to me; so maybe I just struggle being in charge of my own routine.
Or perhaps, it is because I am so emotionally and physically burnt out that I “simply can’t” whenever I do have free time.
Or maybe it’s because I just don’t know where to start because I am not used to having much down time for 10 months out of the year.
Whatever the case may be, I sat down and made a list of all the things that I want to do this summer (in addition to camping/fishing with my husband of course) and I brainstormed what that could look like. From this I’ll make a weekly schedule for myself.
| Things I Wanna Do | What Could This Look Like? | Commitment |
| Start my day off outside | Coffee on the deck | Everyday; except on rainy days |
| Stay on top of the gardening/ weeding | One row/planter per day Upgrading the rototiller to make it easier to do so it’s not overwhelming | Everyday; 30 minutes during the coolest part of the day |
| Deep clean & decluttering the house | One large closet or 4 cupboards at a time Take discarded stuff to the dump or thrift store at the end of each week so it doesn’t pile up and sit | Everyday; 30 minutes during the hottest part of the day |
| Spend more time with friends | Meet for coffee Some activities could include: Shopping, invite them to pick veggies/fruit, High Tea, museums, crafting, swimming, see a movie, try a new restaurant, farmer’s market | Once a week |
| Read | Combined with coffee or before bed | Every other day; 100 pages of a book |
| Journalling | Combined with coffee Before bed | Every other day; One prompt |
| Exercise | Use NTC app, find workouts that don’t require a lot of equipment | 15-20 minute workout Start 3 times a week, then increase to every other day. |
| Be Artistic | Make a list of projects & source materials Can be done independently or host a “crafting party” with friends | Once a week |
Sample Weekly Plan (July 3-9)…
| SUN | MON | TUES | WED | THURS | FRI | SAT |
| 7am Coffee on the deck Read | 7am Coffee on the deck Journal | 7am Coffee on the deck Read | 7am Coffee on the deck Journal | 7am Coffee on the deck Read | 7am Coffee on the deck Journal | 7am Coffee on the deck Read |
| 8am Weeding | 8am Exercise | 8am Weeding | 8am Exercise | 8am Weeding | 8am Exercise | 8am Weeding |
| Noon Crafting | Noon De-clutter | Noon De-clutter | Noon De-clutter | Noon De-clutter | Noon De-clutter | Noon Go to Sweet Capone’s for Cannoli |
| Evening De-clutter | Evening Weeding | Evening Meal planning | Evening Weeding Podcasts | Evening Meal planning | Evening Weeding | Evening De-clutter |
If you have any great resources, feel free to share! Comment below.