Here are three ideas to bring more intentionality to your days, as well as help you follow through on what you want to add to your life in balanced and mindful ways.
1 – Start with a moment of intentional magic
This is a little ritual I’ve started adding to my mornings recently, and I enjoy this idea because it’s so easy to remember and make time for! As you begin your day, hold a cup of water, tea, or coffee in your hands, and intend that you’re imbuing your day with all good things — you can be as general or specific as you want. Make time for this exercise in as mindful, unrushed a manner as possible, even if it is only two completely attentive minutes. This is both a good way to add moments of reflection and focus — especially if you often find yourself too busy to add a longer practice such as a movement or yoga session, or longer meditation time, to your mornings.
2 – Intend to accomplish 3 things
I recently came across this inspiration from Neeramitra Reddy’s article on Better Human: How to Actually Achieve More in A Day than Most Normally Do in A Week. There’s an idea in here that I really like, with which you can combine higher-minded intention setting with practical elements of goal-setting and productivity practices. Here, Neeramitra speaks of committing to 3 tasks to fully complete in your day: “3 is a sweet number — while with 7 or 20 item To-do lists, you’d be over-committing and scattering your focus, with 2 tasks or lesser, you’d be cutting yourself short.” Part of the purpose here, of course, is to do your best to ensure that you achieve completing an accessible, doable amount of items in your day. When you choose 3 items that connect to a larger goal in your life — such as being healthier, starting a business, or forming stronger connections with others — this can remove some of the abstractness from your bigger goal, and make it very achievable through a series of small steps.
3 – Set a little reminder at a time that feels good for you to check in with yourself. Maybe midday, or maybe early or late afternoon. Why? Because checking in on your intentions as your day continues is a great way to make sure you’re both making progress on goals and also having a more meaningful day. This is a good time to level-set with yourself. If your intention for the day was more along the lines of an affirmation, this is a good time to revisit that energy for yourself. And if you have a specifically goal-focused intention, such as the suggestion for choosing 3 doable items, you can assess what you need to do to achieve these tasks today.
This process is meant not to add more “to-dos” to your day, but rather as helpful reminders to help you achieve on a daily, weekly, or even longer-term basis what’s meaningful to you. Happy intending!
Erica Magdalene
Magdalene Journal 