Social – Activity: Develop a Support System

People are social beings, and connection with others is an important part of our lives. #4 of Lessons for Living from Psychology Today, is SOCIAL NETWORKS MATTER. While Facebook is a helpful way to maintain connections with lots of people, sometimes we need deeper connections that require more care to develop.

This week, don’t wait – relate. Plan to cultivate relationships. Stay Connected with this free printable of ideas for actions you can take.

Stay Connected

Close Friends & Immediate Family (Spouse, children, mother, father, sisters, brothers)

• Converse: try some Conversation Starters
• Add fun activities and games
• Reserve a date night or kids night out
• Explore Seasonal bucket lists

Friends & Extended Family (cousins, aunts & uncles, nephews)

• Conversation Bingo
• Simple gifts
• Attend reunions or holiday get togethers

Acquaintances (Club members, co-workers, classmates, etc.)

• Join a group
• Volunteer
• Bring a snack
• Candy gifts of appreciation
• Go for coffee

Professional Support System (Teachers, Doctors, other paid service providers and agencies)

• Holiday card
• Thank-you card
• Candy gifts of appreciation

Brighten Their Day!

Communicate:

• Facebook post
• Call
• Send an email, card, or letter
• Celebrate special occasions
• Send thank-you notes
• Go for coffee

A little higher level of attention:

• Perform a Random Act of Kindness
• Help with something they need
• Visit
• Share hobbies and interests
• Start conversations
• Attend a conference and network

For your closest relationships:

• Use a Jar O Love with activities for their Love Language
• Plan to entertain and invite to dinner

Friendships are like flowers in the garden of life, which require care to flourish. We develop and maintain connections with attention and appreciation. The amount of time spent and level of connection will depend on the closeness of the relationship. Relationships, like conversation, consist of a well balanced give and take.

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.

Social– Activity: Make Connections

Tim Sanders describes an exercise from his book “The Likeablity Factor” in a post on his blog, Sanders Says, called “Develop a Sincere Interest.” It’s a great way to make connections with the people in your life. Here’s a summary of the steps:

1. Write down the names of your most frequent contacts.
2. Write down the interests and hobbies they are passionate about. If you’re not sure, ask them.
3. Write down the interests and hobbies you are passionate about. The exercise in my post on quality leisure may be helpful.
4. Note any instersections of shared passions.
5. Note any contact interests you might enjoy trying yourself.
6. Note intersections of shared interests between your contacts who may not know each other, and introduce them.

see also Tim Sander’s FiveByFive Exercise: Connect at the passion2passion level

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.

Social: Communicate Well

Communication is Number One of the Skills Employers Want, and also vital to the relationships in our personal life. To learn how to communicate well, explore these links to online courses, videos, and other resources to master the skill of communication.

I will dedicate _____ (time) every day this week to learn about the communication process, and practice the skills.

More Resources:

• Communication process at Don Clark Leadership
• Communication at Mindtools
• How to Improve Communication at Free Management Library
• Workplace Communication at gcflearnfree.org
• Express Emotions with I Statements
• Communication Skills at the Daily PlanIt Wiki
• The Communication Process at the Daily PlanIt Shop.

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development. Learn more about the communication process at Skills Employers Want: #1 Communication.

Learn more at Listening Skills, Conversation Bingo at A Networking Game Card, and Cultivating Relationships.

See also the Daily PlanIt Youtube playlist on Communication | Daily PlanIt Pinterest board on Communication

Organizational – Activity: Set Up Storage

After decluttering, the next step in getting organized is setting up storage for the things you want to keep.

1.Choose the area of your home that bothers you the most to begin:

• Living Room
• Kitchen
• Bedrooms
• Office
• Bathrooms
• Basement
• Garage
• Closets
• Storage areas

2. Group like items together, and set up zones to keep them near where they will be used. Designate prime space for most frequently used items.

3. Find containers that fit the items and the space where they will be stored. Browse stores that specialize in organizing containers for ideas. Consider options such as baskets, bins, hooks and shelves, furniture with built in storage, materials that are easy to care for and maintain. The more attractive and convenient it is, the better it will work. Decide if color will help to organize, and if the storage should conceal items or be easily visible.

4. Purchase and install, clearly labeling.

5. Make an inventory list of items kept in each storage area. See Home Inventory at lovetoknowinsurance.

Ideas for groups of objects that are especially challenging to organize:

• Photos: go digital, display them.
• Memorabilia: group in shadowboxes, make scrapbooks.
• Recipes: Make an index with the name of the recipe, the cookbook it’s from and the page number.
• Shoes: tilt-out shoe organizer or shoe boxes.
• Clothes: group by season, by type (business, casual, evening: pants, shirts, skirts) and by color. Hang hook backwards and turn as the item is worn to easily tell items you are not using.
• Magazines and catalogs: limit to a certain amount and keep in magazine files. Subscribe only to favorites.
• Books: use the library more. Group fiction by author, non-fiction by subjects.
• Music: go digital, eliminate old formats.
• Movies: same as music, borrow or rent rather than buy.
• Toys: plastic bins on shelves.
• Games and Computer software and manuals: use plastic sealable bags in a bin.
• Tools: outline around tools arranged on pegboard.

More Reading:

• Resources at Home Helpers – a favorite is Kathy Waddill’s Nine Strategies from The Organizing Sourcebook
• 52 Weeks of Organizing from Organizing Junkie

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.

Organizational – Activity: Declutter

Make things as easy as possible for yourself! It’s simple – the more you simplify, the more time you gain.

Clear the DECKS

• Desk – declutter your desk by eliminating unneeded items and organizing what is left.

• Email – unsubscribe to any email that your don’t want.

• Computer desktop – delete or organize icons, folders, and documents.

• Keep communications clear: cellphone, voicemail, and mailbox – delete text messages and voicemail, opt out to stop receiving unsolicited offers and unwanted phone calls.

• Stuff – print a decluttering checklist and tackle one area a week.

Decluttering stuff is one of the  weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development. Begin to simplify your life by decluttering stuff!

• Choose one area at a time to work on
• Start with the area that bothers you the most
• Take it in small chunks

For each item, ask:

• Do I love it?
• Do I use it?
• Use the four box method:

“Throw Away”-things that are worn out or broken
“Give Away/Sell”-things that don’t fit, don’t look right, that you haven’t used in the past year
“Put Away”-things that belong elsewhere
“Storage”-things you want to keep
Printable signs for decluttering with the four box method (pdf)

• Follow-up-take things to the location you decided on

SMART GOAL STATEMENT: I will [do what] reduce clutter [by doing what] going through my clothes [when] every evening [for how long] 30 minutes [measured by] eliminating all clothes I don’t use and love [by when] and taking one bag each Saturday to Goodwill.

The Decluttering Checklist below breaks up this task into weekly activities throughout a year.

Download a Decluttering Checklist to add to a Household Binder Notebook.

You might also like the resources at the Home Helper Toolkit and my Household Binder Notebook board at Pinterest, including the Daily PlanIt Cleaning Checklist.

MORE Links to articles on decluttering

The next step is to set up storage for the remaining items. This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.

Recreational – Expand Your Comfort Zone

A Garfield cartoon features the lazy cat relaxing on his back, thinking “Jon says I should ‘seize the day!’ There’s only one problem…I can’t reach it from here.”

Achieving any goal requires some effort and stretch. If you have a recreational goal of going for a walk every evening, you won’t get there sitting on the couch in front of the television.

Download free printable pdf of the Comfort Zone

Overcoming Fear With Courage

Fear of the unknown often prevents us from venturing forth from our comfort zone. Fear is a reaction to perceived risk or threat. There may be no real threat, and the reactions may continue long after the threat is gone. Conquer your fears.

Questions: What are you afraid of? Why? What can you do about it?

Evaluate Risk

• What is the risk?
• How large is it?
• What is the probability it will occur?
• What are the benefits of taking the risk and succeeding?

Exercise

• Think of times you were courageous and took a risk. Think of areas you desire more courage in your life.

Helpful things to remember:

• Benefits of this change
• Expansion leads to growth
• Strengths that you can use
• Target why with key values

See also: Change Your Mindset and The Wimpy Person’s Guide to Grit

TED talks and Books [Amazon affiliate links provide a small commission that helps to support the Daily PlanIt]

• The Discomfort Zone by Farrah Storr, TED talk The discomfort zone
• Win or Learn by Harlan Cohen, TED talk Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable
• Trevor Ragan TED talk “How to overcome fear” (also watch How to overcome fear, stress, and discomfort)
• Bill Ekstrom TED talk “Why comfort will destroy your life“
• “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers
• “Fear and Other Uninvited Guests” by Harriet Lerner
• “Fight Your Fear and Win” by Don Greene

Are you ready to Conquer Your Fears and Get Stuff Done?!

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.

Recreational – Activity: Plan to Entertain

Entertainment is a social recreational activity that requires some planning to do well. Entertainment can range from an informal barbecue to a more formal dinner party. Whatever kind of entertainment you want to provide, enjoyment for both you and your guests will be increased by using a party planning checklist (pdf from HGTV). This would be a great form to add to your Household Notebook.

Super Simple Menu Plans

1. Spaghetti or Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread, Fruit Salad, Chocolate Eclair Dessert.
2. Chicken Cordon Bleu, Hash Brown Casserole, Corn on the Cob, Croissants, Fruit Pizza
3. Grilled Ham Steaks, Sweet Potatoes, Baked Beans, Pineapple, Peanut Butter Fingers
4. Chili, Baked Potatoes, Toppings: sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon bits, Cornbread, Corn Chips, Brownies

More seasonal treats recipes at Sharing is Caring.

• Entertaining Checklists at MarthaStewart.com
• Party Checklist at MoreStyleThanCash
• Book: “The Art of the Visit” by KathyBertone

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.

Recreational – Activity: Keep a Screen Time Log

How much time do you spend watching television, at your computer, playing video games, or on a cellphone? How much of that time increases either productive use of your time or quality recreation? Sometimes screen time can add to our lives with educational or highly entertaining programming. However, it may be a surprise to discover how much of your time is spent on screen time, and what a small percentage of that time contributes to quality recreation.

Too much screen time can have a negative effect on:

• productivity
• quality recreation time
• health

This week, I will keep a screen time log to track how much time I spend this way. I will evaluate this information, and next week reduce screen time and use that time for quality recreation.

• National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has tips to reduce screen time, and this printable Screen Time Log. (pdf)

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.

Recreational – Activity: Choose the Best Recreational Activities

Recreation is an important part of a well balanced life. Be sure to use precious leisure time on activities that you most enjoy. This week, do this exercise to help you choose quality leisure activities. Then schedule time to do your top activity.

Sharing fun activities helps us stay connected and relate with others. One way to do this is to choose activities from a seasonal bucket list.

or a list of Activities from A to Z

Download the Seasonal Bucket Lists (pdf) with bonus A to Z Activity list & Fun-O-Meter. Another list of recreational activities at Quality Leisure. Learn more at the Positive Shift Happens Toolkit.

This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.