How many times do you wish you could close some tabs in your brain? Feel some wiggle room in your days? Maybe even have actual margin to rest and think in your life?

About 1,264,833 times a day, right? Me too! Me too…

I’ll be honest, I’ve done a lot of work over the years to not feel that way. To turn down the noise (or shut it off entirely). BUT as life ebbs and flows into new seasons, I find myself back at square one more often than I’d like to admit.

With life the circus that it is, I’ve been reevaluating things again this year. BIG time! Which is also why I chose the word “SIMPLE” for the year.

I was listening to a Nancy Ray Work and Play podcast episode a while ago about making your yes your yes. In other words, following through on what you say you’ll do. Y’all, this episode was such a gut check and wrecked me in the best way. I can’t give lip service to something I claim as my priority and not follow through with ACTION to back it up.

I’ve been overcommitting myself for years, even when I scale back. It’s kind of an enneagram 3 issue, which is odd for this type 1 gal… Regardless, reevaluating how we spend our time and take action on our priorities is challenging, right?!

So where to start? Here are my 4 steps to simplify in life and business, no matter the season or magnitude.

• Brain Dump: Get it all on paper or screen so it’s not in your brain.
• Categorize: Go through your brain dump and decide what facet of life that thing applies to. (ie. home, business, marriage, finance, etc.)
• Prioritize & purge: Put a number next to each item to prioritize. Here’s the scale I use: 
  1. needs to be done/addressed ASAP
  2.  Can happen in the next month or two
  3. This year, but not pressing
  4. back burner; item for another season
  5. not important; Purge those number fives! They don’t serve you, your business or your family right now. 
• Make a plan: Get any remaining 1-4 items into your task list or wherever you organize your to-dos. Make sure you schedule out your top priorities to hold yourself accountable and get it done.
  • BONUS: Check out this blog post for more tips on how to make the plan and get things done!

This can take you 5 minutes to regain order in your day or be broken up into phases over a week or two. The biggest thing is to make it easier to “make your yes, your yes.”

In an effort to simplify and streamline all areas of my life this year, that process is already helping so much. 

It also helps me make decisions when I have a new idea. If it doesn’t serve what I’m working toward or fit in as something that can be accomplished quickly – I deem it not simple and not necessary right now. If it’s not for right now, I add it to my parking lot list in Asana and come back to it when it’s time to dream up my next project.

It’s been so freeing and I’ve had time to allow myself to be bored or veg out (which is NEW for me). Even more importantly, I am starting to feel like my true priorities are showing up on my calendar and in my life – not being overtaken by work!!

Are you ready to take back your time and feel less stretched? If so, I hope these 4 steps to simplify in life and business help you get started!

Xoxo,