How to Create an Intentional Life: 10 Habits to Build into Your Routine

How to Create an Intentional Life: 10 Habits to Build into Your Routine – Angie Cruise Blog

How to Create an Intentional Life: 10 Habits to Build into Your Routine

Do you want to live a more intentional life? These ten tips will help you slow down, focus, and live more intentionally so you can reach your goals and enjoy your life again.

There’s a secret no one wants to tell you about being a successful, happy woman; and that secret is that we don’t have to do it all. We don’t have to be tired all the time, stressed out, or overwhelmed.

We live in an age of high expectations for women, and it can often seem like we’re drowning trying to get it all done.

We’re supposed to have the careers, the marriages, raise smart kids involved in extra-curricular activities, provide home cooked meals, run the errands, and keep the house clean. It’s easy to begin to feel tired and overwhelmed. And, because everyone else is doing all of these things, too, we tell ourselves this is

The truth is, though, it’s not.

We’re spending so much time doing what we’re

to do, that quite often, we lose sight of what we

to do. And that leaves us exhausted, stressed, and in desperate need of a recharge. That’s where creating an intentional life comes in.

What is Intentional Living?

I really only discovered intentional living in the last couple of years. It was as I was deep diving into my minimalist journey in an effort to find peace that it finally came up. It turns out, it’s what I really needed. Minimalism fits in with intentional living because we become intentional about our homes and the things we buy. But, it’s so much more than that.

Living intentionally means living a life of purpose and discipline. It means examining your “why,” and figuring out what you truly want out of life.

If your actions aren’t bringing you closer to what you truly want, then you aren’t living intentionally, and it’s time to re-evaluate how you spend your time.

Often, the issue is our habits, which can be hard to change, but not impossible. Today, I want to share 10 habits you can form to help you live more intentionally and work towards your goals in life.

The Helpful Guide to Living an Intentional Life by

Becoming Minimalist

10 Habits for Creating an Intentional Life

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Change doesn’t typically happen overnight, and it usually doesn’t happen by accident. If you’ve ever read the book

The Compound Effect

, you’re already familiar with this concept. “We are what we repeatedly do,” as Darren Hardy reminds us.

Here are ten habits I’ve noticed interfere with my own personal productivity and intentional living. By being mindful of these things, I’m able to live a more intentional life, be more focused, and less “busy.

Delete Social Media

I love social media as much as the next person. It’s an amazing tool for keeping in touch with friends and family, building a community, and connecting with interest groups. Social media itself isn’t a

thing, and I’d hate to see it go away completely.

But, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably on it way more than you need to be.

I recently started paying closer attention to the screen time notifications that came up on my phone. I’m not going to go into the amount of time it showed, but I

say that I was appalled by the number.

Of course, I’ve always passed it off as a necessity. I’m a blogger! I’m building a brand online! Of

I need to spend time on my phone!

But, there’s a definite connection between the days I have a high screen time number pop up, and the days I feel really frazzled and like there’s not enough time to get everything done. And, let’s be truthful. A

of that screen time is mindless scrolling and checking notifications. It’s not

So, how can we find balance? How can we continue to enjoy what social media is really for, while not letting it be a mindless habit?

Here are some of my tips for limiting mindless social media time:

Delete social media apps from your phone when you can. This will stop you from just tapping that box when you have a couple of minutes to spare, and it’ll stop notifications from coming through all day.

delete the app (like Instagram, where you can’t fully use it without the app), log out. You might also want to tell your device to forget your log in information so it’s more than one tap to get you into your account. It’s not a lot, but you lose that sense of instant gratification, and it gives you time to stop and think about whether you should really be online.

Schedule time for social media. Of course we don’t want to eliminate social media from our lives entirely (at least, most of us), so instead, schedule time to be on, and stick to it.

Schedule your weekly routines

I used to have this amazing routine of sitting down every Sunday afternoon and filling in my weekly planner. I wrote in all of my to-do lists, appointments, goals, and deadlines, and let me tell you. That one simple habit made me feel

in control of my week.

More recently, I’ve fallen out of that habit, and can certainly tell a difference. My days feel more chaotic, tasks slip through the cracks, and when I do have a spare moment, I don’t have a list to refer to.

In an effort to live more intentionally, I’m working on building this habit back up. It only takes a few minutes each week, and really helps ensure that everything is in order.

Get it all out on paper

I’ve written about this before (

), and it’s my most popular post to-date. Clearly, everyone needs a little help calming down their minds and finding a way to focus.

The concept is pretty simple. Each week, I sit down with a notebook and a pen and just write down

that comes to mind. I write until I’ve got everything down that crosses my mind, and then, I organize it into a to-do list.

This can be a list of goals, reminders, shopping lists, projects, or anything else that crosses my mind during that time. It’s a great way to keep up with all those thoughts swimming through your head and calm the chaos so you can actually focus.

If we want to live an intentional life, we need to start being

about our priorities and sticking to them. Sure, it’s easy to write a huge to-do list and fill your schedule to the max, but that’s not helping anyone.

Think about your priorities, whether they be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or just overall. Once you really nail those down, it becomes a lot easier to see where you should be spending your time.

Does your to-do list reflect those priorities? Or is it all over the place? Try to stick (mostly) with the tasks that actually help you achieve your goals and focus on the things most important to you.

Focus on what’s most important (I like to pick a “top three”) and let the rest fall into place after that. It’ll reduce your stress, free up some time, and make you more productive overall.

I know, I know. I just heard the collective groan. Trust me. I’m