One Year of Simplicity – Completed! What’s Next?

I  had set a goal to do 365 Simplicity Tips in 2012…Woo hoo!  I did it!  Hopefully, you were able to get a few ideas that will help you simplify your life – at home, at work, in relationships, de-cluttering, having balance or any other possible area of life.

Moving forward in 2013, I’m starting with taking a little break!  When writings pick back up in February, I’m thinking I will start sharing some auto-biographical, funny, sometimes political, thought-provoking essays I wrote awhile back.  🙂  I actually thought about putting them all in a book…which maybe I’ll still do someday…but in meantime, I’ll share a few here and there!

Take care all and have a happy January!  Think warm thoughts!

-Therese

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Simplicity Tip #338 – Prepare Today for Clean Emails in 2013!

I don’t know about you, but I have quite a few email addresses – for home, for fun, for work, for my side business, for family, etc.  For me, I get a bit anxious if there’s more than 100 unopened emails in any given account!  However, I have friends and family who have literally thousands of unopened emails in their accounts!

So, to start the New Year out in a positive, clean slate, kind of a mode, I’m voting we take time in the next few weeks (yes, we only have a few short weeks left of 2012!) and work on going through and doing clean up on all our email accounts!

Tip #338

Start with the email account you use most often and go through your in box to start deleting for the New Year!

You may have email from places where you got put on their email list ages ago and you just haven’t requested to be removed.  Take a few extra moments and find the link in the email (usually at the bottom) to hit “unsubscribe” from all those sites you really don’t need to visit!  Then DELETE the email. This will help you not only in the short-term cleansing, but the long-term electronic de-cluttering!

Then work your way to your least used email account and decide if you really need the account at all.  If you’re not reading the email, must not be that important.  Purging is one more way to get rid of excess mental obligations!

Go team!

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Simplicity Tip #326 – Saving Money Pays Off!

Even if you don’t have a ton of money that you can save, every little bit helps!

You can start saving immediately by cutting back on what you buy – subscriptions, eating out, extra extra accessories, smoking, all of the possible premiere paid channels offered by your cable/satellite provider or heat you don’t need (in spare rooms or at times when cutting down makes sense – when you’re sleeping or at work).

Look for free gift card opportunities (like through an application called Shopkick) or reward systems like CVS Extra Care Bucks or Kroger Plus Cards!  They are awesome!  I have already gotten at least $300 in free gift cards from Shopkick alone in the past 6-9 months!

 

Tip #326

What are 3 ways you can start saving money today?  What is one thing you would like to do with all of the money you save?

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Simplicity Tip #325 – Know When to Say “No!”

There are so many opportunities to do things — whether it’s volunteering, taking on additional work shifts, helping out a family member or friend, making treats for your kid’s classmates, buying gifts…and you could probably add another 5 to the list just off the top of your head!

The thing is, we need to know our limits – not over commit!  Commit some, yes!  Commit too much and you risk being over-tired and under-performing!

Some sure signs that you may be over committing include:  turning in assignments late, being cranky or resentful about doing something you’ve agreed to do, feeling like you are always running from place to place and possibly even always feeling exhausted!  Even if you are doing something for a great cause, sometimes, you may need to take a break just to re-energize!

 

Tip #325

Know your limits and remember it’s ok to say “no”!

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Simplicity Tip #323 – Thanksgiving Interrupted?

Apparently, there were many folks that were very upset about how many stores were opening on Thanksgiving night.

Some folks were upset because they thought the earlier sales totally interrupted time with family and friends for Thanksgiving.  Others were upset because the earlier shopping hours caused longer lines.  Either way…there are a few things to consider here:

1. How about instead of focusing all our efforts for a Thanksgiving tradition on one lone day of the year, that we make an effort to be thankful and spend time with family and friends on a regular basis?!   🙂
2. As far as the Black Friday, super early in the morning tradition – how about we shop a little in the evening (maybe even with family or friends) and then sleep in on Black Friday!  We could even take it a little further and say”Yay!” for sharing the opportunities for shopping with more people, we can be friendly to people in lines and take an opportunity to not be selfishly pushing people out of the way to get just what WE want.  A little kindness can go a long way!

 

Tip #323

Be thankful…and shop early!  🙂

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Simplicity Tip #321 – Why Wait Until the New Year?

This just in…

You don’t have to wait until the New Year anymore to make resolutions for your life or goals for your week!  🙂

 

Tip #321

Just off the top of your head…what are 5 things you would like to accomplish in 2013?

Write them down and put the list on your refrigerator or on your mirror or maybe even both!  This will help you keep your goals in the forefront of your mind on a daily basis.  When you know what you want, you will accomplish it faster!

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Simplicity Tip #319 – Naps are a Good Thing!

You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy a little bit of good, solid sleep!  Earlier this week, one of the tips was on being able to Treat Yourself…a nap…simple & free…is one more way to be kind to yourself!  Yay!

 

Tip #319

Take a nap sometime this week!

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Simplicity Tip #318 – Pace Yourself!

Yep…as we have now entered Black Friday Week, one must remember to pace yourself!  Even if you want to stay up 24 hours, spend tons of money and call off of work all week, don’t do it!

 

Tip #318

Sleep, budget, balance!

Pace Yourself as we’re moving into the holidays and new year!

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Simplicity Tip #316 – Treat Yourself!

Remember, no matter what else is going on, you deserve good things in life!  If you have lots of good things, that’s great!  If you don’t find a way to treat yourself to one or two!

What would be a treat for you?  You don’t have to wait for someone else to do it for you, you can believe in yourself and know you’re worth the time, effort or money it may take to be a little spoiled for a minute!  It could be something as little as  allowing yourself to have a lazy day at home or maybe getting a massage or maybe even buying yourself a new laptop!

 

Tip #316

Figure out what is reasonable for you…and go for it!  Treat Yourself Well today!

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Simplicity Tip #311 – Sort Away!

No matter where you’re organizing, generally, if you put similar things together in one spot, it makes it that much easier to really assess what you have and know what you need!  Pens, papers, plates, clothing, software programs…you name it!

Since we’ve been talking about cleaning up your office…let’s go with that for the moment, but the basic principles apply to all areas.  Now that you have a space cleared off to be your staging area for sorting, put it to the test!

Time to Sort!

Tip #310

Start with surrounding your staging area with 4 boxes/bins for your sorting –

1. To File (or put in its appropriate place!)
2. To Trash
3. To Recycle
4. To Donate/Sell

Then Sit…Choose a Section to start with and Just Do It!  Do your sorting for 15 minutes!  15 minutes today…15 minutes tomorrow…15 minutes the next day…  You get the picture!

🙂

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