Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. It’s trillium time here in West Michigan. I love the beautiful three petaled flower.

And the ducklings have been born at the wetlands.

Pictures by Brea Dargis

1. Catch up on your voicemail messages. Do you need a new message?
2. Use a checklist when you get a new project – check in dates, whose on the team, deadlines, who do you report to, etc.
3. Look over a past project. What went well? What didn’t go well? What can you learn from this?
4. Do you know where you are financially? Do you need to download the lastest transactions? Or balance your checkbook?
5. Write a letter to a friend or family member.
6. Break down a current project. Need help? http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/project-breakdown
7. Find out what is blooming in your area.

Solutions 

Project Breakdown

So often I have clients who can’t start something because the whole project seems overwhelming – whether it’s decluttering, planning a party, losing weight, getting finances in order, creating a business plan or a work project.

As a client our first step is breaking that project down into small pieces. This is one of my skills, creating turtle steps that help you lose fear of the project and keep the momentum going. It’s fun to check off task after task.

And before you know it – the project is done!

So I decided to offer this service to anyone. Often it’s easier to see how to make things smaller when you aren’t involved in the project.

You can get a 15 min project breakdown session with me for $15.

If you are stuck, and need to find a place to start, sign up here:

Or you can go to the Project Breakdown page:

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/project-breakdown

Then shoot me an email at beth @ mysimplerlife.com (without the spaces) to get scheduled. This session can be by phone or by chat.

***

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. I’ve had a delightful week! Seeing a local production of the H.M.S. Pinafore that a friend was in. Great job Mary Ellen! Seeing my sister and niece who came into town this weekend. Happy Birthday, Debbie! And going to Windmill Island with Brea and Jeff. We’ve lived here for years and have never visited this tourist attraction.

Pictures by Brea Dargis

And yes it is still open to people who want to join today. Starts at 8pm ET tonight!

Also we had quite a few people join the Declutter Group this week, after the first chat. So if you still want to join, join before 8pm Eastern tonight so you don’t miss tonight’s chat.

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-decluttergroup.htm

And finally, I will be doing a Spending Fast starting tomorrow. The goal is to only spend on necessities for a month.

Read more about it here:

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/spending-fast-starts-tomorrow-2

1. Start your own spending fast
2. Keep a pair of sunglasses in your car, so you don’t have to go back inside.
3. Make your facebook better:
   http://lifehacker.com/5892826/how-to-make-facebook-infinitely-better-with-one-browser-extension
4. When you get ready in the morning, take out what you need and put on right side of the bathroom counter. Move items to the left. Then put them all away at once, should take less than 30 seconds.
5. If you have lost services/value with something you have i.e. phone or cable, contact them to see if you can get a discount.
6. Keep up with your current duties and maintenance, before tackling the backlog.
7. If you can’t keep up with your current duties and maintenance, it’s time to let something go.

Solutions 

Declutter Group – Missed the last chat? It’s ok, get in now

You want a simple plan, that will integrate into your busy life and will solve your clutter problem.

So I have created the: 6-Week "Get a Handle on Your Clutter" Group. I love simplicity as most of you know, so I didn’t want this to be a complicated, time waster.

Instead I have laid out the plan step-by-step in an easy to use workbook.

With weekly chats in my chat room and message boards for daily challenges with one another you will get the support and encouragement you need to keep on going. You are definitely not the only one struggling with your home.

Read more about the Declutter Club here.

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. This was a great weekend with nothing going on. So Saturday I spent relaxing, renewing and reading. And Sunday I caught up on email, laundry & paper.

I also tried my hand at digital scrapbooking for the first time.

1. Create a budget for your next vacation and start saving.
2. Remember money is just energy – it’s not good or bad. It only has the value you give it.
3. To make the good times feel like they last longer, savor and use your senses to slow down time.
4. How is your focus? How much stimuli do you have going? TV, ads, computer games, emails, cell phones.
5. Share something you feel shame about with a compassionate friend and watch the shame drift away.
6. Are you doing something right now, just to gain approval?
7. Worry is negative anticipation instead of anticipating good things. Take action instead of worry.

Solutions 

Declutter Club begins April 23

Does your home nurture you? Or isn’t it squishing you out with the clutter? If your flat surfaces always are piled with stuff and you run into things too often with your shins, join us in creating homes that you want to be in.

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-decluttergroup.htm

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. Butterflies flew all around us at Frederick Meijer Gardens. Colors caught our eye and then they would be gone. But, some held still long enough for a picture. And because of our early spring, this year we saw the blooming tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs.

Photos by Brea Dargis

1. When your cleansers are empty, replenish with green kinds.
2. What are you not telling yourself the truth about?
3. Narrow down the amount of books you are reading at one time.
4. Go on a family picnic. Even if you just pick up sandwiches from Subway.
5. Declutter the area that is bugging you the most.
6. Decide to do something you love to do. Share it at the Simpler Life facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Simpler-Life/133688783345981
7. Check the expectations you have of others and how they are clouding your relationships.

Solutions 

Declutter Club begins April 23

Does your home nurture you? Or isn’t it squishing you out with the clutter? If your flat surfaces always are piled with stuff and you run into things too often with your shins, join us in creating homes that you want to be in.

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-decluttergroup.htm

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. Friends and I enjoyed a choir that sounded like angels at the St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Grand Rapids. The Cathedral is a gorgeous place for music.

1. Infuse your cooking with love this week and see if this daily chore feels lighter.
2. Bring in a healthy treat for work like pineapple and strawberries.
3. Update your exercise schedule for the new season. I like adding more outdoor walks in the spring time.
4. What is the next step that you have been avoiding? Break it down until it feels comfortable.
5. Put one thing on the back burner (a TV program, facebook, etc.) that right now is a priority so you have more time for something you really want to do (an art project, getting back into shape) Share what you will do at the Simpler Life facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Simpler-Life/133688783345981
6. Review notes of a book you’ve recently read or an audio you’ve listened to.
7. Stop shoppertainment at least for a week.

Solutions 

Declutter Club begins April 23

New subscribers have been asking me when I am going to do another Declutter Club, because they missed the first one. The next one starts April 23, but you can sign up now:

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-decluttergroup.htm

The last group connected so much that they created their own facebook group to keep connected and to encourage one another in their decluttering.

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. After the first motorcycle ride of the season and dinner with friends this weekend, we headed to Lake Michigan just in time to see the sunset. Vivid and colorful, the picture is only a glimpse of the beauty of the real thing.

Photo by Jeff Dargis

1. Use your to do list to map out goals and dreams not just get things done.
2. Limit the griping and complaining about your life.
3. As you do an action, put in the follow up action on a date. ie Did so and so answer me on… or Do the next 15 min of your redecorating project.
4. Plan your day at the same time each day.
5. Create a more interesting commute – bike, walk, listen to books on tape, sing to the radio, going a different way.
6. Tell someone how long you have at the start of the conversation.
7. See at least one sunset this week.

Solutions 

Energy for Joy Health Plan

Create healthy habits for a lifetime for $1 a week. Not sure? Download the first week at no charge:

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-energyforjoy.htm

Are you tired too much of the time?

Have you just been going through the motions of life?

Are you overweight or not as healthy as you’d like to be?

Instead of "losing 10 lbs in one week", I have created a program where we work on creating healthy habits for a lifetime over three months. And it can be personalized to meet your needs. It is not a one size fits all approach.

Would you like to:

• Get through the blocks that keep you from healthy living
• Uncover your personal reasons for gaining energy
• Find the energy changes that work for you
• Discover ways to relax
• Have a spa evening
• Get better sleep and more?

This 3-month plan is a downloadable version with worksheets, checklists and logs to help you implement your new healthy habits. You can get the first week free:

Energy for Joy

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-energyforjoy.htm

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. It warmed up this week, here in Michigan. The birds have come back to the wetlands and are serenading our walks.

Photo by Brea Dargis

1. Set a dollar limit on hobby spending.
2. Time pressure is often because of too many options instead of not enough time.
3. Are you saving multiples of something just in case? Like tons of plastic bags.
4. Just because you feel something is true, doesn’t mean it is. Maybe someone had a bad day and it’s not personal.
5. Don’t buy things broken or needing refurbishing if you still have projects to do.
6. Organize the way your mind works – by like with like, size, shape, color, or frequency of use
7. Find your strengths: http://viacharacter.org

Solutions 

Energy for Joy Health Plan

Create healthy habits for a lifetime for $1 a week. Not sure? Download the first week at no charge:

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-energyforjoy.htm

Are you tired too much of the time?

Have you just been going through the motions of life?

Are you overweight or not as healthy as you’d like to be?

Instead of "losing 10 lbs in one week", I have created a program where we work on creating healthy habits for a lifetime over three months. And it can be personalized to meet your needs. It is not a one size fits all approach.

Would you like to:

• Get through the blocks that keep you from healthy living
• Uncover your personal reasons for gaining energy
• Find the energy changes that work for you
• Discover ways to relax
• Have a spa evening
• Get better sleep and more?

This 3-month plan is a downloadable version with worksheets, checklists and logs to help you implement your new healthy habits. You can get the first week free:

Energy for Joy

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-energyforjoy.htm

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. Hope you all had a great week! I was mainly recuperating, but did get out this weekend a couple times with friends.

1. Clean the floors so you want to walk barefoot on them.
2. Are you email hoarding? How many emails can you delete today?
3. Create a tea ceremony or something that slows down time a bit each afternoon.
4. Are you living by your definition of success or someone else’s?
5. Write down ways in which you are already living your ideal life.
6. Look at the imperfections of your home as beautiful.
7. What do books symbolize for you in your life? How does that keep you from decluttering them?

Solutions 

Change Your Relationship to Time Class – Starts Monday

Attention: Hurried, overwhelmed individuals with too much too do and not enough time to do it

Ask yourself: do you want to live your life in a constant state of hurry and worry?

When it comes to time, have you tried system after system but nothing works?

Or do you keep all your to dos in your head hoping you don’t forget anything?

Or worse, have a time system that takes so much time to manage you wonder if it’s even worth it?

We all want to feel in control of our time, but how do you do it?

My goal is to help you change your relationship with time.

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-timecourse.html

Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Simplicity Tips. The declutter group has really been releasing a lot of clutter! They are inspiring me.

I had a radio interview for a channel in Vancouver, Saturday. I’ll get you the audio if/when they put it up.

Yesterday my daughter and I had a connecting day – seeing an illusionist, going out to eat and browsing Barnes and Noble.

A reader Debbie is having a problem decluttering due to a fear of bugs in her southern state. Have anyone here overcome this? If so you can email me or post on the blog comments below.

1. Take time to put the pictures up on the wall that you were planning to do someday.
2. If your music has been converted to mp3s either get rid of the CDs or store them.
3. When was the last time you updated your money tracking program?
4. Have your kids or a local teenager type in some of your notes so you can throw out the paper.
5. Think of household tasks as cherishing your home and family, instead of as drudgery.
6. Change your cleaners to natural products.
7. Open your windows once a day instead of using air fresheners.

Solutions 

Change Your Relationship to Time Class

Attention: Hurried, overwhelmed individuals with too much too do and not enough time to do it

Ask yourself: do you want to live your life in a constant state of hurry and worry?

When it comes to time, have you tried system after system but nothing works?

Or do you keep all your to dos in your head hoping you don’t forget anything?

Or worse, have a time system that takes so much time to manage you wonder if it’s even worth it?

We all want to feel in control of our time, but how do you do it?

My goal is to help you change your relationship with time.

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-timecourse.html

Get it Done Day

Do you have those things that just never seem to get done? Things you procrastinate on like organizing a closet, making a difficult phone call or a business report? Get It Done Day is for tackling that to do list.

When: Get It Done Day starts on Friday March 2nd at 9am EST till 2:00pm EST. For U.S. current time zones, go to Time.gov You don’t need to be here the full 5 hours.

At the top of each hour we will say what we hope to do. At a quarter after we zoom to get it done. Then at the top of the next hour we say what we have accomplished and get some pats on the back.

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/projects-done.htm