When you simplify and declutter your life, you will find it is less stressful, more meaningful and much more fulfilling.
Do you have a long-standing, long-running to-do list? Does it fill you with dread? Reevaluate your list. Ask yourself, “Will I actually do the things listed”? Break your list down into 2 lists, Important & Non-Important. Look at the Non-Important list, are they really worth thinking about every time you check your To-Do list? If not, cross them off and move on.
Why do you have a to-do list? Does it help keep you on track and organized or is it a constant reminder of things you want to avoid? What carries over from day to day or even week to week? Why aren’t you doing these things? Sometimes you have to let things go. Release them from your list and your life. If you aren’t serious or passionate about what’s on your list, let it go. Start a new list, one with dreams and goals of things you want to accomplish.
Set Daily Boundaries. Start your day (or end the previous one) with Clear Goals. Whether you write a to-do list for your day or one to help you to reach your goals, be clear about what you want tomorrow to bring.
Mental Clarity
When focusing on yourself, you will need to remove all distractions. This is YOUR time. Find a place that is away from distractions and be by yourself.
- Turn off the tv and your phone.
- Visualize a place or image in your mind.
- Allow thoughts, feelings, and sensations to come and go, without judgment or the need to do anything with them.
- Do not think about things that need to be done, your job, kids, spouse, pets. Focus on this moment, feel the air, hear the sounds. Be there.
- Relax and clear all the day’s activities from your mind.
- Try doing this for 10 minutes as often as possible. You can do this when you are waiting (doctors, mechanics, picking up kids from school)
Journaling can help you relax also. You can do free form journaling or choose from many topics, such as your childhood, dreams/goals, favorite things, places, or people.
Are you Stalled or Stuck?
Take a step back and look at what is happening (or not) in your life. What can or should change? You may need to re-evaluate your plan. Look at your life from the outside or with fresh/different eyes.
- What do you see?
- How do you feel?
- What can be or needs to be changed?
- How will you make these changes?
Sometimes you need to change your way of thinking for a clearer mind. Don’t freak out the next time a “challenging” situation presents itself. Make a conscious decision to meet it head-on, with humor, curiosity, or just the knowledge that it will pass and become a chapter in the book of your life. Embrace challenges, turn them into learning experiences. Make the most out of these experiences. You can lay down in defeat or you can learn something from it. Turn it into something positive!
