5.3 do it on purpose - intentionality as a tool
in an age of dual monitors and triple screens and nearly unlimited ways to work, it can be really tempting to do a thousand things, or three things, at once. this episode is about how that might actually be costing you time and energy. an ode to intentionality, see why i want you to do it, no matter what it is, on purpose.
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Welcome to Grad School is Hard, But... A Thrive PhD podcast. I'm Dr. Katy Peplin and this is a show for everyone who's doing the hard work of being a human and a scholar.
In this season,
I'll be sharing the anchor phrases, tools, and strategies that underpin all of the work that I do with clients as part of Thrive PhD, and of course, the things that work for me as I attempt to be a human and a scholar.
And make sure you check out the link in the show notes for my working more intentionally tool kit. Which is available for you totally for free. Now let's get into it
I am a human and I watch Netflix just like everyone else. I also wander away from my desk to do one thing and find myself doing six other things and forget the original thing that I meant to do. And sometimes I ate a whole bag of candy before I noticed that I had more than just a handful. We all do things on autopilot or we keep doing things without making a conscious decision to do them.
It's actually really hard to do things on purpose. Especially right now when everyone is stressed and, and I mean everyone, it's so much easier to do things in zombie land and then boom, it's the next month, the next week, the next year. So I keep bringing myself back to one of my foundational rules. Do it on purpose.
If you're going to watch Netflix, really watch it. Get some snacks, get a blanket, get cozy and watch every frame. If you're gonna nap, do it on your bed or on your couch, rather than just dozing off at your desk. If you're gonna eat some chips, put them in a bowl. Really go for it. Savor them. Be present.
Enjoy every last crunch. If you're gonna do emails, set some si time aside and put all your attention on that task rather than just mindlessly refreshing your inbox all day and not doing the work that you actually wanted to do. And if you catch yourself in autopilot and let's be real who isn't in autopilot at least part of the day, then you can recenter and ask, wait, am I doing this on purpose?
Rest feels so much more restful when you actually commit to it, instead of just working at 20% and then hoping that you feel rested and then are also somehow done with everything at the end of that session. Work is going to feel more focused and efficient if you're doing task on purpose. With all of your energy focused on it like a laser beam, you might get more done in 15 minutes actually focusing on it than you do in two or three hours with only 20% of your attention.
And when we continually check in with that intentionality, it's so much easier to see the traps that we set for ourselves or the beliefs that we've inherited that really don't benefit us. Are you watching Netflix in the background because you're trying to write and you're so tired that the only way that you could convince yourself to sit down at your workspace is to actually have your media friends on in the background?
Why not actually watch your show? Enjoy an hour or 30 minutes of an actual rest break, and then try again after you're done. Are you trying to work but doing so much in a time and place that isn't really set up to help you thrive? Yeah, maybe you need to make some changes like keeping your phone away from your desk or using a website blocker, closing your email tab so that you can actually do what you meant to do.
There's no shame in using those tools. There's no shame in making it easier to do things on purpose. That's why yoga studios have a door that close closes. That's why people meditate in places that are quiet Sometimes you have to change the environment to help the brain. There's no bad or wrong thing to do, and one of the great benefits of being a grad student is that you have some flexibility.
So if you need to take a 30 minute break at 10 o'clock in the morning, take it. Enjoy your show, have a little breakfast, you make yourself a really good coffee, and then get back to it. Everybody needs to answer emails. Probably almost everybody needs to get some writing done, but if you're gonna do it, try your best to do it on purpose, because when we snap into that autopilot.
That programming of what we need or what we're gonna do, or that little voice in our head. Or maybe it's not even fully a voice that says, Hmm, maybe I'll start with some emails, or, Hmm, maybe I'll just check and see what's going on in the news that programming might not be lining up with what actually needs to happen or what actually helps support you in this particular moment.
Okay. Doing things on purpose lets us actually tune in to how we're feeling, what we need in this specific moment. It might be different than what you needed this morning or what you needed last week, and it lets you make some changes. Doing things on purpose is one of the best ways that I know to work through really sticky seasons, because doing a few things on purpose almost always takes less time and less energy than doing a million things on autopilot.
I am sending you this message because this is what I needed to hear this week myself. It's what I needed to do. I needed to not try and get six things done at a time I needed to do one thing, even if that one thing was take a walk or take a couple of stitches on my sweater or make myself a really good cup of coffee.
Enjoy it, do it on purpose, and I'll see you next week.
📍 Thank you for listening to Grad School is Hard, but... You can find more information and resources in the show notes and at thrive-phd.com. Every month, I'll select one reviewer for a free 45 minute session with me. So please subscribe, rate, and review to help spread the word about the show. Thanks so much and I'll see you again soon!