It’s now November and that usually means I’m always in a rush. Whether it’s because of Thanksgiving or preparing for Christmas, there’s always something going on.
If you (like me) want to have an easier time than last year, there are a few things you can change to make these next two months a breeze and really enjoy any time off you might have.
What’s the secret? I realized that if I could simplify a few key areas of my life everything would just become a lot easier.
I decided to focus on four key areas of my life. In other words, I wrote down four things I really wanted to be better than they were last year:
- I wanted to be a good Mom.
- I wanted to earn enough money to make sure my family enjoyed life.
- I wanted to have free time to be able to enjoy the things I crave in life.
- I wanted to eliminate the stress from my life and stop running in that hamster wheel.
So what did that mean? It meant:
- I found out what my kids wanted me to do with them, and I did it.
- I found a job that paid the money I needed to enjoy the lifestyle we wanted.
- I like to read, I’m crafty and I’m sporty, so I found time to allocate these activities into my weekly schedule.
- I thought about who and what causes me stress and reduced the amount of time I spent in those areas.
After tackling these things, it made me happier. I have more energy. And I enjoy life so much more. The usual stress that comes with this time of year is significantly reduced and I’m ready to enjoy whatever happens.
Now let’s discuss those four ways to simplify your life.
Top 4 Things to Simplify Your Life Today
1. Work Out Priorities With A Planner
Here’s the first step.
Using a weekly/hourly planner, I marked out areas of priority.
For example:
- I knew I needed a good amount of sleep to stay happy and healthy. I marked out 10pm-6am as sleep time.
- I like going for a walk in the morning. So I marked out 6.15am-7am as walking time.
- I usually prepare dinner at 6pm and then marked out some time to eat and clean up by 7.15pm.
- I work between 9am-5pm.
Pretty easy, right? Once you have marked out your priority hours, you can see where you have gaps and start planning where you can add more priorities.
2. Learn To Say No
This becomes really easy to do if you have already done step 1.
You will have a good idea of what time you have free and how you want to spend that time, so saying a simple “thanks but I can’t make it”, or “no, I can’t schedule that in until next week” makes the decision swift and painless.
You get to be in control without agonizing indecision or guilt creeping in.
3. Simplify Your Wardrobe
This has been so life-changing, I can’t tell you enough!
I have a standard color collection, that allows me to mix and match a variety of clothes. It’s so easy to coordinate these colors, and it makes everything more streamlined.
I also streamlined the choice of clothes. For example, I always wear a dress to work, and I always wear shorts, pants or jeans for the days I’m on a school run. It makes the clothing choice decision so much easier when you have given yourself guidelines.
You can always change your mind of course, but on those days when you’re having trouble deciding what to wear, you have a no-nonsense fallback plan and an easy go-to outfit.
4. Turn Off Notifications
Notifications drive me mad. Whether it’s for games or work, I turn all notifications off during my priority hours that I set in step 1.
The constant ‘ping’ of a notification meant I stopped concentrating on what I was doing at that moment. Lack of focus really slows down the day.
I don’t need my phone for work, so I don’t have notifications coming through for email or other communication tools. It helps keep me focused and it’s one less distraction to deal with.
There are loads of other things you can do to simply your life at this time of year, but it’s hard to make big changes at once. Once you have a handle on these four things, you can start working on other ways to simplify life. Being able to regain control and be productive is proof that small changes can work.
