The New Year is here – Organize and Simplify

The New Year is here – Organize and Simplify

2003 is upon us and from the letters and phone calls I’m getting, things aren’t any easier. So how do we get through yet another year that is faster paced and just as hectic as last year and the year before and the year before that?

STOP! Get fed up ENOUGH to take “at least” one weekend off to gather with your family, regroup, organize and simplify. The more stress you endure and the longer you endure it will lessen not only your “quality of life,” but also your “lifespan.” If you don’t care enough about yourself to stop and smell the roses (or in my case the coffee)… then care enough about those around you. There are many people whose lives you have touched. There are probably many you don’t even know about!

I bet some of those people are tired, fed up, overworked, and moving through life too fast as well. Unfortunately folks, this is where our world is today. We either keep plowing through and die early or we devise a plan to organize our chaos.

I care about you! I’m just sad that I can’t get you as fired up and excited about taking control and lessening your chaos in a written article, as I could in person. But stick with me here and just maybe I can make even a tiny difference in your day.

Let’s talk about things we can do to gain some control and lessen the chaos.

1. Schedule less. I know it’s easier said than done. But when I personally look at my monthly calendar and see myself saying yes to too many things or when the kids have too many plans, I make everyone STOP and take the entire weekend off to clean house and spend time together. The laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc… will be there tomorrow is a popular saying until enough is enough and everyone needs clean underwear. In essence, I schedule less. I couldn’t make my dental appointment in January when I originally planned it, so I planned it for February when my schedule is sparse.

Same thing goes for your emotional well-being. When you neglect your body, mind and/or spirit for too long, coming back into sync is much harder. So I ask you, How Tired are you? How FED UP are you?

2. Re-Group. Sit down with a calendar. (My preference would be The Busy Woman’s Daily Planner ^© [smile].) But even a wall calendar will do. Go over the entire family’s HAVE TO’s in one month. Once those are written down, plan FREE TIME as a family, then Free Time/Me Time for mom. For example, today the family scattered. It was family free time and two of them wanted to go to the car show. Two of them wanted to go out with a friend who lives too far to see all the time. And I just wanted to work on this article and the website for my daughter’s school.

We all did what we wanted with our free time today. Tonight we’re going to watch a movie together. As many of my other articles say, Plan, Plan, and Plan! If you don’t plan at least some of your time, then you end up wasting a lot of your time.

Re-Grouping involves planning. You assess what is not getting accomplished and schedule those things into your month. Remember that if you are busy doing out of the house things, you’re not in the house cooking. So don’t forget to plan meals.

3. Spend Time with loved ones. Spending time isn’t just sitting in front of the TV, although it’s one of MY favorite things to do these days. It’s watching what your children do on the Internet, who they speak with on the phone, etc… If you have smaller children, listen to their noises or what’s being said when they play with others. Watch their facial expressions when they’re watching TV. If you don’t have children but find your laundry isn’t done, the dishes are still in the sink, you’re eating out more often, you’re finding yourself overbooked and/or everything is falling apart around you, then you definitely need to re-group. (Refer back to #2)

4. Find Help. If you need help, find it; take it when offered by family and friends. Oh, what people can accomplish with a little help from their friends. (One of my new mottos) Others feel good when they can do something that makes a difference in someone else’s life. So if you don’t allow someone to help at least a little, you’re robbing them of THEIR joy. Now that doesn’t mean to take advantage and ask for help all of the time. But when people have mutual needs that are met by one another, life can be so sweet.

I have friends who help me. Apparently, they feel I help them just as much. I don’t feel like I do, but they say so and I decided not to argue with them. It’s the “old school” way of being.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to bring some of those slower time mentalities back to the future. What do you say? Are you ready to Organize and Simplify your life?

©2003 Susie Glennan
All Rights Reserved.