Simplify your Life
We have become addicted to activity and materialism
Obviously, some daily activity is necessary for being responsible and expressing / sharing creativity, but the perception is that we are not smart, productive and interesting, if we have too much down time. Observers can notice and admire our “doings” to satisfy our ego’s need for recognition, whilst providing us a sometimes false sense of importance and worthy accomplishment. Unfortunately, this can also cause us to lose touch with our inner self and what is truly important in life.
Reduce clutter - reduce, simplify, eliminate
1. Reduce before organizing – an organized closet crammed full of stuff is still a closet crammed full of stuff. Throw out all the things you don’t love and use and then you may not need to organize! 🙂
2. Have only ONE inbox and empty it on a regular basis – incoming/outgoing mail, must-reads, must-pays, must call-abouts, must deal-withs, phone message slips, post-it notes and so on. Instead of putting them on the kitchen side, the fridge door, in your pocket, on the desk etc. — Once a day or once a week process the inbox to empty.
3. A place for everything – Have only ONE place for your car keys and there they are as you go through the door. Where do you keep your pens, magazines? The same for information – have ONE place to put all your information.
4. Put it away now and in its place – may as well do it now . . . saves cleaning, sorting and organizing later.
5. Clean as you go – its easier than letting things pile up for a big cleaning session later. E.g. in the kitchen – wash your dishes as you use them and wipe the counter, instead of leaving a mess to come back to.
6. Develop routines to prevent things becoming disorganized and cluttered again – do specific tasks at a set time. E.g. Monday is washing day; Deal with inbox on Tuesday night;
Daily discipline
Write “it” down immediately! Save your mind carrying around things you need to remember.
Adhere to a daily schedule led by your “big picture” and predetermined priorities. Avoid stress and its inherent health problems by using precious time productively.
“Things to Do Today?” – Ask yourself 3 questions:
- Is this something I could delegate or eliminate?
- Is there a way to do this in much less time?
- Will this truly make my life better, richer or fuller?
Priorities for today? – economize by doing fewer things overall, but ensure you start with those of more importance.
Choose between priorities and start with those:
- Ask “Which will be more important to me at the end of my life?” / “Which are essential to the long-term Big Picture “
- Use Pareto’s Law. 20% of the things we do achieve 80% of what we want. Ask, “Which of the tasks before me qualify for that 20%?”
Make good choices by using "The Gold, Vapor, Acid Rule"
Gold (best choices) – the ones that can improve you
Vapor (neutral choices – the ones that will just help you pass the time
Acid (worst choices) – the ones that can damage you in some way.
