Do The Next Thing

You know what I want for all of us?  Hint: It’s my favorite thing to write about on this blog and to personally strive for in my everyday life: Joyful, intentional, balanced living.

Dictionary.com defines these words as follows:

Joyful:  Full of joy, as a person or one’s heart; glad; delighted.
Intentional: Done with intention or on purpose.
Balanced: Being in harmonious or proper arrangement or adjustment, proportion,etc.

Joy.  Purpose.  Harmony.  I feel a song coming on!!

If only it were as easy as singing a song and — voila! Done.  We live happily ever after, day after day, with joy, purpose, and harmony.

The problem is when we have those those long days (and sometimes even weeks) where we feel frustrated, stuck, exhausted, or overwhelmed.

Those awful days that steal our joy, have us forgetting that we do have a significant purpose, and those days that we feel so out of whack, that balance is the farthest thing from what we feel.

I’ve just experienced a bit of this feeling recently and after I let myself sit in the dumps for a bit, I decided to follow one piece of advice that is like a miracle cure to get you back on the joyful, intentional, balanced train.

Do.  The.  Next.  Thing.  

That’s it!

Remember the song, Put One Foot In Front of The Other?  It’s as simple as that.

It sounds pretty easy, especially when you’re singing that song, but when you’re feeling depressed, unmotivated, confused, anxious, overwhelmed, ticked-off, unsure, worthless, unhappy, or even just lazy, it’s not easy — at all.

I find when things are hard like this, the key is to break projects down into small actionable steps and pick one thing to do.  Now don’t overthink it.  If you start to overthink it, don’t allow yourself.  Pick one thing and start with that.  Who cares if it’s not the most critical thing that needs to be done?!  We’re not in the frame of mind to be hyper-organized right now!  After you do that first thing, then do the next thing.

For example, say you have people coming over in a couple hours and you’re on the verge of cancelling everything because your house is trashed, you’re in a bad mood, and the cat just puked on the floor.

My suggestion is to clean the cat puke up first, otherwise you might step in it later and then you’re really gonna fly off the handle or just sit down and cry.

Then…

Make yourself go into one room that people you have coming over will see, jot down the top 2-3 things that need to be done and do the one on the top of your list. Then…do the next thing.  Then…do the next thing.  Then, move on to the next room and do the same thing.

Did you see what happened?  You just got that one room ready by practicing doing the next thing.

At this point, as you begin to tackle the next room, a strange whistling sound may escape your mouth!  Yes, you may begin to feel happy, because you’re getting stuff done, my friend!

Now, imagine you’re so flustered that the thought of even writing a 2-3 item to-do list per room will send you over the edge.  That’s ok.  You, my friend, are going to go into one of the rooms that people will see and look down or off to the side and pick something up.  Take that thing and put it in its proper place.  Continue in that same room, just doing the next thing until the room is sufficiently ready to be used by you and your guests.

These “next things” can span from changing the next diaper, to picking up the next dust-bunny, to writing the next check, to paying your bills, to pulling the next weed, to putting the next dish in the dishwasher, to writing that next sentence in your journal, to calling the next house repair person on your list, to writing that next proposal, to mailing that next condolence card, to filling out the next online form, to calling the next person you need to follow up with on something….

You see where I’m going with this?  There is major power in just doing the next thing.  When you create momentum by doing the next thing, it will help bring you to a place of joy, intention, and balance.  That’s the way we’re supposed to be living!

You might not be able to achieve it in one afternoon, but as that momentum builds, you start creating order in your life which allows room for joy, intention, and balance.

Here’s to you leading a joyful, intentional, and balanced life, one step at a time!

Jill xx

P.S. You know others are going through this same thing, how about sharing this with them to help get them moving in the right direction?