I mentioned in an earlier post – “if/when you begin to intentionally shift one area of your life, it impacts other [areas of life].  There is a ripple effect in a positive way.”  When I began adopting systems (which is where/when LivingBluPrints was born), a key tip (which I read about in David Allen’s Getting Things Done, but is expressed by many in the Productivity field) was to have my ‘lists’ be more categorical, and more action-oriented. So at home this meant separate lists for errands vs home projects; at work, I got much better at dropping all of my ideas about ‘training/workshops,’ (for example), in one file (instead have having some things in email, others in physical notes, etc.)  And the action-oriented part meant, instead of writing, ‘Tom’s birthday’ on a list, I would write things like, ‘chat with Tom about birthday restaurant’ and on the errand list, ‘pick up card for Tom.’  Over time, as I became more on top of all there was to get done, my brain started working in this categorical and action-oriented way on its own.  The systems were having a conditioning effect on my brain in a way that was helping me be more successful.  It was as though some parts of my brain were/are more ‘awake’/lit up – and ready for duty.

So the practice of the systems was helping my brain… (of course, the fact that I was eating smarter helped my brain and energy too!).  Overall, I am better at executing in all areas because of deliberate small practices in specific areas – the Ripple Effect.

Some of these Practices, for me, have included tracking food and tracking finances. These are small practices that have helped move me towards my goals, and have simultaneously had positive, ripple effects, in other categories of my life. With food and money, the practices that support ‘budgeting’ bring new freedoms.  Although I get that, ‘budget’ is a dirty word for a lot of people.  And I understand why – there is the issue of feeling ‘limited’ – of not being able to do what you want to do when you want to do it.  No one wants to feel restricted.  Overall, the incredible FREEDOM that comes with control and moving towards something much, much better TOTALLY outweighs the temporary ‘benefit’ of getting what you want when you want it!

The *BEST* Practices have built in contingency…

Another reason ‘budget’ can be a scary word – it’s easy to create bad budgets, and the effects can leave you worse off than when you started.  I mentioned in a prior post that my financial budgets of 10 and 15 years ago had no contingency built into them. This blew the budget and forced use of credit cards when (inevitable) emergencies came along. Similarly, if one budgets food ‘poorly’ you soon realize that 1200 calories of nutrient poor food is not going to carry you (well) from dawn to dusk.  There is great importance to have a plan that factors in *life* … the food plan also needs to have room/contingency for times when you want to, or are forced to, eat in a way that is somewhat outside of the ‘budget’ and/or ‘plan.’  “Food Emergencies” are a very legitimate potential also!

But I started this talking about the Ripple Effect – I am so good at tangents! The Ripple Effect is demonstrated when you begin to see that you have choices in all these categories.  And that some choices will carry you towards your goals, and others will not. By ‘budgeting’ various categories of life, (forcing decisions) you begin to understand what is really valuable to you… you might begin to tweak your understanding of your REAL goals.

The *value* of everything changes.  If I am going to ‘splurge’ on food, or clothes, or whatever, I wanted it to be WORTH it.  Am I going to “spend” this allotment of food energy (calories) on a bagel and cream cheese that will leave me hungry in 1.5 hours, or am I going to choose a better option (for me) – Greek yogurt, with fruit and ½ cup of Fiber One?

Though remember – I believe in the contingency – there is room for my weekly totally decadent homemade scone with clotted cream, lemon curd and jam!

The ripple effect goes on to how I understand time –  I get ‘smarter’ about how to ‘spend’ it – (at times, television is a fine way to decompress, but I’m now better at understanding when it’s simply a distraction).  In general, the value of most options becomes easier to determine as you practice and observe whether past choices have moved you towards your goals.

The Ripple Effect has a couple more implications, which I will get to in the next post.  For now, are there categories of your life where you’ve made deliberate specific choices that, over time, had positive effects in other categories of life?

This ‘story’ continues here.

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Linda Stacy, Productivity Speaker, Writer, and Coach, inspires her clients to achieve increased fulfillment, engagement, and success by way of energy management and the *brass tacks* of healthy, efficient productivity and time management.

<Image is book cover mock-up; VERY exciting!>