Mentioned Links:
This episode is for you if your body has become the place that holds everything for everyone. In this episode I share what I think is the whole point of systems. When you carry everything, your body becomes the system, and there is no room left to hear yourself. I talk about how putting it all down opens space to tune in to your body and make decisions from the present moment.
In this post you will learn:
Why carrying everything in your head crowds out your body's signals
How putting it all down in a system opens up space and clarity
How to look at your day like the queen, not the servant
Your body is not meant to be the system
When you are used to carrying everything, remembering everything, and being responsible for everything, there is no room left. It crowds out the clarity you need to listen to your body.
Your body needs to be free of that burden. Then the channel opens. That pathway between what your body is trying to tell you and you being able to hear it.
Put it down. The database can handle it.
In Sacred Systems, I teach women to get everything out of their body and out of their brain. Everything. Put it in the system. The system can handle it. You can trust it. You don't need to carry this anymore.
I keep telling women the database can handle it. Notion is built on databases. Whatever tool you use, the idea is the same. Find one trusted place and let it hold things for you.
As you put things down, you will feel space and capacity start to open up. You stop trying to remember. You stop trying to keep track. You stop thinking "I better not forget."
I didn't even know this would happen for me. But once I started using a system for real, the mental space kept opening and expanding. My ability to hear my body and listen to my emotions got so much better. I can hear even the softest whispers of my intuition now.
Be the queen of your day
When I open Notion and see what's on my plate, I don't think, okay, what do I have to do. I'm the queen looking at my kingdom. I decide what deserves my attention today.
The first thing I do is clear as much as possible off my plate. I'm not asking what I need to do. I'm asking what I'm not going to do. And I decide based on how I feel and what is going on today.
Today, my kids are home because the school is on strike. I didn't get good sleep last night. Yes, I have a lot of things I want to do. But I looked at what actually needs to get done today. I moved everything else off. Then I did just that.
That kind of clarity gives me so much peace of mind.
Your well-being first. Productivity follows.
We tend to think productivity means checking off boxes as fast as possible. I don't really talk about productivity. I don't think we need to care about it.
I think we need to care about honoring our well-being. When we do that, we make smarter decisions about what to do and what not to do. That makes you productive in a way that doesn't burn you out. You stop being a hamster trying to check things off.
The most unproductive thing you can do is just do things because everything feels urgent all the time. When it all lives in your head, you have no perspective. When it lives outside of you, you can see it. And you have space to hear your emotions, your energy, your family, and even the weather outside your window.
I want to use my brain for having ideas, not storing them. That idea comes from David Allen, and it changed how I work.
Ask Yourself