[HLS] WK - 29 to 32 From Balance to Motivation

As usual I'm playing catch up with my Simplify your Life Challenge.  so much so that I needed to schedule it over two posts.  So today and tomorrow that's where I'm at.

Week 29: Paper and Information

Well it is official, we’re moving away from paper.  People talked of these paperless offices for years and to be honest, I didn’t believe it.  But now, it’s possible…. Kind of.

I’m trying.  What am I doing?

1/ Setting up online statements.  I mean, really, what do I do when I get a statement, file it away and never look at it again, until I can’t close my draw and then I dispose of them. 

If I opt in for online I can check them and leave them, ready for me to come back to if need be.  Simple.

2/ Finally I’m learning to appreciate my iPad.  Yeap, it was not love at first sight for me and the old iPad.  But since I learnt to use the calendar and I synced both the iPad and iPhone together, I’m a lot happier.  I’m being prompted to remember things, which is an absolute blessing. 

3/ I receive a lot of emails and its clutter.  It might be locked in the screen and not piled up on my desk, but if I’m honest, it does my head in all the same.  I’ve been reviewing them as they come in and unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe.  A weight is lifting off of my shoulders.

4/ I’m pretty much disposing of all advertising materials as they come to hand.  Without even reading them!  Money is precious, we do not have enough.  It’s time to rein it in and be sensible. 

Do I want it? Or Do I need it?  And I don’t think about what I don’t need if it’s not sitting in front of me.  Catalogues clutter my kitchen bench, clutter my mind, reduce my bank account.  We are no longer friends.

5/ I’m cleaning off the fridge.  You know, the art work, the birthday invites, the canteen menu, all that.  If it requires regular viewing, I’ve pinned it onto the inside of the pantry door. 

I won’t keep rambling on, but these are some of the steps I’m taking to reduce my paper and information stress.  I just don’t need all this paper and information clutter surrounding me.  I was and probably to a degree still am feeling somewhat claustrophobic.  Chipping away at it.

Week 30: Habit and Motivation

I do my best to be organized, and to a degree think I’m not too bad at it.  But we all do have a weakness and here is mine:

‘I struggle to put the washing away’

Last week I posted a photo of my kitchen table.  Luckily we don’t eat off this table because it is always covered in washing.  I always strive to clear it by Friday arvo so that we can stick to our ‘weekends for living’ philosophy, but when I’m busy, I’ll race around and do anything else but this task.

So between now and the school holidays, I am going to try and commit to putting the washing away each day.  Even if I have to work that evening there is really no excuse.  It only takes 10 minutes.  Watch this space.

Week 32: Balance, checking in on the wheel of life

How am I going, in short:

Relationships & Physical Environment ~ My relationships with my family are strong and I continue to build my relationships with my friends.  I’m happy.

Whilst I’m happy in my home we have been questioning a move, do we need to? should we?  Reality is we love to much about our home to move, so we continue to question what can we do to tick all the boxes.  There is no quick fix without money.  Slowly, slowly.

Health, Family & Friends, Fun & Recreation ~ With room to improve, this was an area of focus.  My health was a key focus and then it dropped off.  I’ll talk more about that in week 33 & 34, but this needs to be a key focus.

I am genuinely happy with the family and friends I have in my life, I feel very lucky to feel supported and loved.  That is all that I can really ever ask for.

And as for Fun & Recreation, this year has been a defining year for us as a family.  We have acknowledge that to live a fruitful life we all need to go out and have fun. 

For the first time since we had children (6 years ago) we enlisted a baby sitter.  As a couple we have gone out and had fun, with friends, because we’re entitled to enjoy life beyond our children.  It’s been great.  We also continue to look for ways to spend quality time together as a family ‘creating a beautiful life in the everyday’.

Personal growth & Career, still very much a work in progress, but this was always about planning for next year.

Money, again still very much a work in progress, as mentioned above, I’m trying to slowly make changes.  Between now and the end of the year I want to be fairly tough and try to live via a needs basis.  Simple can very much be beautiful.
How are your goals going?  (SYL Challenge or perhaps you've got NY Resolutions)

Cheers


Mandy