Simplify Your Life

Monday morning…..

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Do you have a hundred things going on –  work, family, social life, daily responsibilities, goals, and the list goes on, right?  Has the day just started and you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all?

I admit on a regular basis I can be a ‘hot mess” from my desk to the dust bunnies under the coach.  I  love to de-clutter and organize.  Having two in the house who like to save “just in case” can make for a lot of “stuff”.  I working on a room at a time (okay so maybe a closet/cabinet at a time) cleaning things out.

Sometimes we overcomplicate our own lives. I know we don’t mean to, it just happens. So for 2017, we are going to work on clearing the clutter – emotionally and physically.  Once the clutter is gone, we can embrace the many blessings the Universe has for us.  So, let’s start with some basics:

CLEAN AS YOU GO

Don’t let the dishes pile up in the sink.  Make the bed right after you get up in the morning. Open the mail as soon as you get home – tossing junk mail which is mostly what we get, creates a smaller pile to read later.  Doing things “as you go” will keep things neat and believe it or not, you won’t have to spend a lot of time constantly cleaning.

RE-EVALUATE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

We all have them – toxic relationships.  The people who suck the energy from us, are negative all of the time or just aren’t good for you. Don’t be afraid to cut ties with people like this. Your time is precious, so you want to spend it with people you care about, and people who make you feel good about you.

UNSUBSCRIBE

OMG!  You will be amazed at the difference this makes in your life.  Honestly, how many hours do you spend deleting messages from your inbox? I have actually started to unsubscribe to lists instead of just hitting delete.  By unsubscribing, you are also coming off lists to get things from their “associates”.  You know more junk emails instead of junk mail.  Unsubscribing will make your inbox neater and so much easier to read.

DE-CLUTTER

Get rid of old things like clothes, dishes, electronics, magazines, furniture you no longer need- donate what you can.  Too many material possessions sitting around can make you feel drained and can complicate things,  taking your attention away from what matter’s most.

WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS

I’m not talking about HUGE goals, I mean the small daily ones. I now put in my planner and block time for – reading, cleaning tasks, calls to make, errands to run and  general life stuff.  I limit myself to 3 tasks in my business and 3 tasks in my home.  It has helped me to increase my focus and get things done.

FORGET MULTITASKING

I was the Queen of multitasking.  You know what, it is stressful and ultimately unproductive.   You can get so much more done when you focus on a single task by time-blocking and scheduling your work.

CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

Are you always running out the door in a rush?  What if you got up just 15 minutes earlier every morning?  Getting an early start could give you more time to sit down and write out your to-do list, prepare lunch and getting ready for the day.

RE-EVALUATE YOUR COMMITMENTS

What matters most to you?  Home life, social life, work, side-work, family, hobbies, friends, worship? If you are doing something you don’t love or it doesn’t give you value, give it up – if you can.  This one can be tough but it will make the most difference in your life.

SAY NO

Don’t feel obligated to say “yes” when it is something you don’t feel like doing? “NO” is a sentience all by itself.  There is no need to explain yourself – if you don’t want to do it, just say no.

Life is crazy – we constantly feel like we need to be connected or doing something.  We look back at a simpler time in our lives and say “what happened?”.

Some where along the way, we stopped valuing our time.  Life is too short, it is time to do the things we want and we like doing. Not saying “yes” to spending time with people we don’t necessarily want to be around. De-cluttering, getting rid of anything  which doesn’t serve you will help you simplify your life and feel more at peace.

Lots more tips and tricks on simplifying your life this year…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!