Get It Together, Weirdo

Unleashing Your Inner Nerd: The Power of Experimentation

• Sarah Bowser, That Weird Nerdy Mom • Episode 10

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 Do you want to figure out how to manage the different aspects of your life based on, you know, actual facts? If so, it's time to experiment. 

In this episode of the Get It Together, Weirdo podcast, host and coach Sarah Bowser guides you through the art of experimentation to manage life's chaos. Discover how adopting a scientific approach can help you tackle your to-do list, create routines, and even explore new hobbies.

For Sarah, experimenting has been a game changer. It's how she figured out what she wants to do in life, how she wants to organize her time, and what books and hobbies she enjoys. Sarah shares how you can bring experimentation into your own life, overcome the fear of trying new things, and use this approach to create a life that feels good and works for your unique brain. 

This episode is perfect if you’re seeking practical, evidence-based solutions to life's challenges. 

If you want to stay in the loop on new episodes, posts, and other tidbits that Sarah shares, go to thatweirdnerdymom.com to hop on her email list, or join her for weekly coworking on Mondays. 

What you’ll learn in this episode: 

  • How to use experimentation to manage various aspects of your life
  • Why you should reframe fears around trying new things as opportunities for curiosity
  • The importance of having flexible boundaries that support your growth and well-being instead of adhering to rigid societal standards
  • How to experiment with small changes in your everyday life, then reflect on the outcomes for greater self-awareness and satisfaction

Noteworthy quotes from this episode: 

“Experimentation can help you approach things with curiosity and confidence instead of anxiety and overwhelm.” 

“It's not a failure, it's feedback, and that feedback helps you make better choices moving forward.” 

“Experimenting with boundaries can help you figure out what's truly serving you. And what might need adjusting. Ask yourself, are my boundaries supporting my health and happiness, or are they holding me back?”

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Episode 10: Unleashing Your Inner Nerd

Welcome to Get It Together, Weirdo, the podcast where we dive into ways to help you figure out how you can tackle your to-dos, keep track of your side quests, and manage your time in a way that works for your brain so you can focus on nerding out on the things that make you do a happy dance. I'm Sarah Bowser, your get your shit together coach and resident weirdo, here to guide you on your journey. So let's get it together, weirdo.

Hey there, my wonderfully weird friend. Welcome back to another episode of Get It Together Weirdo, where we embrace our quirks and find creative ways to make life work for us. A quick question for you to start us off today. Do you want to figure out how to manage the different aspects of your life based on, you know, actual facts? If so, it's time to experiment.

Even if you've never considered yourself a science-y kind of person, you can still experiment with your life in fun, practical ways in order to get evidence-based solutions that work for your specific needs. Whether it's figuring out how to organize your day, trying out a new hobby, or just deciding what to make for dinner, experimentation can help you approach things with curiosity and confidence instead of anxiety and overwhelm.

So what happens when we take a little inspiration from the scientific method to create lives that work for us? And before you start picturing me or yourself in a lab coat with goggles on, let me be clear. Experimentation doesn't have to be a Dr. Doofenshmirtz mad scientist in the lab kind of thing. It's not about beakers and explosions, although that may be kind of fun. It's about having a structured way to try new things, to gather evidence, and figure out what actually works for you.

For me, experimenting has been a game changer. It's how I figured out what I want to do in life, how I want to organize my time, even what books and hobbies I enjoy. It can be as simple as asking, What happens if I try this? and then giving myself permission to play around to find the answer.

So today we're going to talk about how you can bring experimentation into your life, overcome the fear of trying new things, and use this approach to create a life that feels good and works for your unique brain. So let's start with a little science, shall we?

Hopefully, we've all learned about the scientific method in school. It's really just a fancy way of saying, Let's figure this shit out step by step. And the basic idea is simple. First, we ask a question. What do you want to know or solve? Then we'll do some research and gather some information and ideas. Third, we'll form a hypothesis. We'll take a guess, basically, at what might work, and then we're going to test it out. Try it. Try the thing.

After you're done trying it out, you've got to analyze the results and reflect on what happened, and then finally draw your conclusion. Decide what you learned and what you want to do next. And you can totally adapt this for non-sciency purposes. Maybe you're trying to figure out the best way to manage your to-do list. So your hypothesis is something like, Using a digital task manager will help me feel less overwhelmed. Then you test it out for a week or two, see how it feels, figure out what you like and don't like, determine what works for you, or if maybe you need to try something else.

Let's be real, though. Trying new things can be scary. Fear often shows up in sneaky ways. When we're thinking about experimenting, we worry about failure, about wasting time, about what other people might think about us for trying certain things. And these fears can keep us stuck in the same old patterns, even when we know those patterns aren't working.

But guess what? Most of these fears aren't actually dangerous. They just feel big and overwhelming at that moment. One trick that's helped me is reframing those fears as curiosity. So instead of thinking, What if this goes horribly wrong? try asking, What will I learn if I give this a shot? Instead of, How utterly embarrassing will this be when I fail? try, How will the results of this experiment help me figure out what to do next?

When you approach things with curiosity instead of fear, it opens the door to all kinds of possibilities, and it makes the whole process a bit more fun. Experimentation also gives you permission to let go of the all-or-nothing mindset. You don't have to commit to a new system, hobby, or approach forever and ever and ever. Trying something out doesn't mean you're married to it. It's just a test. If it works, great. If it doesn't, eh, no worries. You just gained some valuable knowledge.

For me, this mindset has been so freeing because instead of feeling overwhelmed with guilt or anxiety when something doesn't work all the time, I can look at it as part of the process. It's not a failure, it's feedback. And that feedback helps me make better choices moving forward.

Let's talk about how you can design your own experiments, starting with a few tips to keep things nice and manageable. You want to start small. You don't want to overwhelm yourself with too many experiments at once. Pick one or two things to focus on, then move on to your next experiment after you've wrapped those first ones up. Then you want to give yourself a time frame. How long are you going to test something before you reflect on it? A week? Two weeks? A month?

And then at the end of your experiment, you want to reflect and assess. Take some time to think about how it felt, what worked, what didn't. What would you do differently next time? And let's say you're experimenting with a new morning routine. Maybe you decide to try to eat a healthy breakfast before you have your three cups of coffee. After a week, you check in with yourself. Did it feel good? Do you feel as though that helped you feel better throughout the day? Or was it just annoying to not get your caffeine fix first thing in the morning? Based on your answers, you can then tweak your approach or try something else.

Now let's talk about boundaries for a minute. Because boundaries are super important, but they also need to serve you. And sometimes the boundaries that we set can end up hindering our growth instead of supporting our well-being. Maybe you've set a boundary around how much time you can spend on hobbies because you're worried about being productive. But what if loosening that boundary and allowing yourself to spend a little bit more time on your hobbies could actually help you feel more balanced and energized? Experimenting with boundaries can help you figure out what's truly serving you and what might need adjusting.

Ask yourself, are my boundaries supporting my health and happiness, or are they holding me back? And please remember that expanding your boundaries does not mean abandoning them altogether. It's about finding a balance that works for you. Don't break down boundaries that you've established that you know are good for your health, safety, and well-being. You just want to consider what boundaries that you may be imposing on yourself because of societal standards that don't actually serve you in a healthier, supportive way.

So here's your homework, my wonderful weirdo. Pick one small thing to experiment with. It could be a new way to organize your tasks, a new hobby you've been curious about, or even just trying out a different kind of snack. Because, let's be honest, snacks are important. Give it a try. Reflect on how it feels. And remember, you're not aiming for perfection. You're just gathering information to figure out what works for you.

If you want to stay in the loop on new episodes, posts, and other tidbits I share, hop on my email list or join us for weekly co-working on Mondays. I'd love to have you in the community. 

Thanks so much for listening today. You can find complete show notes, links to resources mentioned, as well as a link to our co-working community on our website, thatweirdnerdymom.com. Be sure to leave a rating or review and check me out on Instagram @thatweirdnerdymom. Feel free to shoot me a DM. I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, my wonderful weirdo. You've got this. Bring out your weird.