The sun is at the peak of its power, lighting all corners with its radiance, and burning away all non-essentials, and we are now also at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, the time to harvest what was planted and nurtured.
Agenda:
1. Read "Tiny Habits"
2. Acknowledge the harvest
3. Giving each thing a home
4. Clearing the studio
5. Healthy snack habit
1. Read "Tiny Habits":
I'm reading this book by BJ Fogg (2020), with the subtitle of "The Small Changes That Change Everything". This is the scripting process introduced in Sweet Spot, expanded on.Chapter Four is Prompts are the Invisible Drivers of Our Lives, because no behavior occurs without one. The world is filled with them - and it's time to take the power of prompts back. "...motivation and ability exist on a continuum, but prompts are black-and-white." You either notice it or you don't.
Action prompts- actions that are already built into my day - are Anchors for new habits. I just need to find the right sequencing in which to insert a new habit. In order to create a successful recipe I need to match the anchor prompt moment with the physical location, the frequency, and the theme/ purpose of the new habit, so that the two become hard to separate, and then be sure that the new habit is so tiny it won't be hard to follow through with.
Be very precise with the anchor moment - find the "trailing edge" of the moment, the exact cue, such as "when I turn off the water". Also, consider that the anchor moment can be a feeling, such as "when I feel anxious" or, "when I feel insulted".
2. Acknowledge the harvest:
After the full moon I like to notice the harvest of what I have nurtured this month. I have many things in the works still, but some have been fulfilled:
The first thing that comes to mind is that all our preparations for the start of school have paid off with a relatively uneventful first 3 weeks of school.
The second thing is growing readership for my Nature-Culture substack - 30 subscribers now - it's really all I wanted.
3. Giving Each Thing a Home:
I'm still working to find a zen balance of order that feels good. I have asked myself "Why am I holding on to so much stuff - how can I make letting go super easy? How can I make sorting fun again?"
My current clearing plan is to tackle one room-clearing task, one outdoor-clearing task and one studio task each week. This week I plan to:
- Clear toys from under the table and find homes for them elsewhere
- Clear the Sanipac bins
- Studio: Clear one or two junk boxes
My weekly rhythm + extras is:
- M: Garbages + studio boxes
- T: Recycling (clear recycling bins)
- W: In-basket, papers, books (clear papers in toy cabinet)
- Th: Sort coats + toys from kitchen
- F: Deep dive in studio
- Sat: Studio
- Sun: Zen tidy
4. Clearing the Studio:
I've finally succeeded in anchoring a habit of studio-clearing to right before I work in the studio. It began to work when I set myself a very specific target - last week it was the paper cabinet; this week the junk boxes:
- At 9:30 my reminder alarm tells me to start my art prep routine: Make coffee, gather supplies, go to studio.
- When I am in the door, Iclear the table andset up a place to work.
- THEN, I look around for 1-10 things to CLEAR from the Studio:I have 5 minutes only, so it's a race! I need to get these things OUT of the studio, into a give-away box or the recycling or the garbage.
6. Healthy snack habit:
Monday is my day to plan my snacks and lunches for the week, including some healthy baking. To make this habit easy, I've decided to learn and make one new healthy snack each week, and add it to my Favorite Healthy Snack List. A healthy snack includes a fruit or a veggie:
- Grapes, peaches,
- Sweet fruit yogurt
- Crackers and hummus
- Bagels, goat cheese, and tomato or avocado
- Carrot sticks with lemon juice
- Tomatoes and cottage cheese
- Apples and peanut butter
- Lightly pickled beets
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