How to be intentional this spring

During our conversation on the It’s About Time podcast, Anna Dearmon Kornick posed a question that, admittedly, I’m still thinking about:

“What does it really mean to ‘be intentional?’ When someone says, ‘Oh, I just want to be more intentional this year,’ what does that even mean? Intentional how? Why?”

The best way I could describe what intentionality means to me, when Anna asked, is not living on autopilot, waking up and living a life I didn’t always actively choose, and “going through the motions.” So many of us fall into the trap of making half-hearted choices and finding rhythms and routines that work, look nice on paper, and are “good enough.” And then we settle in and act as if, once we figure out what these rhythms are, we lose all power to stand up and look out a different window to mix things up.

Doing this is tough! It’s difficult to free your mind from the chains of the comfort that living on autopilot brings. One of the easiest ways I hold myself accountable to doing this is through aligning an autopilot-fighting reflection with the change of seasons. Four times per year. Four chances to ask yourself, “Is this MY version of an intentional, meaningful life?”

And so, in celebration of the recent Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, I want to share what I learned from Dr. Kate Henry, a productivity coach specializing in sustainable productivity, about how to be more intentional this spring. For context, we discussed how to refresh workday routines this season, but Dr. Henry’s tips are practical outside of work, too.

1. Reflect so you can plan intentionally. Think about your actual behaviors and patterns over the last few months. Reflect on what you do and don’t want to bring with you into the new season. Dr. Henry noted we can approach reflection through multiple areas of our lives, including work, home, relationships, exercise, etc. Grounding in what your life actually looks like makes it easier to pinpoint what you can (and cannot) change.

2. Choose one word to represent the season. I’m a fan of choosing a word of the year, and if you engage in this practice, you might assess where you need to better align with your word. Or you can choose a word to represent each season separately (which I also love the idea of, for different energy needs and priorities).

3. Refresh your small, often subtle, daily routines. In the work-focused piece, we discussed refreshing the opening and closing workday routines, but the same holds true outside of work. Got a pre-work morning routine? Maybe it’s time for a refresh! How about an after-school routine for your kids? Maybe there’s an opportunity to be more intentional in how you help your kids transition to personal time. Let me be clear: routines are valuable and help reduce the number of decisions we have to make. But just because you set your routine, and it still works for you, doesn’t mean you would actively choose it today.

4. Approach new habits as tiny experiments. Most choices in life are not permanent! You can change your mind, which means you can try new habits often with little to no risk. Cool, right? You can assess your values and priorities this season and try new small habits that support them. When you think about exploring life as an experiment, it becomes a lot more fun and less serious.

Time passes no matter how you choose to spend it. You can walk around on autopilot, and the Earth won’t give a damn. But something tells me you don’t want your entire life to pass you by as one that felt “good enough.” And I don’t either. Be the gardener of your life. Carefully choose what to plant and grow, prune what no longer serves you to give the right things room to breathe, and create the conditions to allow various parts of yourself to thrive in different seasons.

For Dr. Henry’s workday routine refresh-specific tips, read the full piece on The Everygirl:

Time well spent: weekly roundup

1. My friend, Ellen Griley, wrote a beautiful essay, “Her Opinion Was the Only One That Mattered,” about her mother’s passing and the need for approval. I am wholeheartedly obsessed with Ellen’s writing style. I can’t seem to get enough of her words.

2. I can’t stop thinking about how Christine Tyler Hill, who took a job as a school crossing guard after years as a designer and illustrator, started a snail-mail club where she shares a monthly Cloud Report of observations as a crossing guard. And she’s making $14,000 per month from it. The world needs more unique, creative ideas like these.

3. Mini versions of anything bring me joy, including these teeny-tiny books at the V&A. Yay, miniature everything!

Your next intentional move

• Whose approval matters most in your life? Why? Are there areas where their approval conflicts with your values?

• What are some out-of-the-box ways you might use your skills and talents?

• What small things bring you disproportionate joy? How can you add more of them to your life?

Check out the full list of intentional prompts and share it with someone you love!

I’m Alyssa Towns, and this is Time Intentional, a newsletter exploring what it means to spend our limited (and precious) time intentionally. Extend your love and support by sharing this newsletter with someone you know, or…

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