Getting to Good Enough

It is so easy for even the most ingrained habits to go by the wayside when you have a change in routine or other disruption. This week, Janine and Shannon discuss taking baby steps to reinvigorate your beneficial habits. Discussion topics include: • Janine's good-enough pre-Halloween raking of leaves • How disruption of routine can affect habits • Looking forward to the habits you need now, rather than blindly trying to recreate past habits • Janine's daily yoga practice that she's trying to rejuvenate • Allowing small efforts to count when you're building or rebuilding habits • Shannon's end of-the-day-yoga practice with her husband • Another beneficial habit: Making the bed • Shannon and Janine's favorite habit: Working on YNAB (You Need A Budget) every morning • Another habit Shannon is reinvigorating, using her Bullet Journal (in concert with Todoist) • Janine's enthusiastic use of her Bullet Journal • The value of the Bullet Journal index • Pairing new habits with existing ones Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for pictures and links!

Being sick is hard. And perfectionism can make it even harder. In this episode Shannon and Janine talk with Jen Singer medical writer and author of the Just Diagnosed Guides. Jen has had her share of illnesses and she has used her extensive experience as a medical writer and a sick person to help other people diagnosed with illness, as well the people who care about them. Jen also shares how being ill helped cure her perfectionism! Discussion topics include: • The journey that led Jen to helping people who are sick and those who care for them Jen's Just Diagnosed Guides • Jen's mission to take the loneliness out of illness • Janine's experience as the caregiver to a heart patient • Why googling your medical condition isn't a great idea • How Jen learned the hard way to let go of perfectionism when she was ill the first time • Energy triage • Living with a chronic disease • Jen's advice on figuring out how you want to spend your time • The importance of self care and how the pandemic might have made it easier • Supporting someone with an acute illness vs a chronic one • The thing to say to a sick person: "How is it for you today?" (And then listen) • What NOT to say to a sick person • "It's not enough to mean well. Do better." • More about how being sick cured Jen of perfectionism • The physical consequences of perfectionism • Resisting googling a diagnosis • Letting go of perfectionism if you're a caregiver • The Circles of Grief Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links!

It can be so rewarding to volunteer for a deserving organization. But it can difficult to find the right place. In this episode, Janine and Shannon discuss some considerations and strategies for finding an organization to donate your time or money. Discussion topics include: • Avoiding perfectionism in finding a place to volunteer • How Shannon found her volunteer gig at a pediatric ICU • Ways to let it be easier to find volunteer opportunities • How it's hard to take action when you don't what you want to do • Considerations for selecting a charitable action • Some different ways to volunteer • Trying out some places before making a long-term volunteer commitment • Some of the benefits to volunteering • How perfectionism can also get in the way of donating goods • Some of the perils to wanting to donate to the perfect charity • Oregon's Cultural Trust that can help make it easy to donate Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for loads of links!

Janine's father, Gene, passed away in August and she was the beneficiary of much help and kindness from her friends, including Shannon. This week, we discuss her experience and some of the things that have made navigating loss a little easier for Janine. Discussion topics include: • The beautiful fall weather that Shannon and Janine are enjoying this year • The passing of Janine's father, Gene Adams, on August 20, 2022 • The extra difficulty of losing a second parent • The intense feeling of being alone that Janine experienced after his passing • Janine's great relief when Shannon offered to drop everything and drive 4.5 hours to be with her that day • How another friend, Denise, flew cross-country to support Janine and help her navigate all the tasks that needed to be done • The somewhat bizarre visit the three of us made to the funeral home • The unique burial approach we took with Gene's ashes (it involves a basketball) • How Janine (with Denise's encouragement and help) let it be easy to create a slide show for the memorial service • The preparations Gene and Janine had made in advance that made the week after his death easier • The help Janine received from family caregivers to clear out Gene's apartment in a week • The value of seeking and accepting help during difficult times • The wonderful restaurant, Kinglet, that served up great food and kindness to Janine throughout her stay in Walla Walla • Recognizing that there is no right way to navigate loss • Giving yourself grace • How Janine got the date wrong in her father's obituary • The value of getting help from someone who is a step removed emotionally • The toll that grief can take on your brain power Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com to see a picture of the basketball urn and for a link to a special restaurant.

We're back! After an absence of six weeks, Janine and Shannon are happy to be back at our microphones! This week we're discussing Shannon's trip of a lifetime, her 217-mile walk along the Camino de Santiago. In the episode we learn all about her amazing trip, including how perfectionism sometimes reared its head. Discussion topics include: • Shannon's daily routine while she was walking the Camino • The details of Shannon's solo trip (she walked 217 miles in 18 days!) • How Shannon shared the images and memories of the trip each day • How perfectionism got in the way of her keeping a sketch journal of the trip • The after-the-fact sketch journal she's now creating • How this really was a "trip of a lifetime" • Finding accommodations the night before vs planning multiple days at once • How it can feel like more pressure to get it right when you're traveling alone • Shannon's "finish line" experience at the end of the walk Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for some great links!

It can be really helpful to let go of perfectionism when preparing for big things. Shannon is embracing imperfection in her preparations for her much-anticipated trip to Portugal. This episode Shannon and Janine discuss preparing imperfectly as a way to free yourself from stress. Discussion topics include: • Shannon's (imperfect) preparation for her month-long trip to Portugal • Shannon's itinerary • The 175-mile solo walking part of her trip • Janine's over preparation for her 4,000-mile solo driving trip in 2020 • Asking for help in finding the right backpack • The kindness of Shannon's naturopath in lending her a backpack • Shannon's walking footwear • How Shannon is figuring out what clothing to take on the trip • Shrugging off the stress of potentially making the wrong decision • Shannon's mantra: "It will be fine. I can always make a different choice." Note: We'll be taking a few weeks off while Shannon is in Portugal. See you back on October 13!

Being authentic can be hard, especially if you want to project a perfect image. Back in October 2020, we talked all about authenticity and we wanted to share again. Enjoy! Shannon and Janine both embrace being authentic. But we understand that if you have a tendency toward perfectionism that it can be hard not to strive to appear perfect. In this episode, we discuss the value of authenticity and how it can make your life easier. Discussion topics include: • How perfectionism can make it harder to show up authentically and be your true self in public • How sharing your own imperfections can help you help others. • Shannon and Janine’s “warts and all” approach to presenting themselves • How this podcast helps us be authentic • The value of being approachable and human • How Janine came to terms with being authentic about being messy as a professional organizer • The imperfection that is baked into our podcast • How being authentic is much less stressful! • The self recrimination behind not living up to a persona that you created • Saying what you think even if you think the other person won’t want to hear it • Making (sometimes false) assumptions about what people are asking • Shannon’s trick: She assumes that anyone who asks her something is thinking, “Doesn’t hurt to ask" • The freedom of not caring how you’re perceived as long as you’re being authentic • Shannon’s approach to authenticity when she was dating

Shannon is an avid gardener (Janine actively avoids it) and this year her gardening efforts got a very late start. In this episode Shannon and Janine discuss embracing good enough in the garden and acknowledge that an imperfect garden is better than no garden at all. Discussion topics include: • Janine's aversion to getting her hands dirty • Shannon's gardening-glove strategy • How Shannon finds herself getting caught up in perfectionism in gardening • Seeing the problems instead of enjoying the successes in the garden • How there's always room for improvement with a garden • Shannon's late start on her garden this year and its ramifications • How Shannon let go of perfectionism and bought the (imperfect) plant starts that were available • Janine's good-enough rain garden that requires very little tending • Shannon's rain garden • Shannon's good-enough zinnia garden • Embracing good enough gardening next year See the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for garden photos!

Perfectionists tend to want to have all their ducks in a row before getting started on a new project. That tendency can be paralyzing. And it's so unnecessary. In this episode, which originally ran in November 2018, Janine and Shannon talk about how just starting where you are can benefit you in so many ways. Discussion topics include: • Why things don’t have to be perfect in order for you to get started • That just by starting and moving forward, you create momentum • How you don’t know what you need to know until you start • The paralyzing effect of perfectionism • Some current examples from Janine and Shannon’s lives of how they struggle with this • How thinking of doing something as a practice or experiment can take the pressure off a new project • Starting a new system now and worrying about the backlog later • The impossibility of setting up a perfect system before you start • How stopping things that aren’t working out for you is smart Visit the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links!

Sometimes we have to be persistent in order to settle disputes that arise. And that can be a source of stress. In this week's episode, Shannon and Janine discuss making resolution easier (and potentially more effective) by staying positive during the process. Discussion topics include: • The happy message on Shannon's chai latte • How Shannon's husband, Mike, has been a model of positive persistence • The emotional toll that calls to customer service or disputes can take • How persistence can pay off--and be easier when you keep a positive attitude • The value of treating customer service personnel like actual human beings • Remembering that you're dealing with people who are trying to do their jobs (and their job isn't to make your life miserable) • Making other people's lives better simply by being nice to them • News flash: There's always a way to approach a problem to get it resolved--you're not at the company's mercy • Stepping away from the situation for a moment to get in touch with why it's resolving it is important to you • How it can be so much faster (and easier) just to pick up the phone and seek a resolution than perseverate about it • Taking conflict resolution one step at a time • Getting the ball rolling with a phone call rather than putting it off to give yourself space to step away when necessary • One of Shannon's NLP techniques for helping you make that call (it involves the palm of your hand) • Asking yourself, "What's one thing I can do now?" to let go of perfectionism Check out the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com.