What to do about life’s boring bits?

Let’s face it there’s a lot of stuff in life that can be pretty boring.  There’s the bins to take out, the PE kits to sort and the weekly shop to plan and purchase.  So how is it possible to VaVa Voom even the most mundane of tasks? 

My advice – create a ritual around it.  One that gets the necessary chores and admin done and that still can bring some joy as you do it.

I’ve talked a lot in this column about paying attention, raising your awareness and starting to notice what’s going on for you.  So start there.  It’s always the first stop. 

Take some time and consider in your week coming up what are you dreading.  Are there things in your life that you just know you HAVE to do and yet every single week you fume about the fact?  Is there something that you know you continually out off but takes up head space all week till it gets done?  Notice what it is then let’s get to work.

I spent a lot of time perfecting this.  Somethings I hate enough that I’ve figured out ways to just stop doing them or delegate.  A huge one for me was ironing.  It’s my luxury to pay someone once a fortnight to pick up the ironing and deliver it back all done.  Give me that over a facial any day!  And yet we can’t pay for hired help for everything. 

Another one, I’m over cooking, many years of preparing seperate meals for a fussy family can make even the most adventurous chef curl up and die.  The answer to that was delegate.  I agreed to sort out the planning and the shopping and my husband now does most of the cooking.  Job done.  Everyone’s pulling their weight and being part of adding value to the family.  I’ve dumped and I’ve delegated.  What next for the things that are left and still not top of my fabulous activity list! 

Simple, it’s fire up my routine.  Monday mornings have now become a time I really look forward to.  I run my own business so I can set my own agenda. I decided rather than starting the week on the back foot.  I make a commitment to start work a bit later.  I now love Monday mornings.  I do my usual Simone morning routine gig (see previous columns for the downlow on that) then I spend an extra hour prepping myself for the week.  Sorting out the niggles that annoy me if I’m not feeling prepared.  Clothes tidying and sorting – including the PE kits, draining board cleared, fridge sorted, teenagers bedroom fumigated, clothes organised for the week….  You get the drift, all the things that if they’re not in hand at the start of the week can scupper the rest of the days and play loudly on my mind. 

All still sounds pretty mundane right?  Yes, and it was until I decided to create a ritual that suited me around it.  What do I like that I can add to the morning? Well music for starters – my power tunes go on and I shimmy my little (well ok, not so little) tushy round the kitchen.  I practice gratitude (again see previous columns) and I give myself permission to enjoy the experience.  I remind myself how blessed I am to have the time, family and the surroundings to be able to show love, care and attention in this way.  I also have a really good coffee on the go.  I’ve added taking care of my plants to this too.  There’s something about that, that fills my cup.  Are my Peace Lilies perfect? No (any tips welcome) and yet they are nurtured and looked after in a way that brings me joy. 

I’ll then head off to my home office feeling good about the start of the week.  I light my candle, play a few tunes and sort my work to do list for the week before my coaching check in session.  I’ve created a ritual that fits what I love to do and it’s absolutely been a game changer. 

Have a think now, about something you could do to bring some joy to the mundane.  Start small.  Just one thing to improve the task. If it’s really awful and you can’t find a way to jazz it up, there’s always the reward you can add in after too.  No excuses. 

Find something you’re not loving right now and know still needs doing AND shift your perspective and actions around making it a bit more joyful.  Let me know how you get on.  I can’t wait to hear what you discover. 😊

Simone Callaghan – Purpose Fuelled Coaching

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