Month: January 2017

A New Year, A New Not So Busy You

calendar

(A photo of a calendar I will not be buying this year.)

Why do we continue to label ourselves as “busy”? I just don’t get it.      Busy afternoon? Sure. Busy day? Possibly. Busy week? Maybe.                Busy month? Could be. Busy year? I hope not. Busy life? Please, no.             Busy mom? Please, please, no.

I will say it again: I am so much more than a busy mom. You are so much more than a busy mom.

If you are looking back at last year, looking ahead into this new year and thinking that you are ready to start living a full life without the busy, then here’s to a new year, a new not so busy you!

We all live different lives with different priorities, responsibilities and unique situations. A new year, a new not so busy you requires you to take some time to reflect on various areas of your life and find ways to: make intentional choices, simplify and slow down.

Today let’s consider a few areas of your life where you might be able to be just a little less busy.

Home life

Routines. Establish routines to combat busyness. A few weeks ago I shared 5 task to do before bedtime to prepare for the next day. This evening routine takes just a few minutes, and it can save so much time and prevent unnecessary craziness in the morning.

There are many routines you can implement in order to have things run a little more smoothly thus preventing extra busyness. These routines include (but are not limited to): an evening routine, a morning routine, a laundry routine, and a cleaning routine. Pick one of these routines, implement it for a few weeks, tweak as necessary and notice and enjoy a little less busyness in your home life.

Quick tip: Do 1 load of laundry a day.

Meals. Meal plan to eliminate evenings spent racing to the store or calling for take-out. I fully believe in meal planning and have been doing it with success for many years. Meal planning does not have to be a complicated process, so please don’t make it harder than it needs to be. You can meal plan weekly or even monthly. There are so many recipe ideas available to you. Pick 5-7 simple meals for this week and make your evenings just a little less busy.

Quick tip: Create a master list of meals your family likes, and refer to that when meal planning each week.

Commitments

We don’t want to live exclusively inside our own four walls. Building relationships, being involved in our communities, volunteering in schools, and serving people are good and important ways to spend our time. Sometimes, though, we overdo it. We spread ourselves too thin. We get involved in things because we want to look good to others. We over fill our calendars and over stuff our lives. Be involved. Be committed. Serve. Do good. Use your talents and gifts. At the same time, consider your choices, your time, your energy, your motives.

Quick tip: List your priorities and your commitments. Do they align?

Your children’s activities and commitments

Here we go. I know. You might not want to go here. We have to go here. Just like we can over stuff our own calendars. We can also over stuff our children’s calendars. If your life is feeling crazy busy there’s a good chance your child’s life is crazy busy, and I’m guessing they are also feeling the squeeze. Allow your children time to be home, to be bored, to think, to breathe, to imagine, to create, to play with their siblings, to read a book, to draw a picture, to climb a tree, to cuddle next to you, to tell you their thoughts, hopes and fears. Sports, lessons (of various kinds), and other extra curricular activities are great and can be quite beneficial, so yes, let them be involved, but again, consider carefully how you fill their days.

Quick tip: Check in with your child at the end of each season. Ask them about their desired activities and provide your own not so busy insight as you consider the new season and the calendar before you.

full life

Please don’t try to overhaul every area of your life at once. Hopefully, there was something that caught your eye, something that made you pause, something that jumped out at you. Start there. Chat about it with your spouse, a friend, maybe even your children.

A new year, a new not so busy you is a possibility. I hope today’s post encouraged you to begin the journey!

What about you? Are you looking to make this year and you not so busy? Share your thoughts! I’d love to hear them!

Until next time,

Charissa Continue reading “A New Year, A New Not So Busy You”

A Little Help for the Hall Closet

(A big thanks to my husband for his help on this mini-project.)

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I think we all have an area (or maybe many areas) in our home that could use a little decluttering and organization. I find that one of the ways my life becomes just a little less busy is by bringing order in the places and spaces within my home. When there is order, searching for an ingredient, item or tool happens rather quickly and without much hassle. Remember the famous quote from Benjamin Franklin? “A place for everything, everything in its place.” Good advice.

This week we were able to bring some needed order to a small space in our home by providing a little help for the hall closet.

The Before

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We live in a small home and have fewer closets than most. In our hallway we have one closet that houses our washer and dryer. We also have a small closet which was probably originally intended to be used as a linen closet. We don’t have or need many extra linens, so we have used the closet to store toiletries and pantry items. The closet has served its purpose, but it was definitely in a need of some help.

The Process

We cleared the shelves.

We moved out items that needed to live in a better place.

We threw out unused or expired items.

We cleaned the shelves.

We covered each shelf with contact paper.

We reorganized the shelves.

We found containers around our home that could help store items.

We bought a few more containers.

We replaced items in an orderly and organized manner.

The Products

Contact paper. We bought a floral print at a local store, but Amazon has more options than you could ever want or need. Here’s a floral choice.

Containers.We had a few dollar tree storage options that we were no longer using, so we re-purposed them.

We also bought some refrigerator organizer bins and thought they might work well in the closet for some of our go-to items that we want to easily see and access. These are similar to what we found at our local store.

Total cost: Just about $13

The After

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Our hall closet is now a cleaner, prettier and more organized space. I’m happy with how it turned out. What do you think?

My Advice

One Project at a Time. It’s easy to look around your house and get overwhelmed or discouraged. Maybe your kitchen cabinets are cluttered. Perhaps there is a large stack of mail on your table. Do you have a shoe pile spilling into numerous rooms? Maybe your dresser drawers won’t close anymore. Don’t try to tackle everything at once because if you do then nothing will get done. Pick a project and take a step forward. Work on it for 15 minutes today and tomorrow and so on.

Enlist Help. My husband helped me get focused and stay motivated to complete this project. Working with him was super helpful because we could split tasks and bounce ideas off each other.

Let Go of Perfection. Is this closet perfect? No. I have seen many prettier closets, but you know what? I’m okay with that. We tackled the project and the space is better than it was before.

What about you? Do you have an area of your home that could use a little help?

Until next time,

Charissa

(This post contains affiliate links, so thenotsobusymom receives a very small commission if you make a purchase through these links.)

Continue reading “A Little Help for the Hall Closet”

Why I Set Goals Each Year + 2 of My Goals for 2017

I love a good goal, and the start of a new year is a great time to set a goal… or ten. You can clearly set a goal any time of the year, but the fresh start that a new year brings seems like the perfect time to reflect on the past year and consider the coming one.

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Why I Set Goals Each Year

Goals motivate me. They push me the in the direction I am hoping to head. Goals help shape many of my every day decisions and activities.

Last year my husband and I set a big financial goal. We didn’t end up reaching the goal, but we got very close. Am I discouraged? No. In fact I am quite happy. I don’t think we would have made the progress we did if we had not set the goal. We are encouraged to once again dream big, set motivating goals and work hard towards them.

As you consider setting goals for the year, (and no, you’re not too late) consider various areas of your life including:

  • marriage
  • children
  • job
  • health/fitness
  • finances
  • service/community life
  • hobbies

I have chosen a handful of goals for 2017, but today I am sharing just 2 of them.

2 of My Goals for 2017

  1. Get moving for 30 minutes each day. And by moving I mean moving for exercise. I might choose: walking, running, biking, exercise video, a class at the gym. The “what” I do doesn’t matter. I just need to do it for 30 minutes. I am also very happy to do it for a full 30 minutes or break it into smaller time frames based on my day (like 2, 15 minute sessions). Sometimes you just have to make it work.

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2. Sleep 7-8 hours each night. Sleep is beyond important to me. When I sleep I am a clear-minded, kind, energetic wife, mother and friend. I have recently developed the bad habit of staying up way too late as I work on growing my blog, but it’s time to get back on track. Warm bed, here I come!

bedding

 

I want to end today’s post with 2 goals that are certainly not concrete because their progress is not easily measured. And yet, I have been thinking about these for awhile and will be striving to grow in these particular areas, so I thought I would share them with you now.

2 More “Goals” for 2017

More Gratitude (Less Complaining)

Ok, confession time. I can be negative. A lot of this negativity is internal. There’s this negative reel that just runs through my head affecting my mind and attitude. I find that some things trigger the negativity (like lack of sleep). I want to break free from my negative thoughts and choose gratitude. There is always something to be thankful for!

thankful

Goal 2: Make Time for Simple Memories with My Family

Ok, confession time (again). I am too easily overwhelmed. I get caught up in my thoughts and emotions, and sometimes miss out on beautiful simple moments. I say “no” to these moments when I should be saying “yes”.

This year I want to take a deep breath and jump into the special moments that will remain with my children for years to come. I’m looking forward to more spontaneous dance parties, game nights, t-ball in the front yard, and adventurous walks in and around town.

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What about you? Have you set any goals f0r 2017? I’d love to hear about them!

Until next time,

Charissa

Continue reading “Why I Set Goals Each Year + 2 of My Goals for 2017”