The rule focused on for Week 4 of the Tranquility by Tuesday challenge was three times a week is a habit. The purpose of this rule is to devote more time to activities that will enrich your life. These activities may be hobbies, spending quality time with others, or developing a spiritual practice. According to Laura Vanderkam, “Anything that happens three times a week has a solid place in our lives.” She also believes that “if you’re already doing something one or two times per week, you can get to three.”
I am pretty excited about this rule because there are several activities I want to incorporate in my life. Exercise being at the top of my list. For the purposes of this challenge, I am starting small with this rule.
Before the week started, I pondered the planning questions for Rule #4 that Laura sent us on Friday, 10 February and made a plan for the week.
- Think of some activities you’d like to do more frequently in your life. Exercise, Blog, Scrapbook, #Outside23in23, Read Choose Joy Devotions
- Choose one specific activity to focus on for the next week. I actually chose two activities, #Outside23in23 and reading devotions from Choose Joy.
- When did you last do this activity? I have been doing both activities sporadically since January. We were at the beach, so I walked on the beach, collecting seashells. The last time I read from Choose Joy was on Wednesday, 02/08.
- Looking forward to this next week, when could this happen? List at least three times. My three times would work best between Monday and Friday.
- What obstacles might prevent you from doing this activity three times a week? As always, ME. Both activities are easily doable and do not require much effort.
- How can you address these challenges? I want to combine #Outside23in23 with Move by 3 p.m. I am planning to use this as a transition between tasks, sort of like a brain break. I generally like to read in bed while drinking my morning coffee, so my Choose Joy book will be set on my night stand, so I can read my devotion first before reading something else.
RESULTS
I am very excited to share that I not only completed Rule #4 successfully, but I also completed the other three rules for this week. I find I am being more intentional with my time. I am also incorporating the Strategy of Pairing with some activities. For example, if someone calls me, I pop my earpiece in my ear and do a walk and talk. If the weather is nice, I can go outside as well.
REFLECTION
- What activity did you choose to focus on three times this week? #Outside23in23 and read devotions from Choose Joy
- Did you spend more time on your chosen activity this week than in previous weeks? Yes
- If so, how much more time did you spend on it? I got outside three days and read Choose Joy four days.
- What was the impact of aiming to do this activity three times per week? Doing both activities brought more joy to my day. Reading the passage from Choose Joy in the morning set the intention for the day and getting outside helped me transition between tasks more smoothly. On Friday, we were at the beach, so I went outside after breakfast and walked the beach, collecting seashells. Then, I sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of the beach. It was so relaxing to start my day that way.
- What challenges, if any, affected your ability to do this activity three times this week? Honestly, I had no challenges. I think in part because both activities were easy to do in the midst of my crazy schedule.
- How did you address these challenges? n/a
- Did you need to modify this rule to work for you? No
- How likely are you to continue doing this activity three times per week? Very likely; as I get more organized with my time and home environment, I will consider implementing this rule with the other activities I want to do more often (exercise, blog, scrapbook). I feel confident that with Daylight Saving Time being just around the corner, I will be incorporating more exercise in my 168 hours.
- Did you observe a bedtime this past week? YES! I went to sleep four nights by 10:30 p.m. or earlier; the other three nights, I climbed into bed at 10:35 p.m., 10:45 p.m., and 11:15 p.m.; I am doing much better; however, I did scroll on social media for 15 minutes after editing my video the night I went to bed at 11:15 p.m. Thankfully, it was only 15 minutes. Otherwise, I either read (3 nights) or prepared for the next day, having read beforehand.
- Plan on Friday? YES, kind of! I actually planned on Sunday morning. We were traveling home on Friday, and I proctored the ACT early Saturday morning. I still planned and put it on paper.
- Move by 3 p.m. most days? YES! My goal was to move by 3 p.m. at least three days during the week. I paired this with #Outside23in23. On Friday morning, I was walking on the beach. On Tuesday (1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.) and Thursday (9:25 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.), I walked Tooty.
Overall, dear reader, I am excited about my results. I am making more of an effort to incorporate these strategies throughout the week. I have to remind myself that this challenge is NOT about perfection. It is about being more aware of where my time is being spent and being more intentional in how I am spending it. In addition, it is making me more aware of the activities I am doing daily, weekly, monthly. Time tracking along with doing the Tranquility by Tuesday Challenge has also been extremely beneficial. It feels like a daily habit now. Finding success this week with these four rules has been a HUGE happiness boost, and I am looking forward to next week’s rule. Happiness!
“Things don’t have to happen daily, nor do they have to happen at the same time every day, in order to count in our lives.” ~ Laura Vanderkam
The Kat Files 