 |
Digging out… getting clear… finding happiness at home always seem to come back to the same three things.
Number one on the list being…
LESS IS MORE
It's such a cliche but so true.
It would be good for everyone suffering from the problem of overwhelm to write it down and post it somewhere that you will see it at all times to remind and motivate you when the temptation to bring one 'just one more thing' into your household comes calling.
BOUNDARIES – GET SOME
This action is related to 'less is more'. Those of us who are habitually overwhelmed very often have weak boundaries, and it shows in most areas of our lives.
It could be a weakness is determining or enforcing boundaries – with other people or with ourselves.
BE CONSISTENT
Once you start doing less and then set and enforce boundaries – both with other people and yourself – it is of utmost importance to be consistent.
That means you need to keep doing it. Over and over again.
That sounds exhausting. The thing is that it gets easier over time as you get better at it. On a practical level there will be less stuff of any shape or form to manage OR the things you will find yourself working with will change.
The ratio of drudgery to things that make you happy will tip dramatically to the happiness side as the things that are currently weighing you down are cleared out of your life.
3 THINGS TO DO TODAY
- Stop. Stop taking on more of anything. Think hard first about the impact it is going to have. Is it going to weigh you down or free you.
- Think about your boundaries. Choose one to work on today. If it's a boundary with another person be kind but firm. Explain what and why the change is happening. Make it work for them too if you possibly can. Give a reward. Be firm. And…
- Be consistent. Do it again tomorrow. And the next day.
If you find yourself slipping, just remember these words –
One thing that will really help you to keep on track with all of these things is setting up a household routine.
As it becomes a habit, these principals will start to become a habit too because you will see how much easier they make everything to manage and look after.
I found this article called Household Routines Improve Your Happiness on the Stacks and Stacks blog (some excellent reading and practical tips there. Just be sure to go when you are on coffee break or as a treat AFTER you've gone and decluttered something. It's one of those easy to lose the time on type sites because there is so much good stuff :0)
One point, in the article they say that
"In a study of families, regularity in household routines improved daily personal satisfaction by about 5%."
I'd be willing to bet that it's more like 50% plus!
What do you think? How much do having household routines and systems improve your happiness?
Queen of Kaos, great post!
Think we all need to put the brakes on and be a little happier. 🙂
Love your point on boundaries. Think that is where most people let others take over their time and lives.
– Craig
Thanks Craig! The funny thing with boundaries is that if we don’t have them, we often don’t notice we don’t have them until we set some and see what a difference they can make. Many times it can be self boundaries as well – that’s really where it all starts.
It’s like colouring inside the lines. Colouring outside can be easier and more fun, but the picture doesn’t come out as nice :0)
Three simple but powerful action steps!
I am a true believer that a clean clutter free environment significantly improves our quality of life and satisfaction .
When I hear someone say that they are happy with the clutter around them, I ask them: would you pay for a five star hotel room if it was cluttered?:) We value space and neatness more than we realize. 🙂
Love the colouring comment Jan. It is more fun to do it outside but it does get a bit messy.
Hi Manal, it’s funny that you would mention the value of clear space, it’s been on my mind a lot for quite awhile. It occurred to me that some day as the world as a whole gets more cluttered, we’re probably going to find ourselves paying for clutter free, unpolluted space, if it’s available! The value of clear spaces has proved to me to be worth far more than most anything I used to be able to manage to clutter my life with, both in mind and space. I think we are seeing a trend towards this thinking as well as we strive to swing back into balance after a few decades of excess. Works for me!