Ok, so my previous post was my very first of 2019 and I completely forgot to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to you guys!! I’m not sure how I neglected to do that since I’m SO incredibly excited for this year but better late than never, right?! Speaking of which, I started this post toward the end of last year but delayed it until today to give it the attention it deserved. I have a tendency to try to do the most all at once and it usually leads to less quality and less quantity because I have a hard time breaking things down into their simplest form before trying to get them done. After a lot of trial and error in this area over the past year, I realized I need to take small daily action (as opposed to huge leaps followed by days/weeks of doing nada) and keep it simple in a few areas of my life. Here they are…
Continuing to Declutter + Organize
Last summer, I started to sort out our house and this year I want to dig even deeper into the decluttering process and create organizational systems that really work for us. I want a home filled with things that are useful and beautiful and well-placed so my family is more efficient, more productive and even happier. The difference in something as simple as our moods when things are easy to find/use/enjoy (vs when everything is chaos) is crazy which is why I’m so passionate about cleaning, decluttering and organizing – maybe even a little obsessed but hey, there are far worse things to overindulge in. My current decluttering/organizing projects include our pantry, my closet, the kids’ closet and our kitchen cabinets. I’ve been scouring Pinterest and binge-watching YouTube videos trying to get ideas for bins I’d like to use in those areas because I’m big on easy-but-attractive storage solutions. Feel free to leave any suggestions below!! I’ll also hopefully (fingers crossed!!) be taking a course soon that will further my personal organizational pursuits as well as allow me to bring even more value to this blog. Stay tuned for that…
Getting Back to Basics on the Blog
In the past two years, I’ve tried A LOT for this blog. Strict schedules. No schedules. Social media schedules. Different blog themes. Various Instagram themes. And even no themes at all. At the time, it all felt like failure but I now know each of those experiments brought me closer to figuring out what I want my blog to look like, be about and how I want it to simultaneously serve other people while giving me the happy outlet I was seeking when I first started it. What that currently looks like is an Instagram theme I hope I want to stick to for at least a few months, writing at least two posts per week on no particular days of the week and writing things I want to write about that are (hopefully) as valuable to you as they are to me. And, as GaryVee would say, document don’t create. I often fall into worrying about what I should be posting or what I could post pending x, y or z instead of just writing about what I’m doing RIGHT NOW. What I’m learning. What I’m working on. What’s working for me. What’s not. What I’m currently obsessed with or what I absolutely can’t stand. Right now instead of twenty steps from now. Also, I’m only focusing on the blog and my Instagram. I love Twitter and Pinterest ( and Snapchat too!) but I made the mistake of trying to schedule and tend to too many things in 2018. This year, it’s back to the basics for me!
Creating Quiet Moments
Our house will be a whole lot quieter when the kids go back to school this coming week, but even when I’m all alone I often struggle to find truly silent moments because I’m usually listening to something as I go about my day. Whether its an audiobook to entertain me, a podcast to educate me, a playlist to motivate me or just something to drown out my own thoughts, I like to listen to things outside myself. The problem is that quiet moments are where I feel most at peace and do my best thinking. I shouldn’t be surprised because most of my ideas come to me when I’m in the shower and the only sound I can hear is running water. And while I thought for the longest time that warm water was the reason I love long showers, it’s probably the peace and quiet that I’m craving most. To infuse more of that into my life, I want to increase my simple, silent moments – whether it’s getting back to meditating (even if it’s just five minutes a day) or adopting a daily yoga practice. I also want to create more quiet moments for the kids too. Our no electronics during the week rule went out the window during winter break so we’ll be getting back to that as well as Cosmic Kids Yoga and putting on some background tunes instead of the TV.
Letting Good Enough Be Enough
I have the WORST habit of perfecting, second-guessing and self-doubting my way into not doing things. This happens with everything from organizing my house to blogging. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an awesome idea, not immediately acted on it for one of the aforementioned reasons and then watched as someone else acted on the idea that I had weeks, months or even years before. The choices at that point are to risk looking like I’ve copied someone else or scrap the idea altogether – and I usually choose the latter. To combat this, I’ve had to get into the habit of letting good enough be enough, reminding myself that I can always expand upon, tweak or improve something in the future and taking action in the now. That may mean less elaborate projects/posts/etc but it may also mean I’ll be more prolific in my pursuits because I’m not overthinking and overdoing things. Instead, I’ll be – drumroll please – keeping it simple!
Do you feel the need to keep it simple in any areas of your life right now? Let me know…
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