3 Steps to becoming a Scheduling Minimalist

Uncategorized Aug 11, 2017

 The minimalist lifestyle is becoming quite popular. Some may choose to live in their homes that way but I choose to live my schedule in this manner. The one key thing to living as a minimalist in any area of your life is to cut out anything that doesn’t belong.

In scheduling, this requires an assessment of your calendar.

Let’s talk assessment, do you know your priorities for you and your family? This sounds basic but I honestly believe it isn’t looked at enough. So, the question to ponder is what do you want your life to look like on a daily basis? Do you want to run around in many different directions without the time to breathe or speak to one another? Do you want to have a qualitative life filled with what you have determined to be the most important activities and tasks?  There was a day in particular when I must have said, “hurry up” to my boys at least 25 times! I realized then that I might have a problem!! I really was afraid they were only going to have memories of being dragged around to the various activities I had signed up for. There was a point when all of my “busy” ness caught up with me and that is when I had to make a change. My family was not happy and I couldn’t live another day in a state of disorganization, chaos and clutter.

I started with prayer. God is always helpful when you actually spend time with Him. It was through prayer that I realized I had no real purpose for my day. Seems like an odd thing to say considering I was a busy mom. But that’s just it, I was busy but what was I really doing?? I was ignoring my purpose at its truest form. I fed my children, clothed them and loved them but what kind of time was I spending with them? Not quality time…

Through continued prayer I began to realize my priorities, the reasons I believe God put me here were my family, my faith and my health. Now, taking a look at my calendar I could see that I had a conflict. Most of what I was filling my time with was incongruent with my priorities. This is how I ended up becoming a scheduling minimalist. 

Here are the 3 steps to becoming a Scheduling Minimalist:

1.     Identify your 3 most important priorities

2.     Get rid of anything on your calendar that doesn’t fit in with Step 1

3.     Set up the calendar with your Top 3 in mind 1st and then back fill with anything else you may have time for.

It is hard at first, I won’t lie to you. Your favorite new word with be, “NO”! Of course, you can say it in a nice way….

“ I will check my calendar and get back with you.” ( Never answer on the spot, take the time to gain the strength to let them down easy.)

“ Thank you for thinking of me, at this time I cannot help you with this____.” (This is where you let them down easy)

Additional Tip:

Be the gatekeeper of your schedule. In the beginning, I wrote down my mission statement as I felt this kept me grounded on my main objective. When you work under the guise of helping people it is very easy to get sucked into the volunteer vortex. I am not saying you shouldn’t volunteer. I am saying you should do what your schedule allows based on your priorities. There is no shame in saying you can’t volunteer, don’t feel guilty. It doesn’t do any good to sign up to help only to find you don’t have enough time. Be conscious of this at all times. When you let your guard down, it’s easy to say “yes” to everyone. Stay focused on the minimalist mission you have decided upon.

If you need more assistance on getting your life in balance please check out:

http://bit.ly/2smaccw

Living in balance leads to a life that is organized.  Becoming a minimalist starts with living organized. It’s all connected!!

 

“From clutter and beyond…”

 

Darlene Illig

Professional Organizer

Illig Enterprises,LLC

www.organizeyouinsideandout.com

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