Whether we admit it or not.  Our calendars are our life.  It’s a reflection of how we spend our time.  The time we have is precious and finite.  I would argue our most valuable commodity is our time and we all have the same 24/7.   

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and Creating an ideal schedule with the things that matter is where it starts to get tactical.

Your calendar is your life.  It reflects how you use your days, your minutes, your hours, your years and it’s time to get tactical and make sure that our calendars are reflecting what matters most to us.

If your calendar is the life you are leading, let's make sure it matches the life that you want.

Yesterday, I mentioned that order is a high priority for me and having a clean kitchen helps me feel orderly, less chaotic and happy.  

If you want to run a 5K is the training in your schedule? If you want to start a side business, is the time devoted to that in your schedule? If you want to work on your spiritual growth, is the time devoted to that in your schedule? 

If spending time with family or your spouse is what matters most - does your weekly schedule reflect that? Does having date night with your husband matter - does your weekly schedule reflect that?  If volunteering is a high priority for you - does your weekly or monthly schedule reflect that?  

The more you can align your life with your priorities the more balanced you will feel.  We can still be busy doing all the things, as long as we’re doing the right things, the things that hold a high priority for us.  

Not everything gets equal amount of time it’s about doing the right things at the right time

And, just because something isn’t right right now doesn’t mean that it never can be.  For example if you are really trying to focus on growing your business right now, that might look like saying no to a dinner out with friends in this season of life.  You still have a high priority of connection with friends, but building this business and family might be a higher priority right now - in this season.  

I invite you to look at your calendar and see where you are spending your time and if it matches your priorities. 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

We’ve been talking about the tactical part of priorities and creating Intentional Margins®, but today, I want to mix in a little of the why - the feeling we are trying to achieve.  At the end of the day, what are we after here? 

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and we’ve been talking about the tactical part of priorities and creating Intentional Margins®, but today, I want to mix in a little of the why - the feeling we are trying to achieve.  

When we look at our calendar, (which we are going to dig into tomorrow), I want to be thinking about how I would feel.  So for me, having order is a high value, having a clean house and not seeing the mess helps me feel more balanced, relaxed, in harmony and happy.  Now, do I like cleaning, of course not, do I want to spend my time cleaning, absolutely not, is cleaning a high priority for me, does it excite me, no.  But I know that having a clean kitchen in particular helps me feel calm and balance and that is important to me so that looks like during the family meeting, which we do at 8:00am every weekday, my husband and I tidy up the kitchen so when I come home from dropping the kids off at school my kitchen is clean, and when my kitchen is clean, it makes me happy I feel like I can tackle the rest of the day.

When my laundry is done on the weekend so all of the children including myself have what we need for the week and my week flows better I feel more balance and I am able to tackle my week without the stress of having to throw in a load of laundry and stay up late to fold those clothes because that cuts into my sleep and sleep is a high priority for me.  Having enough sleep helps me be a happy person and achieve this harmony I’m after.  

I know that if I get to enjoy one cup of coffee in a quiet house and spend some time on this micro-podcast before my family wakes, up I’m a better mom.  It checks the 2 happiness boxes in the scientific happiness equation 1) of doing something I enjoy (sipping a warm beverage) and 2) writing and researching for this podcast (purpose).    

The more you can align your life with your priorities and how you want to feel, I believe the more balance (or harmony) you will feel.

Until next time. 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

I’ve been pondering this statement: If your todo list doesn’t create the life you want then maybe you’re doing the wrong things.  

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and over the last couple days, we’ve been talking about time and balance and harmony and todo lists and how most of us desperately want to get off the hamster wheel and feel fulfilled - feel happy.  

Yesterday, I invited us to ponder the following statement:

If your todo list doesn’t create the life you want then maybe you’re doing the wrong things. 

We all have things that we don’t want to do like our taxes and change diapers and go to the dentist but we have more control over our life than we often give ourselves credit for. 

After we pay the taxes and change the diaper, what’s left?  If there is something on your todo list or on your calendar that isn’t really that important to you and you don’t really have to do it, then maybe it shouldn’t be getting your time.  This could be a process of extracting yourself from commitments. And I don’t want to give you the illusion that this can happen overnight.  It usually doesn’t. And, it always takes effort.  You have to do the work.  You have to ask yourself these hard questions of what are my priorities, what do I care most about? 

I hear people say all the time that “I don’t have enough time“.  I don’t have enough time to workout, I don’t have enough time to call call a friend, I don’t have enough time to get a haircut, I don’t have enough time to you can fill in the blank but the truth is you do have enough time you just need to decide what’s keeping you from prioritizing that thing if it’s important to you and where are the distractions that you can illuminate?  Is it possibly Netflix or Instagram?

If you don’t think you have time to work out or go on a date or call a friend, then I would argue that you need to look at where you’re spending your time.  Of course, there are seasons, and maybe this season is a new baby or a big work project, but these seasons will pass and time will look different next season.  So it’s being intentional about how we spend our time. 

Alright, until next time, crush that subscribe button.  If you want to get this delivered to your inbox, jump over to katiejefcoat.com/happiness. 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

Balance, what if we’re thinking of it all wrong?  What if we finally come to terms with the idea that we’ll never find balance?  What if there is a better way?  

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and I believe that if you want to achieve the elusive balance in your life, however you define that, you need to first define what success looks like for you – you need to define what the finish line is, for you.  There are a million ways to do anything, but we need to be clear on what matters to us and how we are going to get there.  This micro-podcast is inspiration and Intentional Margins® is a tool to help you get there. 

I ask myself every quarter, every week and every day, ”what does success look like for me in this season, this week, this day”? 

Let’s talk about balance.  When I hear the word balance, I think of the scales of justice and everything being equal.  Well, it’s not.  Every day is different, every season is different.  To me, balance is illusive and frankly not what I’m after. 

So what if we called this feeling Rhythm.  Adam Grant used this term in a seminar I heard last year.  He said the chorus is the work and the melody is the family/personal life and together there is rhythm.  Perhaps this analogy will work for some. I can see his point that when everything is working together, there can be rhythm, but I often find in my life, it’s not that simple.  

I like the term harmony.  It’s the yin and the yang.  When they are pulled apart they are completely off balance, but when they are put together, they are in harmony.  Some days are more heavily focused on one aspect of life than others.  Different priorities.   Different days, different seasons.  There is no formula in my mind for the perfect balance or the ideal rhythm to make the music.  It doesn’t exist, there are too many variables, minute by minute.  So I like to think of harmony and know that    I’m doing the best and I can.  And to tell you, you are doing the best you can. 

Tomorrow we are going to get more tactical and talk about how we decide where to focus our attention to create this sense of fulfillment and happiness.   

And, if you haven’t already, make sure you hit that subscribe button and if you feel inspired, please write a 5-star review, it helps us grow our micro-podcast.

Until next time.  

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

If you are self reporting as being time famished, having no free time – it’s just as bad for your happiness as being unemployed. How do we fix this?  Listen to find out. 

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and Ashley Whillams over at the Harvard Business School reports that if you are self reporting as being time famished, having no free time – it’s just as bad for your happiness as being unemployed.

That’s why it is so important to have intentional Margins®. Not only do you get to do the priorities that matter most to you instead of continuing to check the box on the never ending todo list.  It also brings an awareness that you actually do have time to do what matters most.

If you work 40 hours a week and you sleep seven hours a night you have roughly 79 hours in the week to do other things -- I mean, you’re spending that time doing something, but what if, that time was spent more aligned with your priorities.  

Whillams calls this feeling of having enough time, time affluence. It is not about the objective amount of time you have, it’s about the subject sense that you have some time.

And it’s even more critical for our wellbeing and happiness that we have time for what matters.  Since this theory is a subjective measure of how much time we think we have, it means you can hack time affluence without objectively giving yourself more time. We all know there are only 24 hours in the day, no matter how good we are at multitasking.  

You don’t necessarily need to clear the calendar to feel more time affluent.

It’s identifying your priorities - and creating that Intentional Margin®. 

I invite you to think about something you want to have more of in your life and then, look at your calendar for this week and see if there is a way to either sneak in that time or plan for that time.  We’re not taking a grand vacation, we’re talking about reading that book you’ve been meaning to pick up, or calling that friend you’ve lost touch with. 

If you want a little accountability, pop over to social and let me know what you decided to make your Intentional Margin® this week.  We’re over @everydayhappinesswithkatie.

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

Put on your dancing shoes for this episode, because we've got some happy songs coming your way.  

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and I’m curious, does music make you happy?

My friend Michelle, who knows how much I am obsessed with happiness, shared with me an article, which I’ll link in the show notes, about music for happiness. 

Before we dive into this fascinating article, this is your invitation to share with me your happiness finds! There is a good chance, I’ll even share it here on the podcast. How cool is that! 

So, back to this article.  It says: 

“It’s hard to listen to Katrina and the Waves's “Walking on Sunshine” without feeling a little like you’re actually walking on sunshine. And ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” is bound to turn you into one for roughly 3.5 minutes. According to Baltimore radio station Mix 106.5, this isn’t surprising—those tunes are two of the most uplifting songs ever to grace the airwaves.”

There is a Dutch neuroscientist, Jacob Jolij, who looked at some pretty unscientific data, but data nonetheless, that the happy songs, that make you really feel something, “their average tempo was between 140 and 150 beats per minute, which is a couple dozen beats faster than the average pop song.”    And, the majority of the songs were played in the major key (vs the minor key for us not musically inclined).  And lastly, Jolij found the lyrics to be of either happy themes or no theme at all, like complete nonsense.   

So, do you want to know what songs from the 2016 un-scientific research are happy songs?  

Well, today is your lucky day. You can get the entire list in the transcript. 

1. “DON’T STOP ME NOW” // QUEEN

So, if you are feeling a little sluggish, perhaps this list of songs can help.  I’m so curious, what is your happy song.  I need to know!  Send me a message on social or tag me in a post.  We’re over @everydayhappinesswithkatie.

Inspired by this article in Mental Floss.  

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

I wonder if when people say, I need more hours in the day, I’m overwhelmed, I’m stressed, I’m tired, I’m so busy.  I wonder if what they are really saying is that I just want to be happy.  Happy as in that feeling of contentment, satisfaction, purpose, fulfillment.   

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and I wonder if when people say, I need more hours in the day, I’m overwhelmed, I’m stressed, I’m tired, I’m so busy.  I wonder if what they are really saying is that I just want to be happy.  

It’s this idea that I want to just sail off to a deserted island with only a staff that brings me pina coladas. You want to let it all go because that tug of overwhelm, stress, and busyness is so strong. 

Hear me out.  If we’re happy, we’re by definition, fulfilled on some level.  We’re not stressed and overwhelmed and feel like we are drowning in todos, we’re happy.  We’re maybe even content.  Can we be happy and overwhelmed?  Can we be happy and busy doing the things that are not helping us live this fulfilling life we’re after? 

The science seems pretty clear that happiness has 2 parts: 1) happy positive emotions, joy, contentment, love, with 2) satisfaction and purpose.  Together, you get well-rounded happiness.   And I would also say, you’ll get that feeling of fulfillment.  

Of course you can be abundantly busy and happy.  If you're intentional about your busy.  Right? 

So when we say we’re overwhelmed.  Are we really saying, I feel like I just need a little more happiness in my life?  Whether that’s part 1 of the equation, connection with the people you love, that positive emotion, or if it’s part 2, work you are inspired by, volunteering that excites you, a book you are writing. 

This is where the happiness emotion and how we spend our time collide into life fulfillment and Intentional Margins®.  If you don’t make time for the things that light your hair on fire.  The things that matter to you.  Are you really happy?   

So if we truly want to be happy, we need to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out how we are spending our time. 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox over at katiejefcoat.com/happiness and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button wherever you are tuning into today. 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

Acts of kindness matter so much that scientists have studied human behavior around acts of kindness and what they found is that kindness is contagious. And, doing things for others gives ourselves a richer sense of community. 

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and yesterday I shared some 5-star reviews and their kindness was so contagious.   

Acts of kindness matter so much that scientists have studied human behavior around acts of kindness and what they found is that kindness is contagious. This is when you help a stranger … when you show up for someone on their worst days.  It not only makes you feel good for doing something nice, it makes them feel good for receiving something nice.  And, it creates a ripple effect, you can’t help but want to be kind if someone is being kind to you.  

The science says that people will help a stranger, as long as they think it is the normal thing to do.  So, just think if there’s hundreds of thousands of people all acting in kindness - making it the normal thing to do.  It’s helping the elderly woman cross the street, or helping someone in the grocery store find that elusive item.  

But, let’s not forget we also get that personal happiness boost that comes from acts of kindness toward others.  Seems like a win-win to me. 

There are all these big stories of acts of kindness and I’m sure you can think of one as well from waking up the passenger that’s sleeping through the last final call at the departure gate to paying for the coffee in the line of the person behind you.  These can be big or small.  

Doing things for others gives ourselves a richer sense of community. 

Perhaps today, it’s checking in on a friend, that is a wonderful act of kindness. 

Spreading kindness can give you a sense of meaning and purpose and frankly it just makes you feel good.  I invite you to spread some kindness in exactly the way that feels right to you today.  And if that happens to be writing a 5-star review, I’ll be shouting your name from the rooftops very very soon in an upcoming episode. 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

Reviews make us happy!  This is what people are saying. 

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and it is so absolutely cool for us to see new 5-star reviews.  We love new reviews, it brightens our day, it’s the fuel that keeps us going when we’re tired.  It’s the kindness we receive and spread to others, it’s just simply the BEST.  We appreciate you.  We are grateful for you.  We know it takes time and effort to write a review and we don’t take your time and effort for granted.  We THANK YOU and we want to shout our thanks from the rooftops.   Join this group and be a part of the first 50 founding reviewers as we grow this micro-podcast, reviews matter, a LOT and we can’t do it without you. 

Over on Apple podcasts, Camcanplayfarkle said “I’ve been following Katie for a long time and I’m over the moon that she is doing this podcast and that it is super digestible 2 minute format.  I highly recommend this podcast for anyone who wants to get off the gerbil wheel of busy life and refocus on what matters.  Thank you Katie!!”  Well thank you Cam.  

Juice and Punch just said “Highly Recommend!”  Well thanks for the 5-star recommendation.  We appreciate you.  

Over on Amazon, Reverend Gayle says “We all want to experience happiness, YES? I encourage you to invest in yourself and listen to Katie's 2 minutes of wisdom daily. Tips on creating happiness in your life. That's right, happiness is a choice and Katie gives you daily options to implement in your life; or not. She's full of energy and wisdom which in itself is a combo for happiness. Just listen, everyone has 2 minutes - - okay 3 with the intro.”   Thanks Gayle, I’m working on tightening up each episode without speed-talking my way through ;)  Stay tuned! 

Jerry says “Happiness doesn’t have to be elusive.  We can all find 2 minutes a day to grab some carefully curated happiness tips. Life changing information presented in thought provoking micro bursts. Thanks Katie!”  Oh Jerry, you hit the nail on the head.  You’re right, happiness doesn’t have to be elusive.  Thanks for the 5-star review.  I appreciate you. 

Please consider joining in and writing a review.  It would mean the world to us.  You can do so on Apple podcasts (from your app) or Amazon and the link are in the bio. https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/ 

Until next time! 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/