Minimalism has so many benefits, and you
don’t have to be an extreme minimalist to enjoy its effects. There’s a simple philosophy at work with
owning less: the less you own, the less
time it takes to care for your items, and the more time of yours is freed up. Take the task of dusting as an example. If you have a mantle full of tchotchke’s, it
takes considerably more time to pick each one up, dust it off, dust your
mantle, and return them to their places.
Compare that to a mantle with only 1 or 2 items on it, and how much
easier it would be to dust it. When you
cut your physical possessions down, you also cut your cleaning and organizing
time down. Same is true for possessions
not displayed, but stored away.
Eventually, as life stages change and you need more and different stuff,
you will need to store things that serve you for that life stage, and you will
need to purge. Carefully consider your
possessions and ask yourself these 2 questions:
Do these items serve a purpose in my life now? And Do I love this item? Also beware of the items you “might use one
day” and items that have memories attached to them. Items “you might use one day” can have a
habit of multiplying. Will those items
really save you a significant amount of money of you hold on to them? Do those items serve a hobby that is
realistic for your current life stage or is it actually causing you stress by
hanging on to them because you never seem to get around to that project? I used to love to Scrapbook, but it just does
not fit my busy mom life right now. I am
finishing up a few easy projects, but the ones I know I will not realistically
get to in years to come, I made the decision to just get rid of. Instead, I opted for a combination of digital
photos, and am placing the remainder of the physical photos in photo
boxes. Items that have memories attached
to them can be a bit more difficult to navigate. First, consider how much physical space the
item takes up. Also consider if you are
truly giving proper respect for the special item. If it’s stored in a box in the garage, rarely
to be looked at, maybe it’s time to reconsider.
If it’s neatly organized and has a place of its own, without causing clutter,
then you can most likely feel great about preserving it’s memory in your home. The time and effort you take now in purging
down your items will have an exponential effect on the time you have to enjoy
your family and do the activities you love.
2) Take Time to Day Dream
When was the last time you day
dreamed? I don’t just mean staring off
thinking about relaxing in a day spa during an afternoon where you are feeling
the effects of sleep deprivation and are in the midst of trying to entertain
toddlers. I mean truly day dreamed,
thinking about future adventures and goals.
You may need to schedule some special time for this. It could be as simple as an hour to yourself
on a Saturday morning. Maybe the 8-9am
hour can be your special time of reflection.
Find a quiet coffee shop, go for
a run, or just a quiet spot at home where you will not be disturbed (if that’s
even possible!) Pray, journal,
meditate, do what you need to do to connect and dream. It is so important to have this time of
reflection and dreaming. Sometimes just
being away from the chaos for 1 hour can have a profound impact on your
life. Invite a good friend to join you
if you’d like. Talking things over with
a friend about your hopes, dreams, and even struggles in this life’s journey
can not only be a great stress reliever, but can also result in some “a-ha!”
moments. Make these times of dreaming
and reflection a regular part of your schedule.
In fact, get creative and fight
for these times!
3) Work Rest & Recovery Times Into Your
Schedule
I am guilty of not doing this! Yep, even I, a Professional Organizer has
experienced those weeks where the schedule got so busy, there was practically
no time for regular routines of putting away, cleaning, prepping foods ahead of
time, and even significant rest, connection, and down time. Sure, I was rocking the schedule, doing a lot,
experiencing a lot, having fun, and feeling like we were not missing out on
anything. Many probably know this feeling well. You are tired when you get home from all of
your activities, errands, and commitments, but yet there is still so much to do
at home. Dishes are in the sink, toys
everywhere, corners of who knows what collecting, and scraping together
sandwiches at the last minute for the kid’s lunches. I hate these weeks! I hate the feeling so much, when I feel that
feeling creeping up on me, I immediately look at my calendar to see if I have
down time in the next few days. I call
this my “Rest & Recovery” time to work some order back into the house and
my sanity! If I see crazy schedules
during those days, I start saying no.
There is so much power in saying no.
Ask yourself, what will my family and I really benefit more from, this
appointment/commitment in my schedule, or some time to recover, plan, and enjoy
just simply being together? There can
even be some truly amazing bonding time as a family doing household tasks
together. Also, have you ever
experienced a peace and calming when taking care of a sick child? Maybe it was quite a disappointment to have
to cancel events and miss out on some things because of the sickness, but
instead the downtime brought some much needed time not only for your little one
to rest and recover but for you to do so as well? Maybe you were finally able to take that much
needed nap while snuggling. Or, perhaps
you finally got to purge and organized the playroom during that time. Maybe you and your child had some amazing
time reading books and playing board games.
Embrace ”Rest & Recovery” time!
4) Determine Your Focus
Overscheduling. Unfortunately it’s become almost epidemic in
today’s modern family life. We are
overscheduling ourselves and our children.
It’s something I personally struggle with. There is simply so much in this world that
interests me, I want to do it all! I
want to learn more and experience a lot.
Nowadays we have so much at our fingertips with the Internet, we are
exposed to things we didn’t even know we wanted to do! Pinterest projects, YouTube Videos of
fashions and DIY Projects to get to “one day.”
All of this can add to feelings of stress, anxiety, and inadequacy. We want to do it all, and others appear to be
doing it all on social media outlets like Facebook. We may even go to the craft store and get all
the supplies for those DIY projects and start doing some of them, only to be
sideswiped by life’s happenings and not able to finish, then cycling back to
those negative feelings. I’m not saying
don’t do those projects. You do however
need focus. Determine the projects,
activities, sports, classes, etc. that are most important to you and your
family. My kids love practically every
class I’ve taken them to. If there was
enough time in the week, they would be going to Gymnastics, Tennis, Karate,
Baseball, Soccer, Dance, Scouts, Music and Swimming! Instead of packing the schedule out, we pick
a few, making sure it will not interfere with other important things in our
schedule like family and church time, and also that much needed “Rest &
Recovery” time. Some activities can be
done seasonally too. Pick only a few activities,
being realistic with your schedule. Be
sure to communicate with your family members about what their desires are, and
figure out what are the most valuable activities.
5) Sleep Itself
Finally, there is so much value in sleep
itself. The statistics speak for
themselves. In September, 2015, the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) declared insufficient sleep as a public
health problem. The National Institutes
of Health (NIH) suggests that school aged children need at least 10 hours of
sleep daily, teens need 9-10 hours, and adults need 7-8 hours. (More of this data can be referenced
at:
http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/)
If you are simplifying a lot in your life,
working “Rest & Recovery” time into your schedule and have less possessions,
there should be ample time for you to work more sleep in. If you have a newborn, you are probably
reading this and thinking – yeah right, that’s not going to happen!! Hang in there! When my kids were babies, and when I actually
took the advice of “sleep when the baby sleeps,” I have to admit, I felt pretty
good. It didn’t happen all the time, but
there was some great value in that advice – it really worked! Sure my house was a wreck, but we
recovered! Give yourself some slack and
know that you are doing your health and your family a huge favor by putting
more priority and value on sleep. Also, embrace your status as a night owl or
early bird. I am a night owl. I do some of my best thinking and creating at
night. You will never be able to get me out
of bed at 5am. That’s just simply not
going to happen! I have even slept in
clothes for the next day on an occasion where I had to awaken super early. I love sleeping in! (When I can, which is not
too often!) I know some other moms who
thrive by waking up at 4am, and are very productive, doing laundry, packing
lunches, checking e-mail, working out and cooking breakfast before their family
wakes up. Embrace what you are, and
thrive!
