Happy New Year my friend! I am FINALLY making myself sit down and write a blog post. I have worked hard at figuring out and setting up my website and now I am ready to start bringing content your way. I have so much I want to share with you all on so many topics that it is finally time to make the jump and just dive in head first and publish the blog! I hope you enjoy hanging out with me and getting a small glimpse into our everyday, blessed life!
I thought with a New Year upon us and everyone making resolutions, that ways to simplify your life was a great first topic to touch on. I don’t know about you, but with family, kids, work, maintaining a house, keeping in touch with friends, and simply just trying to keep up, it is easy to feel defeated and overwhelmed quickly.
The new year brings this new bout of freshness for me. I feel empowered to make new goals, get organized and set new routines or strengthen routines that have been working for us. With four young kids, a homeschooling journey, working from home; I need routines to keep things flowing. Usually in the beginning, for all of us we are very motivated to make these new resolutions but they can easily fizzle out. I’m here to say that simplifying parts of your life may help you keep those resolutions you set. I mean you set them for a reason right?
STEP 1: Set Obtainable Goals
Ok, let’s chat about this some. It is so important to think about the goals you want to reach and achieve. Some of these goals may be smaller than others and I am not here to say don’t reach for those big goals and dreams. Absolutely keep those big goals in mind when setting obtainable goals. I am here to say, however, that it’s a good idea to start with small goals and work to the bigger goals. You will be surprised how much faster those big goals come into reach when you are reaching smaller goals at a quicker pace.
Here is an example (one I have to remind myself of a lot). Let’s say my goal is to keep a clean and tidy house. With four kids, this can be a job haha. 😂 So I set small goals each day. I always make it a point to run a quick vacuum, keep the sink clean of dishes, wipe my counters down, and at the end of the day just a quick pick up of toys or anything out. Then I set weekly goals. I throw in cleaning the bathrooms, mopping the floors and making sure I keep up on laundry (which is NEVER ending in a family of six). After that, I make a list of bi-weekly, monthly and so on. You can kind of see where I am headed with things. These small goals being reached little at a time make it much more obtainable to keep my house tidy (for the most part) throughout the year. Now, that is not to say that I don’t fall off the bandwagon from time to time BUT more often than not, we have a system in place to help keep the house tidy.
You set goals in all areas of your life, so make sure you are setting goals you can reach and then building upon those goals so that you are not easily discouraged.
STEP 2: Purge and Declutter
Ok, so I am mostly talking about your house or personal space with this tip, but it could hold some truth when it comes to some relationships too (more on this in another tip). I’m a big advocate for starting the year with a good purge and declutter of your home to start with a fresh space. I mean Christmas decor is coming down and your house is starting to feel somewhat normal after the last two-two and a half months (for us) of having a big tree up in our house. Then with four kids and tons of family my kids are getting more gifts than absolutely necessary and I need to find a space for all of this. Eeeekkkk!!! Already I get overwhelmed thinking about this! So we start with a purge.
This goes back to setting an obtainable goal. I set a goal to get through certain parts of the house each day/week to purge, declutter and get cleaned up. Make those piles of trash, donate, and keep and start getting rid of things. If your kid hasn’t played with or touched a toy in the last 6 months-donate. If you haven’t wore that shirt in the last year-donate. All those kids art project-save the ones with handprints, footprints, sweet words and trash the rest. Believe me, there will be tons more where those come from.
I like to move through our playroom and my girls’ bedrooms first. These are the biggest areas that need the most work with birthdays and Christmas so close for all of them. We get a big influx of toys and items that I have to find new spaces for. As I purge and declutter these areas, I really love to give a good organization revamp while I am at it.
Once you start purging, really ask yourself if the item is something you really need or use. Society teaches us that we constantly need to be shopping and buying. Then so much “stuff” comes into our house that we get overwhelmed with it. It doesn’t all have places to go and then we feel like things are messy. I’m here to say that most of these items are just that “STUFF”. Items that could easily be replaced if absolutely necessary. Trust me when I say you are going to feel better with you have Quality over Quantity. You will be able to organize and find a place for more items making you feel better about the tidiness of your space.
STEP 3: Get a Planner
Ok, I am a list maker. I really feel motivated and accomplished when I make a list and I can knock those items out and check off the boxes. I used to be a teacher, so I have always been one to keep a planner of lesson plans, activities and meetings. However, when I turned to staying home with my girls, I thought my phone was good enough. Which you absolutely can use. I just get more out of a physical planner. I am in love with the @spacesplanner. This planner is a list makers dream. Seriously a spot for any list you would ever think to make each week. Regardless, any kind of planner or calendar will do.
Now I really love to have fun with my planner. I love to get fun pens, make colorful bullet notes and really personalize my planner. It is something I reference every single day. I meal plan in it, keep birthdays, kids sporting events, sewing project dates, homeschool timelines, and daily lists of things I need to get done. Make this yours, however you want to. Type it in your phone and set reminders on your calendar. Or make notes and delete as you work through your items. However you want to keep it, but I promise, it will make you feel so good checking things off.
STEP 4: Prioritize Things in Your Life That Bring You JOY!
This one is huge! I have always been a people pleaser. I have always felt bad letting others down, so I would go out of my way to make sure I accommodated everyone, even if that meant that my tank was running on empty. However the older I get I am learning to prioritize the things in my life that bring me the most joy! For me, that looks like slowing myself down and living in the moment with my husband and sweet babies. It really is true that once you have kids, time literally flashes before your eyes. I know how precious these moments are and how I can never get them back, so I prioritize slowing our days and weekends down so we can enjoy them as a family and make those memories.
This also kind of lends in to the “decluttering/purging” of relationships. I’m not here to say get rid of all of your friends or never go around your family. I’m simply saying that you should give yourself grace if you do not feel up to attending a family function because it is going to cause you stress. Maybe you work so hard through the week that you simply are living for those moments to be home with your family on the weekends. But you find out you have a family reunion to go to, a nieces birthday to attend, or friends you haven’t seen in awhile wanting to get together. Already before your weekend has started, you are stressed thinking about all the time you are going to miss building those core family memories. There is a time and place to do those family events or meet up with friends, for sure, but they do not need to all be jam packed every weekend.
Society teaches us that we constantly need to be on the go. But what if we simply slowed down. Baked some cookies with our kids. Played outside with our babies at the swing set. Set the sprinkler up and listened to those sweet giggles running through that cold water. Had a family game or movie night together. What if we focused more on slowing down and spending more of that time together as a family other than constantly needing to be on the run? I tried it this year and I am here to say, it fills your heart!
So tell yourself out loud what your priorities are and focus on those! Your heart will thank you later for that.
STEP 5: Lean on the Lord
I have found that when I am stressed or overwhelmed that I always need to lean on the Lord to help guide me through it. Life can be difficult, but perspective is everything. If you tell yourself that you are doing God’s will and work, then he will guide you through it. I am often amazed at the things I can get done and accomplished if I trust in the Lord’s path for me. I was placed where I am today to do his will. I was blessed with my babies to raise them and teach them God’s will. Know you have a purpose. Here are some Bible verses I find encouraging.
Proverbs 3: 5,6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Isaiah 40: 31
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
I hope some of these tips help you to simplify your life! I really believe that when we are able to simplify our lives, prioritize what is important to us and focus on those priorities, we are able to fully appreciate living in the moment and our day to day activities. Leave me a comment if you found any of these tips helpful!
LOVED this so much! excited to read more 🫶🏻
Thank you so much! ☺️