Why declutter your life?

Understanding why you want to simplify and slow w a a y down will make it easier to remember that goal when new things start to crop up.  It’s a way of focusing on the positive benefits of decluttering instead of what you’re letting go of.  It also makes it easier to call someone who is expecting you to do something and tell them that it’s not really going to happen.  🙂 Simply focus on what you’re getting to do instead!

Ask yourself these important questions

I was asking myself the questions below, looking at the answers about what I most value, and wondering why on earth I am not prioritizing those above everything else.

• Who are the most important people in your life? Mr. B, Sweet Girl, family, C
• What experiences are the most important to you? travel, making memories with family, reading/learning, creating a peaceful home
• What does a perfect day look like? a balance of time alone and time with family/friends; some time at home and some out experiencing something new; feeling upbeat and friendly; optimistic attitude; includes something active like taking a walk or swim; going out for good food; time in nature; connecting with favorite people; improving something meaningful/helpful
• If you had a simpler life, what positive things could you move toward? peace of mind, rich spiritual discovery, calm acceptance, wisdom
• What negative things could you move away from? focusing and spending most time on unimportant and mundane tasks, continuous rushing, judgement
• What do you want to be remembered for? kindness, compassion, generosity, making things/people better, knowledge, listening, my individual creative viewpoint (poetic aperture, anyone?)

What do you want to create?

I want a clean email inbox (which is mostly my task list).  In order to have that, I have to unsubscribe from lots of newsletters and blogs.  (Do you use UnrollMe? It’s awesome.  You get one email a day instead of countless unimportant ones.)

I want to feel much more connected to my friends and family.  In order to make space in my day for more coffee/lunch dates and time on weekends for family, I will choose wisely when committing to one event or meeting after another.  Even if they aren’t on the weekend, they often carry into the weekend (photo editing, preparing for a speech, running errands, etc.).

I want a slower life.  I’d like to walk slower and take in my surroundings, talk with people, smile more.  I want to have time in front of and behind an event so I am calm.  Going to the grocery store and really being grateful for such abundance is far better than making a beeline for the fruit and getting out of there.  Filling my car with gas and admiring the sky and filling my lungs with air is more enjoyable than catching up on emails in that 3 minute timespan.  Picking up my daughter with a clean slate so I am ready to be with her is far better than feeling that nothing is done yet rushing to get her, preoccupied with other stuff.  So I am not saying yes to everything.

I want to feel closer to Mr. B.  When he’s in town, I need to focus on giving him time right after I put my daughter to bed.  Otherwise, I head to bed and he has to compete with my book or my sleep! When he’s out of town, I need to spend a few minutes texting/on phone to fill him in on our day and hear what’s going on with him.

I want to leave behind the busyness and exhaustion, which leads to resentment and overwhelm.  When I had my word of the year as “cherish,” I constantly remembered to slow down and enjoy whoever I was with or whatever I was doing.  So I will try to think of another word to use for this.

What do YOU want and how are you going to create that for yourself???