In In an ideal world, you'd be able to balance work, family, friends, personal time, fitness and everything else in your life without ever breaking a sweat.
In reality, sleeping with your Crackberry, trying to put on makeup in the car and never quite getting enough sleep is more of the norm.
What you may not realize is that it truly doesn't have to be. Even if your life feels like it doesn't have any place where things can give, the reality is that if you want to maintain your health and not die young from stress-related illnesses, there has to be.
Here are a few ways you can start scaling down your life, to give you more time to spend with family or doing all the things you love but don't have time for.
Get some general tips on cutting back on things in your life with these helpful pointers. Following newsletters will feature tips for home, kids, work, and you.
Identify what's really important to you. Chances are good that there are things in your life that you're committed to or involved in that you really don't have a true attachment or investment in doing. Evaluate your priorities and determine what things can fall by the wayside and what things you want to bring to the forefront in your life.
Appreciate simple things. It's easy to get caught up in all the complications in your life, sometimes so much so that you forget to take time, slow down and appreciate all the little things that make your life great. Whether it's finding a close parking spot or discovering a new favorite restaurant, make sure your life is designed to allow you to appreciate every good thing that comes your way, not just the big stuff.
Do what you love. Whether you choose to apply this to what you do for a living or just what you do on the weekend, it's a key element to simplifying and paring down your life. By putting the focus on doing things that you love instead of drudging through things you hate, you'll enjoy life more, be happier and much less stressed. Do your best to think of creative ways to make even the most painful tasks more bearable by integrating elements of things you love into them.
Make your time count. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to simplify your life and to have more time to spend doing things you want to do is to make the time you spend on anything, whether it's with the kids or at work, count. If you're present, concentrating on your tasks and getting the most out of the situation you'll be able to finish more quickly or enjoy what you're doing more fully.
Learn what's enough. If you're constantly in a quest for perfection you're likely putting in more work, effort, time and important parts of your life into things that really could get by with less. Figure out what is good enough to get the job done but doesn't leave you up all night, pulling out your hair and stressing over it.
Live deliberately. Once you realize that no one is in charge of your life except for you, then you're ready to get the most out of every situation that's presented to you. Make choices that help you find the greatest amount of happiness and that eliminate all the things that don't really matter to you so you'll have more time for the things that do.
Create routines. If you find getting ready in the morning is an uphill battle, you can help to streamline and scale back your life by creating routines. These will save you time, help reduce stress, and won't leave you running around trying to get things together at the last minute.
Make time to do nothing at all. For many workaholics, sitting around doing nothing can be a hard thing to accomplish. But if you want to scale back, it can be just the thing to get you started. Time to rest and relax is important so don't let the tasks in your life eat into it.
Turn off the TV. Studies have shown that most homes have more TV than people and that families spend hours upon hours watching television each day. While watching TV is fine, it also can eat into time that could be better spent talking, playing games or going for a walk with your family. Get the most out the time your family spends at home together by turning off the TV, even if it's only for a few nights a week.
Slow down. Most people spend a good part of their day and their lives rushing from one place to another, trying to cram in as much as possible in one day. Besides not being healthy, this isn't really fun either. Scale back by making sure your day includes a little bit of time to slow down, relax and simply be you.
Get rid of time wasters. The Internet is a great place to get all kinds of things done quickly and easily, but it's also full of millions of great distractions. This, along with the dozens of other distractions that tempt us each day, can make getting the stuff we actually need to get done impossible. Try getting rid of a few of these time wasters. You'll get more done, and feel much less stressed.
Stay organized. Want to scale down your life? Take the first step and get yourself organized. By knowing where things are and having a place for things at home and work you'll save time, effort and stress and make it easier to figure out what's important and what can get pushed aside.
Take control. You can't scale back if you let others make decisions about your life, so step up and take control of everything that's going on. When you're the boss you'll be able to figure out what really matters and cut out what doesn't.
Ask for help if you need it. You don't have to go through life trying to do everything on your own. If you're feeling overwhelmed, don't be too proud to ask for help. It can be a great way to get things under control without stretching yourself too thin.
Prioritize. Figuring out what is most important to you in your life is a big part of how you can pare things down. Spend more time doing the things that matter most, then let the rest get done if you have time. Don't spend hours on tasks that don't really matter to you when you could be doing things that do like spending time with your family.
More ideas to follow next month...or if you just can't wait email me today! |