Work with Intention | 5 Delightful Ways to Bring Intention to Your Work-Week | Gwen Elliot

Do you set intentions?

At the start of 2019 it was a big mood to choose an intention or word of the year.

I tried, but couldn’t decide, so I decided to do this on a micro-level and set a new intention each week.

Listen, I’m no expert in how intention setting works, though I truly believe it does. Why? This quote from Oprah:

“[Intention] is the principle in which I rule my company and the principle in which I rule every action of my life.”

That’s all the proof I need. 

So each week I set an intention (by literally taking a moment to ask myself how I want to feel that week) and write it down.

I quickly started to wonder how I could bring that intention to life during the work week and I’ve spent the last month testing out different ideas. Today I’m happy to share five delightful ways I’ve tested out that truly work!

Last Week’s Intention Setting Ritual:

Last week I set an intention to feel ✨ENERGIZED✨

At work I’m knee deep in course writing for Shopify Academy and had many big chunks of time scheduled to write.

Historically when I had big writing days I’d feel pretty spent at the end of the day. Though by integrating my different ‘strategies’ to bring intention to work I felt electric at the end of the week.

So as you lean into a new work week, I encourage you try out these five ideas:

1. Create a Spotify Playlist to Match my Intention

To feel energized, I created a new spotify playlist with 20ish songs that made me feel alive. A few songs include Hey Ya! by OutKast, Uproar by Lil’ Wayne and Swizz Beatz, ZEZE by Kodak Black ft. Travis Scott & Offset and Zero to Hero from the Hercules Soundtrack (I’m going through a Disney phase y’all). I listen to the same few songs for the majority of the week.

Tool: Spotify

Time Spent: 20-30 mins.

Cost: Free version of $9.99/month for the commercial free version.  

2. Change Your Screensaver to Reflect your Intention

Last week my screensaver was GREEN JUICE (and vegetables and fruit). I’m sure my colleagues think I’m a crazy health nut (*semi true*), though quite honestly everytime I saw the background it reminded me that I wanted to feel energized. I also think this subconsciously curbed my need for snacking on junk food and I drank more water and juice during the week.

Tools: Burst (by Shopify) or Unsplash (Both are free!)

Time Spent: 5 mins.

Cost: Free!

3. Change the Theme of Your Personal and Work Email.

Email used to rule my day. I’d check it anytime (all the time). That quickly stressed me out, so I discovered a simple way to help me enjoy email more. I changed the image in the back of my email to fun images. This encouraged me to get to inbox zero and stay there so I could see an image of a cute puppy or a dock at a cottage in my background. I also now only check my email twice a day.

Here’s a link for how to change your Gmail theme. Depending on how much space you have on your Gmail it actually requires an extra step to upload the image to your Google Images before updating.

Tools: Burst (by Shopify) or Unsplash (Both are free!) or Gmail images, Gmail

Time Spent: 5 mins.

Cost: Free!

4. Cue Up Your Fave Podcasts.

I recently cut my hair to shoulder length. It requires some daily styling. Now, can we talk about how boring (and time consuming) it can be to curl your hair everyday? I want to make use of that time! So I’ve been loving listening to comedy podcasts while curling my hair. Quite honestly knowing that I downloaded the podcasts makes me a little more excited to get out of a warm, comfy bed, and it also encourages me to try to look decent. WIN-WIN. So on a Sunday night I will download my fave podcasts (currently loving Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Filtered Perceptions by Chivon John and the Goop Podcast [yes, I am publicly admitting this 😉]).

Tools: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts

Time Spent: 10-15 mins

Cost: Free!

5. Fold Your Socks and Underwear with the Marie Kondo method

Last, but certainly not least, I’m going to to recommend you fold your socks and underwear. Nothing says ‘I care about my life’ like taking the time to fold your freakin’ socks and underwear. Honestly, there’s a specific kind of joy on Monday morning when you pick up a garment that was carefully folded like origami. That certainly sparks joy in my life! (Side note: you can of course fold everything the Marie Kondo way, though if you want to start small, start with this tip).

Via New York Magazine

Tools: Patience, Discipline and Next Level Commitment to Your Life

Time Spent: 10-15 mins

Cost: Free!

These are my five ways to start my week off on the right foot! Overall I try to keep Sundays free of meetings or commitments, except for this one-hourish commitment with myself with my intention setting ritual.  

I’m always interested in trying new ways to feel better, so if you have any easy, delightful ways you start your week, comment below - I’d love to learn from you! 

💜Gwen