Your Speech Path: Mindful Time Management for the Busy SLP
32. How to Be Consistent
Jan 30, 2024
Theresa Harp
One of the most common things I hear coaching clients tell me is that they want to be "consistent" at XYZ. Doesn't much matter what the "thing" is--it could be exercising, meal planning, self-care, not taking work home with them, etc--consistency is always part of the goal.
The trouble with the desire to be consistent, though, is that it quite often derails us from reaching our goals. In today's short-and-sweet episode, I'm breaking down what consistency means and how we can create it for ourselves.
If you've struggled with starting and stopping, staying "on track," gaining momentum and then hitting a wall, then tune in to today's episode for some inspiration and support.
And if you want to join a community of SLPs who are consistently prioritizing better work-life balance, hop in the SLP Support Group today. We're kicking off our February Challenge--"Focus Fifteen"--at the start of the month! Click here to learn more.
One of the most common things I hear coaching clients tell me is that they want to be "consistent" at XYZ. Doesn't much matter what the "thing" is--it could be exercising, meal planning, self-care, not taking work home with them, etc--consistency is always part of the goal.
The trouble with the desire to be consistent, though, is that it quite often derails us from reaching our goals. In today's short-and-sweet episode, I'm breaking down what consistency means and how we can create it for ourselves.
If you've struggled with starting and stopping, staying "on track," gaining momentum and then hitting a wall, then tune in to today's episode for some inspiration and support.
And if you want to join a community of SLPs who are consistently prioritizing better work-life balance, hop in the SLP Support Group today. We're kicking off our February Challenge--"Focus Fifteen"--at the start of the month! Click here to learn more.
This is your speech path mindful time management for the busy SLP. My name is Teresa Harp and, as a mom and speech pathologist turned productivity coach, I know a thing or two about how hectic life can be. If you're an SLP who's overworked, burnout and feeling like you're constantly falling short as a therapist and a mom, then this is the podcast for you. I cover time management and mindset strategies so you can learn to love your work and your home life at the same time. Let's dive in. Hey SLPs. Today's episode is a recording from a Facebook Live that I did in the SLP Support Group. I decided to take this audio and share it with all of you here on the podcast because it holds incredible value, and if you want access to more content like this, then be sure to join the SLP Support Group on Facebook so that you never miss a thing. The link is always in the show notes. Can't wait for you to join us.
Speaker 1:
Hello everyone, I am popping in live here in the SLP Support Group because I just had a really interesting conversation with one of my coaches, actually, and I got off the call and was like I need to share this in the Facebook group. So here I am and I just wanted to. I basically want to walk you through two things, and they do go together, even though they might not seem like they go together. Number one, I want to talk about the word consistency and what that word means, and number two, I want to talk about the challenge for February here in the SLP Support Group. So, but before I do that, let me just fill you in a little bit about the coach who I referenced. Michelle Ruhm is her name and she has a Facebook group that's a ton of information, all things marketing. So she's actually in this group as well, but I'll be sure to link to that, because I know that many of you are private practice owners and marketing for many of us SLPs can feel tricky and challenging, myself included and so Michelle's group is Market Like a Boss. It's a fantastic resource for anyone who has a small business, so I'll be sure to link to that after this live has ended. But Michelle was asking me about my experience with being consistent in my marketing and it led to some really great insights throughout that conversation that I feel I just felt compelled to share with all of you here in the group, and this word consistency comes up all the time, should I say, comes up consistently. Can I do that With my clients, with my coaching clients, the clients that I work with as a time management coach?
Speaker 1:
They come to me because they want to make some sort of change in how they're spending their time, and sometimes that's better work-life balance, so to speak, or it's completing session notes or evaluation reports on time, or knowing how to spend time working in their business versus working on their business. Sometimes it's making more money in their business. So there's a whole variety of reasons that they might come for coaching, but really basically any sort of personal or professional goal, because, quite frankly, anything and everything that we do is time consuming. It consumes time. So we coach on a lot of different topics, which I love, and inevitably something that comes up with every one of them is the word consistency. So I'll hear things like I want to be consistent with writing my session notes, or I want to be consistent with exercising. I really want to be consistent with getting my work done at work so that when I'm home I'm spending time with my kids, and I completely understand their desire. I get it. It's so relatable, I feel the same way, right, but I always ask them the same thing when this word comes up.
Speaker 1:
And the question that I ask them is what is your definition of consistent? And we really have to get clear on that first, because if we don't, we really have no way of knowing if and when we've met that goal. Right, and I encourage them to explore this question because I really want them to have a deeper understanding of what the intention is behind the goal. What is the priority? Why is it that this thing matters? What is it that they're seeking? What is it that they're looking for? Right, it's not just exercise. Right, it is what exercise does for you. It's related to a bigger goal, right?
Speaker 1:
So with that example, let's say with exercising, and I ask okay, so what does consistently exercise? What does that mean to you? Maybe they say, you know, it means exercising every day of the week, or it means exercising five days of the week. And so then I ask, you know, I might ask something like well, what is the intention behind the exercise? What is it that you want exercise to do for you? And so we get really clear on the actual goal, the actual priority, the actual intention, rather than a specific frequency of occurrence that is somewhat, you know, arbitrary or random that, for whatever reason, their brain has told them, means that they're consistent, means that they're successful in meeting their goal. Right? So you know, it's really important to understand is it about exercising every single day or is it about continuing to make health a priority? Is it about never being on your phone or working on work things after work when you're home with your kids, or is it about being present and spending quality time with your kids in general? Right, because consistent doesn't mean constant.
Speaker 1:
And it's actually funny I was talking with my daughter, my daughter Mackenzie. This came up, I don't know, a couple months ago, I think, and we were talking about that word consistent because it came up somewhere and she asked me what it meant. And I had this exact conversation with her and I asked her what she thought it meant and basically she told me all the time, oh, does it mean all the time, does it mean? And I said no, it doesn't mean all the time, it doesn't mean constant. Right, it was a really good learning opportunity for the both of us and to me, the way that I think of consistency.
Speaker 1:
Consistent means continuing to take action in the same same direction over time, and I think the best way that I can explain this is I'm gonna attempt a metaphor, not the best at metaphors, but I think of this in my head as if you're driving to a destination. So, for example, the destination is the goal, the end result or the priority or the area of focus. So, let's say, spending time with my kids, spending quality time with my kids, and I'm in the driver's seat and I'm following the directions. I'm following, maybe, the map right To get me towards that destination, and it's gonna direct me turn right or stay straight, continue on, turn left, so on and so forth. Right.
Speaker 1:
But along the way, sometimes things happen. Right, we might hit some traffic, or I might need to stop and get gas, or maybe you run out of gas. That's only happened to me once, but it happens right. Maybe there's a detour, there's a road closure and you have to go a different way, right? So the travel time might take longer and the path might be a little bit different from what you envisioned and what you planned for, but you're continuing to move towards that destination, even if it's taking you out of the way, even if sometimes you're turning around and you're going backwards. Right, maybe you forget something at home, and so you have to turn around and go back and get it. You get back in the car and you go back on that journey, right? You're still continuing towards that destination.
Speaker 1:
So don't let the idea of consistency hold you back. Don't use that against yourself, because I see it all the time. I see it with my clients, I see it in myself, I do it to myself often and I have to catch myself on being aware of when that's coming up and working through it. And that's what we do. It's one of the things that we do in coaching sessions. So, if you had to pull over for a minute, right, if you're on your way somewhere and you have to pull over for a minute, are you gonna beat yourself up? Are you gonna just give up and sit in your car and not get going again? No, right, you're going to stay in the driver's seat, take whatever time you need to take, and then you're gonna start moving forward, right?
Speaker 1:
So this month in the Facebook group, we are doing a challenge. It's called Focus 15. Okay, and I want to tell you what it is, and I also want to tell you in how. I want to tell you how it ties into this topic, this topic of consistency. So in February, I'm inviting everyone in the Facebook group to commit to spending. It's called Focus 15. So we're going to commit to spending 15 minutes a day moving towards some destination that's important to you, and you get to design this and modify it in a way that works for you. So don't get caught up in my description and rules or the right way or the wrong way. That's not at all what this is about. So take this and interpret it in a way that works for you.
Speaker 1:
Okay, but this could look like every day, you're spending 15 minutes working on one particular goal or one particular destination, right, if we're keeping with the metaphor. Or you might have a couple of different goals or a couple of different destinations in mind for the month of February, and so one day you might focus on one destination and then another day you might focus on another destination. That's perfectly fine, okay. Just decide that it's 15 minutes of something that matters to you and it's something that you typically eliminate or put off doing because other things are quote unquote more important, right? So you get to decide what those things are, but some examples might be some form of self-care, or it might be exercise, you know moving your body, or it might be planning out your meals, or spending time having a conversation with family or friends, or, you know, taking 15 minutes and playing with your kids. It's something that matters to you and that's meaningful to you, but it's the thing that you will often put off or you will often not have time for because other things are more urgent or more pressing.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and so, while I'm giving you this framework of 15 minutes a day, really what matters most is consistency, and so I want you to keep this topic, keep this Facebook, live in mind as we're doing this challenge when February kicks off. Okay, so this means that you don't necessarily have to do focus 15, 29 out of 29 days and, yes, february this year is a leap year. Okay, but it means that you're committed to remaining in the driver's seat and continuing to move towards that destination. Okay, you get to decide what the destination is, if it's one destination or multiple destinations, but it's something that matters to you that you don't typically prioritize, and during the month of February, you're committing to prioritizing it for 15 minutes a day, because who doesn't have 15 minutes? Right, we all have 15 minutes, even if it means that you get up 15 minutes earlier or you stay awake 15 minutes later.
Speaker 1:
I feel pretty good about that idea of that option. It's not going to make or break your sleep patterns. I don't necessarily say you need to sacrifice sleep for goals that's not what I'm suggesting but just know that you can absolutely find 15 minutes in your day to work towards something, to spend on something that matters to you, and so what I want you to do now is drop in the comments section here in the SLP Support Group what your Focus 15 will be or what it will look like, so that we can support you. And then, during the month of February, I'll be popping in the Facebook group, in Facebook Lives and Posts and Resources, to support you as you're continuing to drive onward towards that destination, whatever that destination is for you. Okay, so that's the game plan for February.
Speaker 1:
We are still wrapping up the January challenge. For those of you that were committed to that, we still have two, three days left, two and a half days left of the month with decluttering, so that is very much still going on. But for those of you that are looking ahead, planning ahead to February, that is the plan, focus 15. And all the while keeping in mind everything that I've said in terms of consistency. All right, that's it. Can't wait to see what comes up for everyone this month in the group with the challenge, I'm going to be thinking about what my Focus 15 is going to look like. I got to give it some thought. I haven't decided yet, but I'll be sure to drop that in the comments once I do decide. All right, talk to you all soon.