{SIMPLIFY}

LOVED designing this. Inspired by

http://www.kerismith.com/blog/

So just went to amazon.com and bought her book, Living Out Loud, Activites to Fuel a Creative Life

So admire people who use their creativity to inspire others...

SO today's message is obviously:

KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Just like eeeeeverybody else, I attempt to juggle my life while tiptoeing on a tightrope; hoping that the dozens of things-I-have-to-do-today-balls I've flung in the air won't all come down at once and bonk me on the noggin. But, inevitably when you go too fast, do too much, they always have a happy knack of coming crashing down. And, as always, chaos ensues.

I run late for appointments

I become irritable because I can't fit in everything I wanted to

I loose track of time

I loose track of my car keys. lol

My brain feels like it's being pulled in 20 different directions, all going about 100mph until I want to scream STOOOOPPPPP at the top of my lungs until the constantly moving hands of the clock come to a screeching halt and stop busying themselves to give ME a few minutes break.

But, of course, that doesn't happen. Time doesn't stop for me...imagine that!

But there is hope. Time management and professional organizers say it over and over again. In fact, it's almost become a mantra:

Simplify, simplify, simply.

To which people reply, "You have all the time in world, just like everybody else -- 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year."

The trick is, you just have to figure out how to spend it. AND if you anything like me, I whittle away precious moments doing.... well I don't even know what sometimes. And then at the end of the day, exhausted, post-it notes everywhere, lists written on the back of envelopes half completed, I say to myself, "Where DID the time go?"

"Learn how to slow down,"  says Twila Gates, Life Coach at PowerSystems Inc. "Some of us can actually create chaos in our lives, but you can actually achieve more in slowness than you can in all of your frenzy."

Hmmmm CHAOS in my life? I create it? NAAHH not MOI! Hmmmm again, listen carefully, you can achieve more in slowness, than in frenzy. Love that.

But really....has it really come to the fact that people need Life Coaches to manage their lives?

"It's important to simplify your life and one of the ways you can do that is by creating systems," says Gates.

One system that I think is superb is the FLYLADY! (www.flylady.net) Now there is a couple a chickas who has spent tons of time trying to help others (like me) get their sorry butts in gear. lol  The 15 minutes a day timer is a great system to help set aside designated periods for us time-challenged free spirits, and helps me to focus on what needs to be done without DAWDLING! I believe I am a professional dawdler. If only I could get paid for that...

Gates also has some wonderful common sense tips for helping to create more time in our lives that include:

- Don't try to get everything perfect. Sometimes it's important to know when good enough is good enough and leave it at that. (YEAH someone telling me I don't have to be a perfectionist, LET IT GO!)

- If you start something, finish it. If you stop a project halfway, you'll have to spend extra time reacquainting yourself with it when you pick it back up again. (HMMMMM now all I have to do is pick one of the 1,782 incompleted projects I DO have lying around in various stages and finish one!)

- Get organized. Looking for lost or misplaced things can easily eat up time. (you mean, there's a place for my car keys? What was that my grandma always said, Ah yes, "A place for everything and everything in it's place." Iand thought she was just being anal. lol)

- Learn to laugh. A smile can lighten you up when things take a turn for the worse and you'll be better off laughing off trifling annoyances instead of spending time mulling over unimportant mistakes. (hey if I can't laugh at myself... well, then I haven't looked in the mirror yet today. hehehe)

- Simplify your life. There are times when you just have to say no. Put your foot down and get rid of those things that swallow up your minutes without giving you a payoff. (NO? is that some kind of foreign language word or something? How is that pronounced?)

- Make the most of the time you have. Plan your hours and minutes for the things that are important to you. The rest can wait. (ugh. I hate when my DH is right. He always is telling me to PRIORITIZE, the dreaded "P" word. ...course, we don't have to tell him about this...)

- Take a hike. (literally!) Walk around the block with your kids after dinner or take a nature hike on the weekends. By making exercise a family affair, you'll all have more energy and a healthier lifestyle.

- Live your life your way. You have to make time for play and dreams. After all, you have to feed the soul, just as much as you have to feed the checkbook. Find some balance in your life and enjoy it. (yep, my soul is pretty hungry. Poor little shrivelled up thing, just like my checking account.)

- Spend time with your children. You might be amazed at how much they can change your life. Shouldn't you find some time to appreciate the gifts they want to give you? (okay, this I think I have cornered the market on here. It is the one thing I know to hold dear and appreciate. I learn from my little guy every day!)

SO that's it in a peanut shell...

SIMPLIFY.

I think I am going to make that little graphic a T-shirt. Anyone want one? LOL And today, I am going to make time to

just

BE

STILL.

Comments

[Denean]

Sweetie, you are amazing! Love this message - I so need to do this!! Thanks for all the advice - such an encouragement!!

[kris]

Hi i just found your blog and i am so completely awed by your honesty and ability to let it 'all hang out' you are amazing and strong and beautiful and determined! I am definitely bookmarking this to return. Thank you. You've made me feel even more like scrapping and creating for the first time in a while!
As for simplify it reminded me of something an art teacher taught me on my first day of college that i've put to all areas of my life
he said to KISS everything you do
K I S S - Keep It Simple Stupid.
Without fail, when something gets too complicated or seems like i'm knee deep in it i remember to kiss it and it helps me to simplify and to see it for what it really is. You're doing a great job of this already! Keep it up thank you for the awesome posts!