HOLIDAY STRESS

The reality is we are adding enough extra duties into our schedule to keep a full time employee busy. With that said, I’ll get right to the point. Here are 10 great ways to save some time AND relieve some stress.

1. Lay out what you are going to wear the night before and have whatever you need to take with you organized and by the door.  The simple act of having one less decision to make in the morning will relieve stress and get you out the door quick with a clear mind.
2. Through the Holidays get up 20 minutes earlier than you normally do. We all have a lot of extra errands and things on our minds right now.  It is much easier to be efficient when we feel prepared and not rushed.
3. Speaking of extra errands, there is no better time to keep your to do list up to date. Write EVERYTHING down.  You will feel a sense of accomplishment when you see tasks crossed off your list. With a written list you will be more likely to use your time wisely and sneak an extra errand in when you find yourself near the location of one of your chores.
4. Prioritize your list. Keep the things you must get done at the top of the list and leave the items that are not imperative at the bottom.
5. This is the time to keep your meals easy to prepare! Consider keeping some prepared deli foods in the fridge for emergencies. If you do cook, it is a great idea to double your recipes so you will have prepared food ready to heat and serve on those particularly rushed days.
6. Wear your most comfortable shoes and clothes. You will have more energy and will more likely feel like doing the extra chores on your list!
7. It’s not too late to shop online for some or all of your gifts. The best part… you can do it in your pajamas and  gift wrapping is often included or offered for a very minimal fee!
8. This is no time to play the Wonder Woman role. ASK FOR HELP! Divvy up some of the duties you can’t get to.
9. When you find yourself stressed to the max take a 30 minute time out; go for a brief walk, read a few pages from your favorite book or just find a quiet place to sit and relax.  When you are stressed your mind is cluttered and it becomes hard to focus.
10. Lastly, if you really find yourself overwhelmed consider contacting a personal assistant concierge service. I did a quick search on the internet and found several that offer help from the simplest to the largest of chores and duties. Now doesn’t that sound tempting?

Remember, you are human and your best IS ENOUGH. Keep a positive attitude and find a way to enjoy this season.  I hope you spend it surrounded by those you love and are filled with the gratitude of all that you have and all that you are.

I have purchased and almost read a couple of books on the problem and one of my favorites is Let Go of Clutter by Harriet Schechter. (Part of me wishes she would come to my house and part of me hyperventilates at the thought of it) What I liked about this book is that she discusses the different reasons why some of us have a difficult time with clutter. Then she clarifies the confusion around different activities one does to get rid of the clutter which is very enlightening.  They are:

1.      Cleaning: she defines this as the vacuum, mop, dust sort of thing we all do. I’m not spectacular at this but definitely OK here.

2.      Neatening: She says this is what we do when someone is coming over. I’m really good at this.

3.      Organizing: I don’t know what happened here, my Mom is organized, my daughter is organized, I….am not. I am better than I used to be but honestly I am not what most people would call organized.(I just heard my daughter guffawing as I wrote that and she isn’t even here) She says this is when you spend enormous amounts of time trying to find something you put away when you were neatening. This is so true.

4.      Decluttering: She says, and I quote, “Discarding, removing, or markedly reducing any accumulation of material objects.” Yup, this is definitely my problem.

At least I am comforted by the fact that the reason I am bad at organizing and de-cluttering, in part, is because I am so good at cleaning and neatening. Why should we care?

When your environment is cluttered, you mind is cluttered.

As my daughter says, “the less clutter you have in your home, the clearer you are when you walk out the door.”  I can attest to the fact that walking into a cluttered home makes me feel tired, uninspired and slightly inadequate. Your home should be your sanctuary regardless of how grand or humble it is. For me, it is the realization that although I was aware of my problem, I used to be a card carrying workaholic so I really wasn’t home very much. Now I work from home. Quite simply, I do remember that feeling of walking into a clean orderly house after a long stressful day. The difference is night and day.

Order

With that said I am committing to finding a way to become de-cluttered which will consequently make me happier, clearer and even better at cleaning and neatening because there won’t be so much to do. Now since I have had these two books for years and have not finished my favorite nor even started the other, I have decided to start with my review of the book, advice from my daughter and the knowledge that I need to keep this mentally and physically as simple as possible. So here’s my plan:

1.      I plan to set myself up for success with SMALL achievable tasks. I will do one small project at a time and keep it as simple as possible so I don’t get overwhelmed, which will build my confidence. This will also make for less choices and decisions in a given day and increase the likelihood of my repeating the process tomorrow. Today I started with the shoes exploding out of my closet. I have two closets so I started with only one of them. I was shocked at how many shoes that I found I had not worn, will not wear and really didn’t even know were in my closet.

2.      For each of my de-cluttering tasks I will use a cardboard box instead of a trash bag. A good suggestion from my daughter as it is tidier, stackable and it seems to help inspire a “de-clutter-er euphoria “at the site of actual space on the floor without the contradictory site of an overflowing garbage bag.

3.      If the job is bigger than I thought I will stop immediately when I begin to feel anxious or overwhelmed.

4.      When I am finished I will immediately put the box out of site. I put my box in the garage in a spot I have designated for donation pickup. This prevents the urge to pilfer items back out of the box or second guess any of my decisions. As luck would have it, a donation truck is scheduled to come next week!

5.      Knowing that the clothes part of the closet would require more soul searching decisions, I placed a hamper in the new found floor space of my closet. My plan is to put clothes I do not want any longer in it as I discover them while dressing.

6.       Lastly, the book recommends that I don’t beat myself up for past failures. So today I am focusing on patting myself on the back for what I did “right” today and resisting the urge to suddenly notice all the other areas I need to attack.

Isn’t it interesting how #6 is also excellent advice for beating procrastination, creating positive self talk, raising our self esteem and achieving any goal we have set for ourselves?

It’s only been one day but I must say I feel pretty good about it and the prospect of conquering the returning clutter. This concept of keeping the steps simple and the job small makes me more hopeful than past attempts when I contemplated the entire house!  Perhaps this will work for you.

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