Living Simply October Challenge: Day 8: Declutter your life

     At this point, you've probably already decluttered your living space, or are in the process of doing so. So what does it mean to declutter your "life"? It goes far beyond just material items cluttering up your space...it's about creating space in the other areas of your life so that you can find peace, freedom, rest, time, and all those other things that get lost in the shuffle of thousands of "other things" in your mind and in your world. Here's today's challenge:

1.  Declutter your digital life. This may take a few sessions depending on how social media and photograph dependent you are. Start by getting rid of apps on your phone and computer that are merely time-wasters. Remember, the intentional part of living simply involves removing any and every thing that doesn't bring you joy, serve a purpose, or add value to your life. After removing apps, go through your computer and phone files deleted everything you don't need to keep. Remove the photos from your online albums that you don't need. Usually we take multiples of our photos "just in case" one doesn't come out. Keep the best, delete the rest. Do you need 100 photos of your pet or will 20 do? If it's not meaningful to you, ditch it.

2.  Declutter your schedule. What do you have in your schedule that's maybe a habit, but unnecessary? People get into ruts because they do the same things over and over, yet often those things no longer add value or bring us joy anymore like they did in the beginning. Remove them from your life. If you KNOW you won't be going to that hot yoga class because you always dread it, stop stressing over missing it - just let it go. Replace that with something you'll enjoy more, even if it's functional fitness, like gardening, walking, biking, or swimming. Are you wasting time doing monthly or weekly things you get nothing out of anymore? Let it go. Maybe use the extra time slot to prepare for the holidays, or to recharge by enjoying some alone time to be at peace and reduce stress. You could use it to spend time doing what's important to you, like growing the relationships you enjoy.

4.  Declutter your mind. Do the myriads of things on your mind keep you up at night? Are you constantly thinking of a to-do list in your head? Trying to do too much at once? Take time and declutter your head. Accept the fact that you're human, you can only do so much, and beyond that is an unreasonable expectation. No one will ever reach perfectionism, so let go of trying to be perfect. Take time - or MAKE time - to clear your mind, let it all go, prioritize what absolutely HAS to be done, then what really SHOULD be done to eliminate a problem later on. The rest you can just add or subtract as you go through your day. Stop stressing over carrying the world on your shoulders. Let others be responsible for themselves (assuming they're adults) and if there's consequences to them expecting you to do everything for them, then so be it.

Make today a day to find that first glimpse of freedom - be at peace - settle your mind - enjoy the rest of your day.