Deconstructing Wellness, with Kris Rice – TPW296

In this week's episode, Kris Rice and I talk about how she prioritizes wellness and tends to her most important priorities. (And don't miss the freebie she's offering TPW listeners--see the link below!)

Prioritize wellness without feeling like you have to do it all

Kris Rice works full time in the tech space for one of North America’s largest IT and networking companies. At the same time she’s building a business serving clients as a holistic health coach. Kris lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two young daughters.

Kris's morning routine

Kris is a very routine person by nature and thrives by following a set schedule. She begins each day by waking up at 5:00 am to give her time to herself. She may write, create, or even pay the family bills. This gives Kris a grounding for her day, something she really benefits from.

A typical day

After her early start, she begins her workday and makes an effort to block her time, allowing her to focus on one task at a time, rather than trying to multi-task. The Corona Virus pandemic has not made a huge impact on Kris work-wise, as she has always worked remotely. However, Kris states that the family is together all day due to quarantine measures, which has been challenging at times but also good. She says that she has been able to be more transparent with her children and involve them more in family matters.  At the end of the workday, Kris tries to wrap everything up by 4:00 pm so she can focus on her family for the evening.

Biggest productivity challenges

Kris struggles, like most of us do, with saying no. She also has a tendency to set unrealistic expectations for herself. To address those tendencies, Kris tries to identify three things, for example, that she needs to get done that day and everything else can wait. She doesn't have to do everything that day and it's okay.

Kris gives herself frequent "pep talks", assuring herself that it's okay to focus on what matters most and let go of the less important things. Doing less, but with a focus on quality, helps Kris set boundaries with her time and what she chooses to focus on. Kris finds that when she doesn't make a concerted effort on setting boundaries with her time, she will try to do too many things and lose sight of what is truly a priority.

Tools Kris recommends

Kris meditates daily, which allows her to focus on what's truly important. This mindfulness practice is a big part of her day. Her daughters join her in meditating as well, which seems to help them with managing their anxiety and sleeping better. Kris is a fan of Gabby Bernstein's meditations and also recommends her book Super Attractor: Methods for Manifesting Your Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams. Kris feels Gabby's book and meditations are especially applicable during this time.

Kris recommends the books Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo and Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time an Energy Management for Ambitious Woman by Kate Northrup.

When it comes to daily organization, Kris uses both a paper calendar as well as a digital calendar to block time and keep her daily tasks prioritized.

Kris is also a huge fan of The Perfect Day Formula, which is a great way to prioritize what matters to you. The method involved drawing a 7x7 grid on paper (or it can be done on an online calendar),