Mindfulness is a practice that helps to elevate stress by noticing what is happening around you and becoming focused on the present moment. It is an essential part of creating life balance, resulting in a happier YOU and those you encounter.
Being present in the here and now is something you can cultivate through practice, and part of that is organizing your environment. We all run on different physical and mental energy, and what we have in our environments makes a significant difference.
Walking into a cluttered home with piles of papers on the desk and clothes scattered about immediately sends out a negative vibe. If you contain yourself in that environment, it tends to build up and creep out into your daily activities, and your mental and physical energy is greatly affected. Constantly asking yourself, “where did I put that?” creates negative energy, increasing stress levels. So too does the inevitable follow-up: “I know I had a pair of white pants but where in the heck are they?” ARRRGGGHHHH!
With so many things to balance in your everyday life, why not put a bit of old-school organization around some of them to make your life simpler? Your mind wanders when surrounded by clutter or trying to remember if it was the salt that you needed or the baking soda, so why not implement a few tricks to help put your mind at ease.
There is no one cookie-cutter answer for what works best, but a few basic tips help. Start by keeping it simple :
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Arrange your closets by tops (sorted by color) and bottoms (sorted by activity; shorts, jeans, casual, dressy)
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Make a list of often-used items such as vitamins, toiletries, cooking/food, and post it inside a cabinet or a location that you can quickly check. Note when you have restocked these items, too, reducing the time spent wondering, “Did I buy more…?”
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Create a binder for various activities in your life; “House Repair,” “Tax Documents,” “Medical Bills,” “Gardening Ideas.” I prefer the “old school” method of actual binders, but file folders kept in a drawer, or files kept on your computer can work just as well.
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Plan out food for the week (or a couple of weeks) so that you reduce the “what’s for dinner?” episodes. Doing so not only reduces wasted food, but it saves money as well, which is a great bonus!
Though it may take a bit of time to implement, once you get the process going organizing the basics in your life creates freedom and reduces unnecessary stress.
Hugs,
Cyndi