5 Simple Ways to Simplify Your Every Day

Hey y’all! Long time no see – as in 4 days. It’s been 4 days. But I’ve missed you, how was your Mother’s Day?! Did you do anything fun, get pampered, I don’t know – be ALONE for 5 minutes where nobody needed you to wipe their bum? #bliss

I spent some time being spoiled at the spa, had a lovely (delicious) brunch, and we spent some good quality time family-ing. Then rounded out with Chinese Food and Doughnuts – my true food loves.# However y’all celebrated Mother’s Day, I hope it was amazing and I hope you know you’re amazing and I hope you continue to feel appreciated the rest of the year because you deserve that.

But today we’re back to our normal day-to-day lives. The crazy busy days that have become our norm. And as much as I want to tell you this post is about to give you a one-step cure all to the madness, it’s just not. I do, however, have a few tips for simplifying a little bit, so that maybe your days can be less cray cray and instead, just… cray.

Get up 15 Minutes Earlier and do something for yourself.Mornings are hard. Whether you stay home or work full time, or anywhere in between, mornings are tough. They’re stressful, on a timeline, with about 100 things to do. I know it’s tempting to put yourself to the wayside until later when you can maybe carve 15 minutes out of your evening for you time, but that’s just putting it off. Giving yourself 15 minutes in the morning to wake up, stretch, maybe read a few pages or do some yoga, drink some hot coffee, or spend a little extra time on your makeup, I challenge you to actually give yourself a little more time in the morning. There are a 100 reasons it’s hard to do it, and 1,000 why it’s good for you. Just try it!
Keep a list journal.I have a planner that I love for day to day tasks and appointments, but if you’re anything like me, you have about a million thoughts to keep track of and it can become overwhelming. I have a separate little journal (though this could easily be a part of your regular planner) just for keeping lists. Things like – people to call, gift ideas, blog post ideas, books to read, movies to watch, etc. Because random tidbits tend to come to me at random times, it makes it so much easier to just jot things down and file them away until I’m ready to tackle that particular thing. Side note – for what it’s worth. I know it’s easy to store things in your phone so that’s cool too. I’m just #teampenandpaper all the way.

Give yourself 3 priorities for the day. Instead of trying to do a million things, work on the three most important things. If you get those things done, add one or two more. Stop trying to tackle a whole list at once – that’s when it becomes overwhelming. Use your list journal – write down three things. Work on them one at a time, then go from there.
Outsource something.I know it’s not within the budget to completely outsource your house cleaning, but it might reasonable to ask your husband to start making sure all the laundry is in the laundry room by Wednesday and Sunday so that you can push it through. Have your oldest child be in charge of prepping fruit for lunches for the week. Hire a neighbor kid to pull weeds or walk the dog a couple times a week. Outsourcing seems like a luxury few can afford, but small adjustments and a couple things here and there off of your plate add up to making a huge difference. (Remember this chore chart I gave you at the beginning of the school year? Awesome way to delegate tasks around the house!)

Say No.It’s easier said than done. I get it. We have so many people asking for so many things from us, but at some point you just have to say no. Ask yourself – does this serve a purpose in my life? Does it make me happier, make my family happier, and does it utilize my strengths? If the answer is no, then the answer should probably be no. And as much as we worry about what others will think of us if we say no, I’ve actually found people are pretty darn respectful when you prioritize your well-being over saying yes to everything and being spread too thin.

When they say less is more, I really think it’s true. I’m a big advocate for quality over quantity and dedicating your time to the things that matter and only those things. So in case you’re feeling overwhelmed with teacher appreciation, and summer camps, and end of school, and work, and holidays, and summer vacations – just know that nobody but you expects you to do every single thing and do it perfectly. I’d like to give you permission – today, right now – to just say no. And the things you can’t say no to, write it down. Then pick three you’d like to focus on today and get those done. Then pick something from that list to outsource, so you can have 15 minutes to just take care of yourself. Maybe just to sit and smell those sweet Mother’s Day flowers from yesterday.