Gemini-Approved Life Hacks
3 Unexpected Ways Gemini Energy Can Enhance Your Life
Welcome & Welcome Back, Witches!
And just like that, Gemini is upon us! This week the sun as well as both benefics — Jupiter and Venus — move into the sign of the twins. As they do so, all three bodies will trine Pluto in Aquarius.
To honor this more focused start to the typically flighty season, I’m going to do something a little different than my typical deep dive. Instead, I want to explore the archetype by looking at some of my favorite Gemini-flavored life hacks and productivity practices.
Whether you have strong Gemini placements or not, today you’ll learn the best ways to put your own Gemini energy to best use.
What am I waiting for? Let’s get to it!
PSST: Do you ever think about filling your life with more…magic? I have! And I have all kinds of ways to support you in doing so, and I’ve cataloged them all here:
Busy, Brainy Bees: Gemini 101
Before we get into the hacks themselves, let’s get acquainted with Gemini and its energy signature. Gemini, like its cousin Virgo, is a Mercury-ruled sign, so its highly communication driven. Also like Virgo, it’s a mutable sign, meaning it governs the end of a season (spring), so it thrives on transition and change.
Unlike grounded Virgo, Gemini is an air sign, so it leans highly on ideas and intellect. This, combined with Mercury’s influence, means it’s all about collecting and disseminating ideas. Gemini also oversees the transition from spring to summer, in contrast to Virgo guiding us into the descent into fall and winter, so Gemini energy is frenetically building up as the summer approaches.
It’s basically like the busy little bee of the zodiac, zipping from flower to flower, often in a confusingly circuitous route, gathering and spreading information as it goes.
This is an exciting and energizing mindset — collecting and sharing ideas can be a lot of fun! — but it can also be overwhelming to have so many of them, and no clear path forward.
So with that in mind, here are my three favorite ways to empower that busy-bee mental energy, no matter where or how it shows up for you.
Hack 1: Try Ta-Da! List
The Gemini Challenge: In the collection mindset, it’s all too easy for Gemini to gather 1,000 related and unrelated tasks, quickly drowning itself in a never-ending to-do list. This energy, geared towards breaking things down and getting into the weeds, sees all that goes into that BIG project, and once overwhelmed by it, often avoids the project as a way to cope.
How to Hack It: The next time you have a big project or just an overwhelming amount of things to do, try starting with a ta-da! list — a list of everything you’ve done so far — before you make your to-do list.
With new project, for example, create a list of projects you’re proud of. For a project in progress, list out everything you’ve done so far. Or to get a handle on your daily life tasks, take a moment to reflect on everything you completed in the last day or week. Take a beat to look at your list and celebrate how far you’ve come before moving on to what needs to be done.
Why It Works: It’s easy to get lost in the weeds of big projects and daily life. The ta-da! list practice doesn’t avoid that Gemini urge to get into the details; it rewards it, showing how much you are capable of. It’s also an incredibly grounding exercise, orienting you to your own capacity and the priorities that resonate with you, so your to-do list is a better reflection of what is actually important to.
Plus, we all deserve a pat on the back now and then.
Hack 2: Define Minimum Viable Possibility
The Gemini Challenge: Gemini energy loves to deploy its info-gathering superpower for almost any decision — from where to live to what to have for dinner tonight. But when a decision needs to be made, that superpower quickly turns into an obstacle in the form of analysis aaralysis. Instead of feeling empowered by research and options, Gemini will only feel overwhelmed by the pressure to make the Best Choice™.
How to Hack It: My favorite tool to get around analysis paralysis is actually something I borrowed from the tech world: Minimum Viable Product Possibility, or MVP.
Let’s say, for example, you want to buy a new washing machine. Do you want something stacked or side-by-side? Is water usage important to you? Front or Top load? Agitator or Impeller? It’s easy to get lost in the possibilities.
To create an MVP list for this decision, you would go through the potential features and identify any that you absolutely must have and no more. Once you find an option that meets those needs, you’re done! If you’re still stuck between two similar possibilities, lean into the playful side of Mercury and make the deciding factor something inane, like the font on the machine or a game of eenie-meanie-miney-moe.
Why It Works: Folks can be really uncomfortable with any suggestion of lowering standards. I can already feel former colleagues cringing, but hear me out.
MVP works because it isn’t about lowering your standards, but about getting crystal clear on your absolute requirements and sticking to them. Once these needs are met, you can take the pressure off because all your answers are ‘right!’
Hack 3: Consider Habit Menus
The Gemini Challenge: The idea of habits can be compelling for Gemini — after all, they sound so effective and experts swear by them! But in practice, Gemini energy gets easily bored by routine and either gets distracted by something new or collects additional habits until the routine becomes unsustainable.
How to Hack It: Instead of a habit, create a habit menu, that is, a menu of options to choose from that all ‘count.’ For example, my own morning routine leans on this idea:
Mindful Block: Hard Yoga, Easy Yoga, or Meditation
Heart Rate Block: 20-Minute Bike Workout, 30-Minute Open Ride, or 15-Minute Power Walk
Breakfast Block: Eggs, Protein Smoothie, Fruit Bowl, or Savory Veggies
Brainy Block: Puzzles, Reading, or Reflection time
Why It Works: For plenty of people, this absolutely will not work; so many options will lead to decision fatigue before 9 am. That is totally valid.
But Gemini rules my 6th house, which includes habits, and my personal experience is that this is about the only way I can maintain a habit long-term. For Gemini energy and Mercury-ruled folks in general, options are key to staying engaged and interested.
Blocks offer structure and encourage commitment, while leaving room for novelty and incorporating new information without having to start every habit from scratch each time you learn something new or interesting. There’s room to try that meditation app everyone is talking about or space to experiment with aligning your breakfast menu with the seasons.
Keeping Gemini’s attention is a tall order and saving room for novelty can mean the difference between maintaining a habit, and writing it off altogether.
And That’s All She Wrote!
She, of course, being me. I hope you enjoyed the read — I had a lot of fun writing it for you!
Reply to this email or leave a comment to let me know what you thought of this style of post and whether you tried any of these tools, and how it went! I love to hear your stories, plus every interaction really helps the newsletter’s visibility. 💜💜💜
See you all next Tuesday for more planetary fun and who knows what else!
Or upgrade to a paid subscription to get the monthly Witches Get Stuff Done calendar download, monthly bonus post, and other seasonal goodies!