New Beginnings

October 3, 2015. A date that will go down in history as the first weekend I have had free in a LONG time! And I mean LONG friends! It’s the perfect kind of weekend too. Hurricane Joaquin has brought in plenty of rain and cool weather to the South East and it’s these gloomy, rainy days that are my favorite to curl up in my sweats with a good book. The kind of weekend that I NEVER get to have because usually I am so busy that even on weekends like this, I am running around fulfilling some duty that is cluttering my planner or to-do list.

So this morning, I got up and decided to stay in bed for a while and catch up on some blog posts that had been piling up that I haven’t had the chance to read. One of my favorite blogs to follow is Emily Ley’s Joy and Simplicity. Her Simplicity series is full of advice from busy women on how they balance work and life so that they can do “what matters most”. I have always loved these posts but I think today was the first day that I actually read these women’s words and took them to heart. I am a busy woman, but am I keeping in mind what matters most to me? My husband and I are VERY busy. And that is an understatement! We both work two jobs. TWO! While he is working as a department store GM AND setting up his own real estate investment company, I am working full time as a first grade teacher AND spending time at my “hobby job” as I like to call it: Agecroft Hall. It’s a 17^th century (that’s the 1600's folks) Tudor manor that was taken down and moved from Lancashire England and rebuilt in good ol’ Richmond VA. I work there as a tour guide and living history interpreter in my “free” time. But as much as I enjoy both of my jobs, I can definitely say that especially this time of year, I am bogged down with commitments and obligations, and my husband and I DO NOT get to see much of each other. I am a Type A person if there ever was one and I also have a hard time saying no to people. Not a good combination to have my friends. So in addition to over-committing myself, I also have a hard time accepting help and tend to just do everything on my own. As I sit here writing, I am also reading a text I just received from a sweet teacher friend, offering to help me write the monthly grade level newsletters. And as much as I should say yes! I would love the help! My gut is telling me to just say no and do it myself.

These simplicity posts also reminded me of another blog series I read over at Erin Akin Carroll about having white space and creating margin in your life so that you have time to do what is important to you instead of rushing around to fulfill obligations that you would have preferred not to have committed to in the first place. So these posts got me thinking. What can I do to make my life more simple and focus on what matters most? What can I do to create more white space and margin in my life so that I can enjoy the little things? I took the advice from both blogs and compiled them into a list of things I need to do in order to cut down the clutter in my life and focus on things that are purposeful and life-giving.

1.   Make time for Jesus every day! It was mentioned in an Emily Ley post and also in a bible study that I read that sometimes rest cannot be found on a pillow, it has to be found in Him. And in this crazy season of life, Jesus is exactly what I need. I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten to the end of my day and thought, “I have not thought about or prayed to Him once today.” And that is not good folks, not good at all. So I need to set a specific time each day that I can spend in the word and focus on what His plan for my life is. Because as busy as I am, it is all for not if it is not His will.

2.   Write and keep up with a to-do list and a planner, but keep the goals REALISTIC. I am an old school paper and pencil kinda gal so I already write EVERYTHING down. But I write so much, that I have to-do lists for my to-do lists. And then I get so bogged down that nothing gets done. So I need to be more intentional with my time and set goals for each day that are reachable and not overwhelming. This is where my Emily Ley Simplified Planner will come in handy!

3.   Do not over-commit (especially to things I do not want to do) and leave room for MARGIN. Though it is good to have goals and a to-do list. I want everything on that list to be things that are going to be life-giving in some way. The mundane parts of life like doing the laundry or washing the dishes might not be life-giving in and of themselves, but if you set time to get them done without getting bogged down in the chores, then it will leave you with time to do things that are life-giving.

4.   Order my groceries. One of my least favorite parts of those weekly mandatory to-dos is going grocery shopping. Because of this, my husband and I tend to eat out more than we should I cannot say that our habits are the healthiest. So I am dabbling in the idea of trying out one of those meal delivery services like HelloFresh so that I can still avoid the grocery store but also make better eating choices.

5.   Make a cleaning schedule and stick to it or have a cleaning service come once a month to deep clean the house. Another weekly mandatory chore that doesn’t get done like it should…cleaning. And while I prefer to clean over grocery shop any day, I still fall behind in this task simply because I am not home often enough to get it done! I love to organize and I am usually pretty good about keeping things tidy, but it’s the dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing, etc. that I run out of time for. So a little help in this area would go a long way. Not only would it make me feel more comfortable in my home for it to be cleaned on a regular basis, but it would free up the available time I do have so that I can fill it with something that is life-giving.

6.   Clear out the clutter and organize everything! While my Type A personality does love organizing, when you are not home often, things definitely get unorganized and the clutter starts to pile up quickly. This is something that just needs to be maintained once it’s done! And I can definitely tell you that getting ready in the morning and preparing for whatever is next on my to-do list is a lot simpler and easier when everything is in its place!

7.   Get everything ready for the next day the night before. When I am not too lazy in the evenings to do this, it makes my mornings run much more smoothly. I am not a morning person, so I like to sleep in as long as possible, but I also do not like to rush around and feel like I’m going to be late.  So picking up the house, packing my lunch, and setting out my outfit the night before definitely allow me to take my time in the morning and feel more prepared for my day.

8.   Showering and getting dressed each morning even if I am not going anywhere. Because I am so busy, I hate feeling like I am wasting time and I want each choice I make to be intentional and have purpose. I hate feeling like I am wasting time doing something that is not life-giving. And if I get up in the morning and stay in my pajamas, I am more likely to be a couch potato and binge on Netflix all day rather than be productive and tackle something on my to do list.

9.   Schedule ME time. Because I like to feel productive, I have a hard time keeping up with self-care. If I am not doing something on my to-do list, I tend to feel guilty because I am not getting something done. But if you don’t take care of yourself, you are not going to be able to take care of others. So I want to add me time into my to-do list. Whether that be a mani/pedi, a massage, or just time to read a good book before bed.

10. Find time to exercise! Yes folks, I know, not only do I eat out too much, but I also do not exercise. I have had a gym membership for several years and only gone a handful of times. It’s something that I need to work into my schedule because even though I do not enjoy it, I know it will make me feel better in the long run and it is great for stress relief (which everyone needs)!

Overall, my goal is just to be present and purposeful in everything I do and do things that are life-giving and intentional. So join me friends as I embark on this journey to live a life of simplicity where the focus is what matters most and I share how to carve out white space and margin in this busy, hectic world.