5 Things You can do Right Now to Simplify your Life

I have to admit, this post was inspired by my own chaos.  With having Myles running around, working full time plus running FENNOfashion on the side on top of owning an older house that has never ending problems, things can get a little out of hand. But the worst is when one of us gets sick. Or the absolute worst: when both myself and Myles are sick at the same time.

So while I play catch up for literally the next month after having bronchitis and my son having croupe, I thought it couldn’t hurt to share just a few ways in which I try and simplify my life. While I know these tips can’t work miracles, they can at least make the days seem a little more manageable.

1) Write everything down.

My favorite thing to do is make lists, daily. Putting all my thoughts on paper really helps clear my mind. Write down everything you want to do, need to do and would like to do. Next, prioritize that list.  What I do is write down everything I have running through my mind, even if it is something that doesn’t have to be done for another month or so. Then, after everything is on paper, I re-write my to-do list by priority. As silly as it may sound, it’s the method I use and it works for me majority of the time (until I misplace my list, then I am really frustrated!)

 2) Access your Schedule.

If you are feeling really overwhelmed, stop and take a few moments to figure out what you can drop from your schedule. If you are like me, you are probably trying to do too much at once and as a result, you run around in circles and your heart starts to pound because you aren’t really getting much of anything done. If you go back to you list and see what HAS to get done, obviously do that first and do one thing at a time. This way whatever you are doing gets your undivided attention and you’ll be surprised at how much more you can get done by doing one little chore or task at a time.

3) Ask for Help.

If you have older children, have them help you out. If you start to teach them at an early age to start cleaning and pitching in, you are setting a good habit. I mean really, you want them to be independent and able to do things by themselves, so teaching them to take responsibility for their messes can be a great place to start. I even have my 13 month old put his blocks away when he is done. Kids are capable of more than we give them credit for.

4) Learn to just say NO.

Its okay to decline offers to go out with friends or to make a few less commitments per week. It is sometimes best to realize what your limits are and not push them so far to where you regret making that decision. You will enjoy yourself a lot more if you go out with friends when you’re not feeling guilty about skipping something on your “priority to-do list”

5) Lower those Expectations!

I thought for the longest time my house needed to look like that our of an Ikea catalog, with all my stuff organized, pillows fluffed and everything in its place. But reality is the likely hood of our house staying like that is slim to none. Our house is lived in. We have dog fur everywhere in spring, spilled milk spots and I truly believe everything has a coating of baby drool. Such is life and instead of walking around with a bottle of cleaner and rag everywhere I go, I’ve learned to let it go, clean up every other day and instead spend my time outside enjoying this beautiful weather we’ve been having.