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The challenge: to learn how to unwind from a stress filled day

No matter what kind of life you have, simple or complicated it all comes with STRESS!  From being a stay at home Mom with a toddler, to a multi millionaire CEO of a company—they have two things in common—-they both experience STRESS.

Why make the change:

No matter how simplified our lives are things in life happen.  Babies cry, people will let us down, friends will let us down, dinner will burn,  money will be tight, the car will break down, and our husbands will let us down occasionally. It is part of life.  There is no way to avoid it. Nothing we can do to prevent it, it just happens it is called LIFE.  But knowing what you can do to help yourself unwind after a stressful day is important in saving your sanity, your heart, and your peace of mind.

How to make the change:

Next time, when everything seems to just fall apart, try some of these ways to unwind from stress:

• Take a few deep breathes.  Sometimes when my children are driving me crazy and I want to yell, I stop and take a few deep breathes, breathing in, then holding it, and then slowly letting it out.  Sometimes it helps to do this 3-5 times as needed.
• Do a self massage.  When tensions run high, give yourself a neck rub. Sometimes it helps to rub your head, massaging your scalp.  If you have a great massaging husband or child, let them do it for you.
• Take a walk.  When life gets unbearable and you feel like you can’t go anymore without exploding, get away.  Take a walk and breathe deeply, letting go of the worries of the stress. Even if it is for 5 minutes, just to get out and get a chance to regroup will make a difference.
• Take a day off.  For some of us, this won’t be possible.  But if you are having  a hard time with the children, let your spouse know that you are needing some time away.  Grab something to eat and go sit somewhere relaxing all by yourself and give yourself time to regroup.
• If you aren’t a stay at home Mom, then spend time with your family.  Nothing is better than reminding yourself why it is your doing what you do at work—-you are doing it for your children and spouse.  Nothing is more important than family.
• Unwire yourself from media.  Shut off your phone, avoid emails, avoid the television.  Just learn to shut your brain off for a few hours.  Constantly worrying about emails, status’s, or even stress of sites not loading up quickly are enough to stress you out.  Get away from it, go take a walk in nature, take your family to the park, learn to unwind.
• Take a nap.  Nothing can cure stress more quickly than by taking a much needed rest.  Even a 20 minute cat nap will help you deal more effectively with the stress.

These are all great ways to help you as you unwind from your days.

 

The challenge: a place for everything

We have all heard the old saying, “a place for everything and everything in its place.”  But how many of us put this into practice?  Can you look around, right now and see the accumulated clutter on your kitchen counter?  Can you open a drawer and find a myriad of miscellaneous junk just sitting there?  Has your living room become a “catch-all” for children’s toys?  Then it is time to put this age old saying into use.

Why make the change:

Okay, let’s do a simple test to see if this is something that you should take part in…..without leaving your chair or couch that you are sitting on, can you answer the following questions:

• Do you know where your car keys are?
• Do you know where your phone charger is?
• Do you know where your 2013 tax papers are?
• Do you know where your social security card is?
• Do you know where your winter gloves are?
• Do you know where the bug spray from last summer is at?
• Do you know where last seasons shoes are located at and if anyone needs new ones?

How did you do? Can you answer at least 5 out of the 7??  7?  Maybe only 1?

For most of us, we probably only really care about two of them—the keys and phone charger.  Everything else we will spend hours hunting down.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  Wouldn’t it be nicer to know that you have a place established for everything and that with a quick look, you will be able to access it?

How to make the change:

This is something that you do, AFTER you declutter your home.  It doesn’t make sense to keep throwing things in places when you FIRST need to declutter and get rid of items.

Here are some simple steps to helping you find a place for everything:

1. Take a look around your home and every item that is lying around visibly. Now think of a logical place for each item.  Some items you will put with other similar stuff.  Maybe it is your husband’s wallet, keys, and loose change, find a small container and put all of his items together in an accessible spot, ready to grab when headed out the door.
2. Ideally before you find a place for something, or at the latest if you cannot, think long and hard whether or not you really need the object in question.  Ask yourself, “have I used this item at ALL in the last year?  Since we are naturally hoarders, we need to purge ourselves from having too much stuff.  If you are having a hard time finding a place for items, consider getting rid of it.
3. Repeat, repeat, repeat.  This exercise needs to be done over and over again.  People constantly wonder why I organize monthly…it is because we accumulate items, and if those items are not dealt with, we will suddenly be thrust into the materialistic world of STUFF.  If I notice that my home is become too much to pick up, or that the certain place where I store my ?  is constantly getting messed up, then it is time to purge.  Time to give up some things.  I can not honestly use every single item, it is almost selfish of me to hold onto it.

Want to simplify your life, so that you can have more time to spend with family, more time to spend on self, more time to spend time doing what it is you like to do??  Then spend less time searching for things.  Find a place for everything and keep it that way.