Tuesday, August 20, 2013

How I Started to Simplify My Life

Are you feeling overwhelmed with your day to day life? Do you think you need to simplify your life? Simplifying your life is something that can happen. You just have to believe it and try to find something you are more comfortable with.

Sometimes the scariest step is the first one. The step that begins the roller-coaster of commitment. That first step is what made me take a few years of just thinking of ways I needed and wanted to change my life for the better. Maybe the speed of your life is perfect for you. And that is wonderful. I applaud you for already finding where you want to be. I hope we all can take steps to find health and happiness in our day to day.

I've thought lots about how to simplify my life to make it better (for me). It wasn't just about making the holidays more simple. It wasn't just about organizing my linen closet. Of course those things help... but they weren't the root of what I needed to change. I felt scattered and I felt everywhere all at once and not always in a good way. This is where I began to slow down, strip away the extras so that they would no longer complicate my lifestyle.

A Few Things I did to Simplify my Everyday Life...

Purging the Stuff
-I began by cleaning out boxes, drawers, shelves. I'm still cleaning out drawers, shelves, rooms and spaces. But it is important to me to know what I had and decide if I needed it. Of course then I donated (and am still donating) items that we do not need. I'm finding that the less I have the more I use the items I love.

Setting the Home
-I am slowly creating spaces we want to spend time in. Spaces that are more productive because there is less distraction. There is more room for thoughts, creativity, and the belongings that are important to us. I set spaces with specific feelings in mind. I consider how I want to spend time in those spaces and it is easy to know where to start.

Figuring Out the Finances
- I begun to make sound choices which simplified my spending and streamlined paying off our debt. Our family is aware of the money coming in and going out and how to pay off our current debt while trying not to make loads of new debt.

Losing the Drive
- I was in the car a lot. Now I work in walking distance of my home. I can bike to the library. We garden and our CSA program delivers to our home. We also find local places to fulfill our needs of services and where to buy our goods.

Learning to Say No
- I feel less overwhelmed when I identify only a few important tasks to do each day or evening. I say "no" or "wait" to everything else on my to-do list. And then I don't feel badly that I didn't accomplish more each day. I have found that this also provides me with some time to get to other tasks that I just simply enjoy.


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