On an almost daily basis, I come up to bed at night and greet my husband with a long, dramatic sigh.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
I sigh again. “There’s all these things I want to do but I never seem to have the time to do them!”
It is the complaint that has plagued me, especially since becoming a mom over five years ago. But lately, in the midst of school closures due to winter weather and COVID, with two kids that are long past their napping days, the question has resurfaced with a vengeance: When am I going to get this done?
Despite my recent sighing and complaining, I refuse to be a victim to time. So what do you do when you don’t have enough time to get it “all” done? In the words of Kendra Adachi, otherwise known as The Lazy Genius, “You can ‘do it all’ if you decide what ‘all’ means.”
For me, changing what “all” means has included radically simplifying and streamlining as many areas of my life as I can. Specifically, these five areas have made massive impact by reducing the time and energy I have to focus on things that aren’t important, so I can spend my time on the things that are.
Area #1: Clothing
Reducing the number of clothing choices I have in my closet has had a huge impact on how my day starts. While I currently don’t follow any set guidelines for a capsule wardrobe, I do keep a limited number of pieces that all coordinate together in a basic color palette (blue, pink/cranberry, gray, black, and white). Everything fits my current body and my lifestyle. Also, doing laundry on a daily basis (area #3) means that I don’t need much in the way of clothing.
If you don’t want to get rid of clothing but want to make getting dressed easier, put the (seasonally appropriate) clothing you don’t wear often in a bin and label it with a date 60 days from now, and put a reminder in your phone. You may be surprised that you haven’t missed anything in the bin when the 60 days are up!
Area #2: Meals
Being responsible for feeding four humans on a daily basis (including two small and sometimes picky humans) can be a challenge. If you let it, meal planning and preparing can take huge amounts of time and energy. That’s why I have radically simplified this area, and will continue to do so as long as I don’t get any pushback (especially from my kids).
My top tips to simplify meals:
- Create a “Favorites” list for grocery items and family meals. I use the AnyList app and I really like it. When I do my weekly grocery list, I start with the favorites, and then add from there using the recipes that I’ve selected within the app.
- Speaking of recipes, my husband is gluten-free which helps to simplify our dinners considerably. I also don’t have to worry about him for breakfast or lunch because he typically has Bulletproof coffee and a green smoothie he prepares himself. (Thanks, honey!) For dinners, we usually have a protein (meat, fish, eggs, veggie burger) with a salad, vegetable, or starch such as rice or potatoes. If I want to make something different, I can easily import recipes I find online to AnyList and make my weekly meal plan there.
- I give my kids a limited number of choices when I ask them what they want for lunch and dinner. This helps reduce pushback and also ensures that they have (mostly) healthy options available to them.
- As for me, I have been intermittent fasting since July 2021 so I typically don’t eat breakfast and I try not to snack during the day. Lunch is either leftovers or something simple from the fridge.
Area #3: Cleaning and Chores
In the past, cleaning and chores have been the bane of my existence. Perhaps it’s because I have two young boys who constantly leave crumbs in their wake. Or that I’m home most of the time and see the sticky countertops and layers of dust that don’t seem to bother my other family members. Either way, I knew that simplifying cleaning and chores would have a huge impact on getting my precious time and energy back. Here’s what I’ve implemented:
- I do laundry on a daily basis. This is usually where I lose people. What?? I don’t want to do laundry every day. I totally get it! For me, it’s because I wanted to make it a daily habit that I don’t have to think about and free up my brain space for more important things. I collect the dirty laundry first thing in the morning, put it in the washer, fold the clothes from the day before, put them away, and hang/dry the clothes from the washer. My time spent on the process is around 20-30 minutes (not counting the time the clothes are in the washer and dryer). Also, we can keep less clothes since I am washing them more regularly. This goes for me and my kids, but even my husband has commented he probably doesn’t need as many clothes because of my laundry routine!
- For cleaning my house, I’ve implemented a zone cleaning system I learned through the Systemize Your Life Academy. (I am an affiliate for the Academy and would highly recommend it). Right now I’m doing zones by floor of my house, but you can also break it down by type of activity (bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting, etc.) Decide what you want to clean when and put it into your Google Calendar like an appointment.
- I used to clean when my kids were sleeping or at school, but now I do it while I’m at home with them and try to involve them as much as I can. It’s important to me that they know fairies aren’t coming while they sleep to magically clean the house. They are members of the household and can contribute like anyone else.
Area #4: Exercise
How you choose to move your body on a regular basis is such a personal decision, yet sticking with something consistently seems to plague many. For me, it comes down to following a set plan and having accountability in place. I have been following Sydney Cummings for a while but have been on a streak of following her free workouts since October 1, 2020. The reason I’ve been able to stick to this plan is because I enjoy her as a trainer, I enjoy the workouts themselves, I don’t have to think about what I’m doing, and I have an accountability group I check in with when I complete the workout.
Depending your fitness level and goals, my recommendation is to start with something you don’t have to think about with a low barrier to entry (such as running or walking) or follow a set plan with enough variety that you don’t get bored, but you don’t have to make a decision every day what you’re going to do.
Area #5: Personal Care
While personal care is extremely personal, I have streamlined my products considerably over the years. I mostly use Beautycounter products because I support their mission to “safer products into the hands of everyone.” I look for multipurpose products when I can, or simply use one type of each product. For example, I used to work with a woman who wore the same lipstick every day to work. I thought that was strange at the time, but now I only use one lipstick myself. It goes with everything I own and I don’t want to complicate my morning routine by adding another decision.
Where Can You Simplify?
By reducing the number of choices I have in these five areas, I have reduced my decision fatigue, streamlining and simplifying my day. This allows me to spend more time and energy on the things that truly matter to me. I am still working to streamline and systemize other areas of my life (such as my poetry business, social media, etc.) while I continue to simplify as many of my personal and home management tasks as possible.
Hopefully this article is a springboard for you to think about where you can find more time to pursue the goals in your heart. Where can you simplify? Where can you reduce the number of decisions you make in a day? As Francine Jay so eloquently reminds us, “Strive not to get more done, but to have less to do.”
Interested in experimenting with simplifying your life to get back your time, energy, and focus? Check out my free 5 Experiments for Simple Living Guide!
Simplify. Find out how.
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