Our physical and mental space can become hopelessly cluttered. These five steps can help set you straight again.
Our lives and homes are full of clutter. Things to do as well as “stuff” to keep. Our brain is overloaded keeping it all straight. But when we try to think about simplifying it seems like too much. We couldn’t get rid of anything, we need it all! But do you really? These five steps can help bring you to simple living in the next year.
1. What are the most important things in your life. We all have core values, things that are most important to us. Our lives should focus around these things. Write them down if that will help you stay focused. You should make a list of 3 to 5. Common sense says we should direct the decisions we make to focus on these important values, but life can get murky. Without re-evaluating this from time to time you may find yourself spending a lot of time and energy on things that aren’t truly important to you at all.
2. Saying YES has consquences. Many people have a hard time saying no. But if your goal is simplified Zen living, you are going to need to get better at it! By taking on more and more you have no down or free time in your day. This means no time for you to do things you truly enjoy. If you are already overcommitted really consider the consequence of saying “yes”. What are you giving up? What are you not going to do as well because of your new time limits?
3. Clear the Top of Your Desk. Having a clean workspace is going to make you more productive. On top of that many of the papers piled on top of your desk likely belong in your home filing system- it’s time to put them there. Knowing where papers are for future references can be a big stress saver. Be decisive as you clear off your desk. Putting off a decision about whether to keep something, or where to put it, is procrastination. And procrastination will eat your time! Every day you think about a decision you are waiting to make you slowly throw away more time!
4. Start Simple. If you are completely overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning out your home office, then start small. Clean out a drawer in your desk. Keep the items in your drawer that you treasure and love OR that are useful to you. Everything else goes. If you have a lot of papers clean out this drawer with a paper shredder handy. Papers that you need go into your home filing system, papers that you don’t go into the shredder!
5. Create a Plan and Follow to It. Do you check your email, twitter, Facebook, or do other tasks compulsively? Decide how many times a day you really need to do those things. You are wasting time and eating up your entire day by going back and forth between all of these things. You don’t need to stop doing them, just have a plan about how often you’re going to. Try hard to stick to your limits for a few days, see how much time you gain!
Zen Living in the Next Year
These five tasks may still seem like too much. Start with just one. Today you can start simplifying your time by de-cluttering, taking advantage of a home filing system, and freeing up more time in your day. You’ll feel better having more time available and less overwhelmed by unnecessary STUFF!
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