This is a collaboration blog by Erika Del Sordo and Meredith Kimmel, ACC. This blog can also be found at https://todaystalkwitherika.com/.
Well doesn’t this picture say it best. Raise of hands for those who constantly have WAY too many things going on at the same time. (I’m raising mine!) Do you ever feel like 24 hours in the day just isn’t enough? Personally, I think 30 would work best for me.
I’m sure you have thought like countless others that once January comes there’s this slate that gets wiped clean. “January will be the start of something new, a fresh start in life.” As if the past year was just a waste and somehow everything from the prior year was just magically erased on December 31st. On January 1st we all lose 20 pounds, have $30,000 more in our bank accounts and life is supposed to just get easier. Um, no.
Each Day Provides the Opportunity for A Fresh Start.
Meredith and I wrote a blog this past new year titled, “Each Day Provides the Opportunity for A Fresh Start.” In there, we explain that December 31st shouldn’t be the only fresh start you make. A fresh start can happen every day, at every hour. A fresh start doesn’t have to only happen in the beginning of the year! While April IS still considered the “beginning,” it’s also the perfect time to reflect on what hasn’t happened yet that you thought you would accomplish by mid-January. Let’s call this space in time, “Spring Cleaning Your Life.”
How To “Spring Clean” Your Life.
- Start somewhere. Anywhere. (Taxes are a good start.)
- Prioritize each task.
- Sort and label the tabs inside your filing cabinet.
- Sort and label the tabs inside your brain.
- Section each task to have its own time slot in the day.
Naturally, not everything will go as planned. I wish it were that simple. But it’s a good start. At least your day now has a blueprint!
This might be TMI, but I’m going to share anyway because I’m sure someone out there can relate! I have recently learned that my cell phone needs to be on silent when I get out of the shower. Picture this: I’ll have just stepped out of the shower. As I’m standing in the bathroom, naked, trying to get ready for the day, it’s as if the universe sent out a smoke signal telling everyone I know to call at that specific time. So, there I stand for about an hour, naked in the bathroom, conducting business. This is NOT how your day should go. It’s no longer how mine will go. If your call has gone to my voicemail, it’s because you caught me just getting out of the shower.
Changing the subject…
While my blog entries are about personal experience and trial & error (please learn from my errors), Meredith offers a professional look at each topic. Help us, Meredith! How do we Spring Clean Our Lives??!!
Thank you, Erika. I love your take on Spring Cleaning Our Lives. Personal experiences are great because people can relate to them. I share in your experience about everyone calling while you are in the shower. The other thing that happens to me is that I leave my phone upstairs (in my home office) when I go downstairs to get something from the kitchen and then I’m flying up the stairs like a mad woman just to miss the call.
The truth is we lead remarkably busy lives. We have many responsibilities and there never seems to be enough time in the day to get things done. This leads to overwhelm. When we get overwhelmed, we tend to get paralyzed and don’t know where to start. This is where Spring Cleaning Our Lives comes into play.
I just had this exact conversation with a client earlier this week. She was telling me that she felt paralyzed in overwhelm. We made a list of the tasks she had to do, we agreed that she would start with the least desired task, and then go from there. That is a fantastic way to get you started in motion.
Spring Clean Your Life
I agree with Erika, above, that you don’t need to wait until January 1st, the first day of the month, or a Sunday to begin something new. You can start any day of the week at any hour. What I do think that you need to do is prioritize your goals and make sure that you really want to accomplish these intentions.
How do you do this?
- Write down the goals, intentions, changes you want to make in your life.
- Analyze what you wrote down. Does it resonate with you? Can you accomplish this goal right now and do you want to? Has this intention been something that you have been sitting with for a while and you haven’t gotten to it, and why?
- Let go of the intentions that no longer resonate with you. This is important because a task that you may no longer want to do is keeping you in overwhelm because you haven’t let go of it yet. Just because you put it on your list, doesn’t mean you need to do it if it doesn’t resonate with you.
- Now get to work. Pick that task that you find least desirable. This is a wonderful place to start because it not only gets you moving through your list and you feel a sense of accomplishment, but you also get the least desired task off your list.
- Celebrate your accomplishments. You achieved your goals and that is huge.
If you need any help figuring out your goals and how to reach them, contact Erika or myself and we will be happy to help you find success.
Don’t wait for a date on the calendar to start something new, go for it now.
