I once had an executive coach ask me if I spent time reflecting each day. To be honest, I didn't really quite know what she meant when she asked me that question, however I was pretty sure that I wasn't doing it. I had excelled at writing to-do lists and checking off many things as "done", but carving out committed time to reflect about tasks, facets of life and what I had learned from experiences, interactions or projects, that was a resounding "no". Who had time for that when they are too busy doing?
With her guidance I decided to give daily reflection a try. And you know what? it has remarkably changed my life.
what I did
I set an intentional goal to incorporate daily reflection into my schedule for a year and evaluate what I thought about it. I wasn't certain I'd even make it for a whole year, but I decided to give it a try. It turned out I did make it the entire 365 days and I've kept it up most days ever since. Why? Because I realized within a few short weeks that my daily reflections had become critical in helping me keep both my time and mind clutter at bay.
By dedicating myself to do short reflections each day I was able to pay better attention to both my thoughts and my emotions. I became more aware of and connected to my inner voice and consequently I was able to plan more effectively and more readily adjust to challenges that came my way because I was becoming much more self-aware.
I learned that I had more control over my thoughts and mindset, was able to release more toxic thoughts sooner, and I became way more proactive than reactive which all led me to become more productive, efficient and ultimately fulfilled.
how you can do a daily reflection
Doing a daily reflection is an extremely easy exercise because all you need to do is find a quiet space to sit with a notebook and a pen. You then ask yourself some reflective questions and write down your thoughts.
Here are some questions that you can ask yourself during a daily reflection:
How am I feeling today?
What's working well?
What's not working so well?
What could I be doing differently?
Who could I get help from?
Who could I give help to?
After every question you ask yourself "why" in order to dig a little deeper.
I highly recommend that, if you haven’t already, you develop a daily moment of reflection, in whatever form works best because I believe It could offer profound changes in your life.
If you need a tool to write down your daily reflections, check out the Neat Little Planner, which offers a variety of ways to jot down your thoughts.
And I know from personal experience that a starting a new activity is not always an easy one to consistently manage, so I encourage you to give daily reflections a try for at least 30 days to see if you could create a habit out of it. If you're like me, you will find yourself having many "a-ha" moments that might allow you to better facilitate or execute on your time and to-dos.
Often individuals get caught up in the troubles or busy-ness of daily life, which can overwhelm them and take them over emotionally. By taking a few moments to slow down and reflect on what worked and what didn't (both large and small), you can help yourself see them n full context which can help you calm down and lessen your stress level. The best thing is, that by consistently reflecting, you will often find that you gain better perspective.
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