Darlings,
Dear
Women - from my heart to yours…. A few words on Simplicity
I
don't know about you but I am always in a hurry, even when I'm not in a hurry I
try to do things as fast as possible.
Lately the most common thing I tell myself is…. "Shyla, just use
both hands!"
Life can be so much simpler than we make it, and our
minds and hearts a little ( a lot) more at ease in result. Let's take a look at ways that we can enjoy
our lives a little more:
ONE
Have a proper wake up. Get
up in enough time to wake up and ease into the day before you run into the
shower, throw on a pair of matching clothes, and rush off to a busy day. At least give yourself time to sit down with
a cup of coffee and read a verse, but if you can: wake up, have breakfast with
that cup of coffee, have devotions, and take time to pick our your outfit with
matching shoes and jewelry ;). I learned this from a mentor of mine (Lauren :). You'll be amazed at how much better
you'll be able to handle your entire
day.
TWO
Give
yourself time. We often underestimate
the time it takes to do something.
Whether it's baking bread or putting on our makeup. Start overestimating and giving yourself
leeway in between. You'll find yourself
showing up on time to things and feeling less stressed and irritable. If you hate wasted time, always keep a book
with you to read. Give yourself two days to bake Christmas Cookies instead of
one; go Christmas shopping one day and
grocery shopping on a different day; paint your nails when you have a good 2
hours to sit there and relax. Otherwise
you'll end up angry. Everyday.
THREE
Don't multitask all the time. This is one of my faults, it's
like a game I play with myself, how many things can I juggle at one time? Put the thumbprint in the cookies once
they're halfway baked, and respond to the laundry as soon each load is done,
and don't make too many dishes, and call the electric company before noon, and
jog around the house 5 times remembering what I need to do. My brain gets
all twisted and I end up needing a nap by 2pm.
Yes, us women are pretty good at multi-tasking but, sometimes we need to
protect our sanity. Just do one thing at a time, and don't let your mind go
anywhere else. Enjoy putting thumbprints
in those cookies without racing on a time clock, then go to the next thing. Make a list for yourself in the morning and
once you've completed something check it off and go to the next. Don't keep lists in your head.
FOUR
Don't do
it. When you simply find that you won't
have enough time to do everything without stressing yourself out, don't do
it. Don't make a batch of cookies for
your neighbor; it was a nice gesture but maybe you can do it next week. Don't do the laundry today, wash the pair of
jeans that Johnny needs and leave the rest for tomorrow. Don't make a full coarse meal every night, by
pop-it-in -the-oven answers to meals for
those times you need it - or order pizza!
Just don't do it. Sit down for 5
minutes instead.
FIVE
Know your
priorities. This will help you decide what not to do. What are the must do's for you everyday? Is
it that your kitchen is clean every morning?
Make sure you finish your dishes the day before while you still have
energy, don't leave them as the last thing you do before bed, you'll be more
likely to leave them for the morning and then your next day you will feel
stressed at the start. Priorities let
you know what comes first in your life, and second, and third, etc. Make a list: (1. God, 2. Famliy, 3. Job, 4.
Church….). When one task fights for the
other you'll know which one to choose.
There will be sometimes that one just trumps the other though - maybe
you have put off visiting your neighbor so long that you decide that today you
won't clean the house, you'll go visit her.
*There are
great ways to increase productivity and create systems in your life so that
everything gets done, these rules are for when your smooth running system gets
a bump in the belt. If you find yourself having to drop too many things you may
need to check out the *re-prioritizing or *self-discipline charts. ;)
How Do You Like Your Life?
Life in Leopard Speed
Life in Flashing Red
Life in Glitter and Glue Everywhere
I like my Life in SIMPLE
;)
*P.s. Check out my favorite Magazine: REAL SIMPLE realsimple.com
(They do
things like create a meal menu for you for a whole month with perforated tear
out grocery lists for each week in accordance - yeah that's awesome! And you can look at the mag without being
stressed out by a ton of ads).
