Ouch! That quote above stings a bit! Unmade decisions and procrastination? I have to admit it describes me at times. I do things by habit ( unmade decisions ) and I procrastinate. And "WALA!" as my 6 year old grandson would say...the clutter happens! Am I the only one this happens to? If not, then this series is for you.
http://hobnobbers-sandy.blogspot.com/2015/06/7-steps-to-simplifying-your-life.html
Today is the second session of the workshop to simplify your life. Read about the first session here.
In the first session, I listed the 7 steps that you would be following to achieve the simple life you desire. Today we are focusing on the first two steps. The first two steps consist of the process of CLARIFYING what you value and what you want your simplified life to look like. Each person will have a different idea of what that looks like. Depending on your situation, the time frame will be different as well. Some may want to move quickly. Some may want to take this simplification process in baby steps. Even small steps in the process bring a sense of calmness as you move towards a simpler life. This is the easy and dare I say "fun" part? Just the process of dreaming about and writing down what you want your life to look like will begin to bring you a sense of serenity and lightness as you think about "unloading" unnecessary parts of your life.
So let's consider your beginning steps:
1) What is important to you? What do you value? A simple lifestyle involves more than decluttering the spaces in your home. It also involves your time, activities, relationships, possessions etc. It may mean cutting out some activities that you no longer are interested in but just continue to do out of habit. It may mean considering how you spend your time and money.
So step one is to make a list of what you consider to be important in your life, what you value. ie. more time with family, being wise with resources, etc. This will be a sort of "WHY" list as well as you come back to it to remind yourself of why you are downsizing in the first place.
2) Describe in a page what your simple dream life would look like. Visualize a day in your new streamlined life. After you have written out a description, use this as a guide to write out your action plan. Maybe it would look something like this:
A) Sell one car and take the bus to work.
B) Declutter closets ( one a week ) and take to Good Will items not wanted.
C) Get off the board of ___________.
D) Have a garage sale and sell items not needed.
E) Take some items to Salvation Army.
F) Schedule time to allow time for "margin" in my life.
Are you feeling better, lighter, calmer, yet? To be clear I realize that life itself can get complicated. And we are not always in control of all circumstances in our lives. And yet, there are things we can control and work at having time for those things that are most important to us.
I'd love to hear if you are working this out in your life and how it is working for you. If you have more ideas I would love to hear them!
Until Next Time, Sandy
Hello Sandy, happy to see a new workshop post. My husband and I have been working to simplify over the past years, and I can see that we have come a long way. I believe it will be an ongoing process for years to come also, there is soo much more to learn! One learns as one goes. For us, the environmental aspect of things has become more and more urgent. Choosing eco-friendly products, consuming less, and wearing things out are very important to us. Leaving a softer footprint on earth and living simpler is something we long for. I will sit down and make some workshop notes tomorrow. Good night from Pam in Norway xx
ReplyDeleteWow, Pam, you are probably way ahead of me in this simplifying business! Thanks for sharing things you are doing in living simpler. We can certainly all learn from each other! Have a wonderful week!
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