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The chalkboard has the assigned chores for the day.
I list out who does what, rotating chores so that the kids learn how to do multiple life-skills like dishes, laundry and vacuuming.
But I would stand there each morning, trying to decide who does what across the three kids.
And I did this for a year… before I realized – I can create a system.
A standard set of chores that rotates each week.
So now, I don’t have to stand there and think. It’s already set. I can just follow the set rotation… and boom, it’s done.
"First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit is persistence in practice."
I wanted the kids to take part in how the household runs. But I was making it hard on myself.
Considering options. Making decisions. That takes brain energy. It takes extra time.
The beauty of a system is that you only have to create it once, make the decisions at one time… and then the decision of what to do is already made.
Systems help us achieve what we want… while minimizing how much brain energy we need to do it.
Sound boring or restrictive? It doesn’t have to be!
Here are some tips to get you started:
1/ Start small – Identify one small thing you can do regularly to keep you moving forward.
2/ Pick when – Create a cadence, the same time on a given frequency.
3/ Design for enjoyment – It doesn’t have to be boring. How can you bring joy to this work?
For example… here’s a work system I have:
1/ Spend 45 minutes planning the week against my goals, scheduling my Needle Movers.
2/ Every Monday at 10am, with a timer so I know when to stop.
3/ Sitting outside or at my kitchen table near the window playing a motivating music playlist.
What system will you create to keep up your momentum?
“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit is persistence in practice.”
– Octavia Butler
American science fiction author
