Episode 156: Creative Nesting

Feel like you want (maybe need) to slow down in your business? Want to work on some of the stuff that lights you up that other biz owners tell you should be outsourcing by now?

Let's talk about Creative Nesting - a thing I decided I wanted to start doing - and how you can start incorporating it into your business model and process.

It's about taking time to slow down, do the things you love, and build pockets of true solitude within your creative process so you can maximize your business without all the noise.

Transcript:

You're listening to episode 157 of The Mindful Productivity Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Steckler. And in today's episode, we're going to be talking about seven functional, practical, and useful life practices to feel like you have your life together. Now, these are not things that are going to feel extra. They're not going to be things that you hear and think, wow, I've really got to go big here or I've got to become my higher self. No, we're coming back down to basics, and we're really trying to facilitate some more structure. So if you're feeling like things have gotten away from you or you're feeling like it's been hard to focus because of stuff going on in your life or maybe mental health reasons, let's all come together, take a deep breath and go through these seven things together because I guarantee they're going to make you feel a lot better. And one of them is going to be something that you start this week that's going to change your outlook and how you feel overall. All right, let's go ahead and get into it.

Welcome to the Mindful Productivity Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Steckler. And this is the place to be to live a more mindful and productive life. If you're ready to turn daily chaos into calm and start your days with intention, then get ready to join me as we dive deep into mindful living and personal productivity. It's time to connect with your true self so you can live the life you want to live. And it all starts now.

Welcome back to the podcast, Friends. I took a break from podcasting last week, and it's been really nice, but I got to be honest, it's still hard for me to take breaks in my business. And from the podcast, I definitely still have perfectionism I'm working on. I definitely still have that feeling of people are going to be upset if there's not a new episode every Monday. There's a lot of internal chatter that I'm still working on, so I just want to share that with you. But I also want to share an update in that I've been feeling my way through this creative nesting process. And if you haven't listened to that episode, it's back just one behind this one in episode 156, where I talk about what creative nesting might look like in your life and business in terms of kind of taking a step back from what you're projecting or putting out into the world on social media or at face value and really giving yourself permission to take a step back behind the scenes, maybe work on some projects in your life and business that don't necessarily move the needle or don't necessarily bring you the success that you feel pressured to bring or to do, but that actually bring you a lot of joy and help you focus and get a lot more clarity.

I noticed that there are different projects that I work on that somehow become a subset of my success or my overall goals. For example, sometimes actually working on a sales page for something I'm working on, even though that's usually the last step. Sometimes doing that first gives me more clarity on what I'm creating and how I want to sell it and market it than it would if I saved that for the last thing, like the icing on the cake. So really just taking a minute to give yourself permission in your creative process to do things differently and to sometimes make time to do the things you really love first. And so if that gets you going. So in today's episode, I rounded up some different things that I've been working on, some lessons I've learned, and I have a really cool tip that I found on TikTok Surprise that I'm excited to share with you today. So again, I have seven functional, practical and useful life practices to feel like you have your life together that you can try out this week, this month, or whatever. So let's go ahead and just dive into them.

I am going to have these listed out on the Show Notes page that you can always find by going over to Mindful Productivity Blog and searching for this episode. There also will be a link to this whatever podcast platform you're listening on. There should be links to the Show Note underneath this episode as well. So let's go ahead and get started. Number one in terms of these functional, practical and useful life practices is to fill up the water that you need to drink the next day, the night before. I know you could probably have a running list of 20 things to do the night before, and you're going to have to decide in your life what gets pared down. But this is one that really, really helps me out, because drinking enough water is something that will go right out the window if I'm stressed or if I'm busy or if I'm really zoned in on a project. So what I like to do is fill up multiple water bottles the night before or sometimes the morning of. And I'll be honest in that some of the best investments that I've made for myself and myself care have been buying some nicer quality water bottles that I want to take with me that I want to drink out of.

Now, I know that not everyone can do that and be bougie and buy a fancy water bottle. But if it's something that if you're like buying a reusable plastic bottle all the time or some of those really cheap ones and you have the money to buy a nicer one, I really recommend it because I have this glass water bottle I'll link to what I use. I have this. Can you hear it? I have this glass water bottle and it has this kind of like rubber texture material that goes around it and it's actually a BKR or beaker water bottle. And then it's got this really cool plastic lid on the top of it and you can use it like a handle. Anyway, I bought this. I think it's either 32 or 36oz. And since buying this, I drink more water every day than I've ever drink before. I mean, if you buy a water bottle you like, you're going to drink more water, right? But I fill this up the night before and then I have a couple of other ones. If you follow me on Instagram Mindful Productivity Podcast blog, you might know that I recently, in the past year during the pandemic, got kind of obsessed with Starbucks tumblers and mugs and water bottles.

So I've been growing a small collection. My husband thinks I'm nuts. Are you using them? And I'm like, that's not the point. But I have a couple of different water bottles that I really love and I fill them up the night before. And when that water is already on my desk, when it's already in different rooms throughout the house, because my mind I get very distracted. It means that I'm always drinking water no matter where I am. And by the end of the day, more often than not, I end up drinking all the water that I need. So getting enough water is one of those things. It's not like new info, but you really need to do it. You really need to drink enough water every day. I try to drink half my body weight in ounces, but just start drinking more water on a regular basis. It's going to help you feel so much better. Okay, super basic, but maybe you need the reminder. The second thing that I'm going to tell you about is to attach any new habits that you want to do in your life and attach them to anchor tasks that you already do.

So an anchor task is basically something that you do every day without thinking. So maybe it's brushing your teeth before you head out the door or taking a shower or brushing your hair or drying your hair, whatever those things are. Or maybe you have some kind of a weird habit that you do every day. It just happens every morning. That could even be an anchor task. And one thing that can be really helpful is attaching any new habit that you want to do that maybe sometimes you're forgetful about attaching it to an anchor habit. So I'll give you an example. So for me, this means taking my morning medication for my mental health. So oftentimes I will forget to do this. So what I like to do is actually sandwich it in between two anchor tasks. That means that if I do something a little bit different in my morning routine, I still get the reminder to make sure that I've done this thing. So, for example, I like to take my morning stuff. I take Sam E for my depression. And I like to take this after my coffee but before my shower. So if I drink my coffee and I pick up my coffee Cup, I start thinking, oh, you need to take that.

And so I will take it out of its thing and put it in my hand and go back to drinking my coffee and have it then. But if I forget and then I'm walking to the shower, my brain automatically starts going, did you take your medicine? And this is also great, too, to sandwich it in between two things. Because if you get distracted or some mornings, if I have a workout after my coffee or if I go for a walk, then I just have an extra reminder if that makes sense, to do that thing. And so that can be really helpful because it takes your brain awhile to establish a new habit. But if you attach it to something that you're already doing right, it makes it a little bit easier. Okay, this third one is amazing. And I love when people have like a new take on creating boundaries and structure and functional living. And this full credit goes out to domestic Blisters. I love her plan words there over on TikTok. I have to go check. I'm sure she has a blog, but I will link the Tik Tok I'm talking about and any website that she might have in the show notes of this episode.

But I want to share what she does. So she has something that she calls closing duties. Now she's a mom and she's really open on TikTok about her postpartum depression and what she's been doing to cope and manage with it. We just really love how she talks about just functionalism in her home. And it could be related to so many things. It could be related to things you do in your business, in other areas of your life. But I'm going to quote how she describes closing duties. So she says closing duties are how I close down my home, clock out, relax, and still keep things functional. Three things that really help are putting 25 minutes on my timer. And she has this really cool clock, too, that I think they're using classrooms that when you move it, it shows this red kind of tape and so you can visually see how much time you have left. So she does that, turning on some amazing music and putting on a very cute apron. And one thing she also does and these could be things like for her. And she lists this out on her TikTok. She has stuff like doing the dishes and cleaning the counters.

But one of the things I really love here and this is such a key point is that she says that she makes room for herself on the counters, like for the next day, right, to do all her kitchen stuff for her kids. But she just makes the space that she needs. So she's not trying to make her kitchen perfect. She's just trying to clear off enough counter space so she can make the lunches or whatever. And I love the way she described this because be it your business or your personal life or something that you're doing with your spouse or your kids, make the space you need. That doesn't mean that things need to be perfect. Right. Same goes for what you're doing. Okay. For example, let me back up. In your business, for example, I really work best when I have a clear space or when I know what I'm doing when I have things laid out. But that doesn't mean that things have to be perfect. Right? So, okay, an actual tangible example, Sarah, could be actually clearing off my desk but not getting my whole office perfect. Right. Just clearing off my desk, making sure that there's not like tons of Journal stacked up to my right or my left, which happens a lot.

Making sure that I'm clearing out the tabs on my desktop. Maybe I'm moving things that I may have saved to my desktop. I'm moving them to a folder to organize, or I'm clearing them off those kind of things. But that doesn't mean everything has to be perfect. And then she goes on to say, and I love this quote. It says, the key is to choose things that will make morning you happy. So that doesn't mean doing everything and making it perfect. It means what are the things that you can do the night before during your closing duties to make the morning version of yourself feel loved and cared about? Right. Excuse me. She also says I don't worry about what the rest of the house looks like. I just worry about having a functional kitchen in the morning. So again, such a great tip. And there's so much mindset behind what she's sharing. Love it so, so much. So thank you for sharing. That so helpful. Okay. Number four and a lot of these kind of tie together. Right. So number four is don't wait until the last minute to do your nightly routine. And I fall into this trap a lot.

So sometimes if I'm trying to go to bed by nine, I'll wait until 08:00 p.m. To start cleaning up the kitchen or setting the coffee or folding laundry or doing something in my business or writing on my to do list, whatever. And then when bedtime hits, I'm racing around the house and I don't have any time to relax. Or I get into bed. And then it's like my husband's already turned off his light and he's already asleep and I haven't had that moment. Right. So choose a time earlier in the evening, if you can, to start doing your nightly routine and then give yourself some time to relax. Okay. Which leads us into point number five. And number five is create morning and evening commute time for yourself. Here's what I mean. As an entrepreneur who has worked from home for over five years now, there are many things that I do miss about getting out of the house each and every day. Right. Like, in general. But while I didn't love commuting, I did love the space that a morning and evening commute provided for my brain. So that time that I used to spend driving or riding on a bus or walking after work and before getting back home gave me this quote unquote, like, in between time to just think and decompress and not feel pressured to do anything else.

And leaving space in between things really, really serves us. It really helps us out. Right. Think about the fluid and the tissue between your joints that provides cushion and mobility and flexibility in your bones and your ligaments. The same is true for our time. And sometimes when we start to feel burnt out or resentful or we get overwhelmed or confused or we can't seem to make a decision, often times we'll think, Well, I need to do something brand new or revolutionary or completely different, or maybe I need to change my business model. No, what you might just need are more breaks and padding and space between the tasks, projects and routines in your day. So if you Canva provide some of that cushion, quote, unquote, in between things that you're doing throughout the day and at the book ends of your day, you might find that you have that much more clarity and mental ease throughout your life. Right? Okay, number six, this is so important. I really feel like a lot of the things that I share in this podcast are reminders. I really need, like, things I really need to remind myself of.

And I think as business owners or bloggers or podcasters, a lot of the content that people create are reminders for ourselves yet. Right. So a lot of times when we create something, there's often something behind that message that we're like. I need that, too. So number six is change one thing at a time. You know, when you get super inspired to go out and change your life or as the kids say on TikTok, be that woman. Well, sustainable change is important. And it's more important than your highlight reels and what people see on social media. And here's what I mean. Get excited about all that you want to change in your life, but don't pressure yourself to do it all at once. Raise your hand if you've texted one of your best friends and you've been like, all right, Monday is hitting tomorrow. Here's what I'm doing. I'm getting up at five. I'm going to go on a run every day. And then I'm going to have a protein shake and some group of spinach in there. And then I'm going to go do this. Oh. And then I'm going to meal prep. And then I'm going to set these boundaries and I'm never going to say yes to anything.

And then I'm going to go to bed at eight and I'm not even going to watch TV anymore. Right. Like you make all these announcements and then you can't stick to them. Right. Or you find some of them don't really feel good. So if you really want to start meal planning, working out, writing morning pages, and going on weekend hikes, awesome. But it's also okay. And here's your big reminder and permission slip. And it's more manageable to start doing one new thing at a time because once you get in the swing of that one thing, the snowball effect usually starts taking place and those other new habits start coming in. Right. It's kind of like if you're paying off debt. Right. And you got multiple credit cards or whatever, you pay off that first card, you go hard on the first card, and then when that card is paid off, boom, you've got that couple hundred Bucks or whatever to start paying towards your other one. And then you can make an even bigger payment to that second one. Right. The same thing goes for things that you're changing in your life. Invest in one thing at a time and go hard with that one thing and feel the return on your investment there.

And then once that's a habit and once that feels integrated into your life and your routine and you've made your adjustments and you're like, okay, that didn't work out. But here I can do it this way or I can do ten minutes of that kind of workout, not 20. That's okay. Once you figure those things out, then you can go hard and it will snowball with the other things that you want to add into your life. Right. So just really, really need that reminder there. Okay, here is number seven, and I'm packing in a lot in a shorter episode this week. But this one is so important. Okay. And number seven is make a list of things that really don't matter every week. So here's what I mean. We've all heard of gratitude lists down the things that you're grateful for that make you happy. I talk about writing success lists a lot, and I have a place inside my planner, the Mindful Activity Guide, for you to write those success lists. Very important. But I also think it's important to make more lists about things that really don't matter. And here's what I mean.

Okay, weird example. Stay with me. But you know that thing that maybe you saw another entrepreneur doing in their business where they use a really cool landing page software and there's like an animation that you really loved when the pop up thing comes up and you're like, oh, I really love how that looked. And now you have it on your to do list to figure out what software they use and to add it and integrate it into all of your landing pages by Friday, it's important to come back to those things that distract us and ask ourselves, do those things really matter? Does that really matter? Is your business really going to skyrocket because you do this one thing or change this one thing? Will it take you away from other crucial business tasks that do matter? Same thing goes for things people say to us online, right? Or in person. It doesn't really matter. Now, I'm not saying that feelings don't matter or that things that happen to us don't matter, but how often are we holding on to those things and feeding them over and over and over again, right. If someone says something mean to you online and you're like, what the right?

Does it really matter? Does that thing really matter? Get mad about it, whatever you got to do, but doesn't really matter. And here's another great question to ask yourself. Is it going to matter in an hour from now? Is it going to matter next week? What about a year from now? Will it change the course of your life or your business or your mindset? If you do or do not do that thing or you let it go or don't let it go? Right. Our brains often prioritize things that are new, that are novel or even unsettling. Right. Anything that disrupts us. But that doesn't mean that those things have to be priorities. It can also just really be helpful to make a list of things that really don't matter and then let them go. Because sometimes we by default hold on to things that are negative. Right. If you read any of Rick Hanson's work, if you read Buddha's Brain, great book by him, he talks about how our brain and our neuroplasticity required to hang on to the negative stuff. So sometimes to make a difference in how your brain works and how you think about things and your cognition, it can be helpful to make a list of all those things that really don't matter.

And like, make it a thing. Right. Get together with some friends. And if you're all vaccinated and hang out and make a list of things that don't matter, these are some things that happened this week that really bothered me. But when I really thought about it and I really brought in the gratitude of what's going on in my life and I really looked at what I'm actually in control of, those things don't matter. Those things don't matter. So helpful. So again, we've covered seven things that can help you live a more functional, practical life that can be useful, practices that you either integrate or you don't, or maybe you tweak them. You can find these listed on the show notes of the blog, but I hope some of these were helpful. And if you did find these helpful, or if you're like, there's one of them that you're like, oh my God, I'm totally doing that. This week. Please tag me on Instagram in your stories in a post I'm Mindful productivity podcast blog. Let me know which one you're doing or let me know what you thought or let me know what came to your mind when you were listening to this week's podcast episode.

All right. Thank you so much for listening so honored to run this show and have all of you listening. It means so much to me. Thank you for supporting the show and I hope it was helpful. I'll be back here next week with another episode and as always you can find more productivity resources, journals, planners and some awesome stuff over at Mindful productivity blog.com so that's a great place to go support the podcast and see what I have to offer you there as well. Alright have an amazing week and I will see you back here next Monday.