My daughter had a baby 6 weeks early. She was in the ICU for a week and I stayed with her. Then baby was in the NICU for a month where we were driving an hour every other day. When he came home Brea was back into care and then outpatient, so I was working while doing baby care.

I gained clarity on my priorities. Makeup was out. Games on my tablet – out. I worked while at the ICU, but only the most pressing issues. I expanded deadlines. My hair is going grey at the moment. Baby and Brea were my priority. Everything else was secondary.

I never knew how long baby would sleep, so I always did the important work first.

This year’s declutter calendar will be much simpler. Brea usually picks out the pictures and I put them in the calendar, but we don’t have time for that step.

This time in my life made me realize we always have only so much time. And I had been doing a lot that I won’t even care about next month.

What is really important to you? Does your time reflect that? If you had an emergency that severely limited your time, what are your must do’s?

“Outer order contributes to inner calm.”

—Gretchen Rubin on her blog

Are you ready for that? Can you breathe in that feeling of order and calm? With so many things happening outside our sphere of influence, creating that calm in your own realm is vitally important.

Declutter Group Starts Monday

I want to help you find that relaxed centering in your home. A place that nurtures you and all who enter.

When you edit your home and life, what is left matters to you, is beautiful or helpful. What does a decluttered home mean for you?

I only hold Declutter Groups twice a year usually, so this is the last Declutter Group of the year. Can you imagine going into the holiday season with extra room and more time? I will “hold your hand” to help you declutter and a friendly group of accepting new friends will be there encouraging and supporting you throughout the 6 weeks. You discover you are not alone – and that may be the best feeling of all!

Click here for everything you need to know…and don’t delay letting procrastination get the better of you again.

I am looking forward to another great group (and I am sure welcoming back some former participants working on another declutter project.)

Have Questions? Check out the FAQ. You can also email me at beth [at] mysimplerlife.com if your question isn’t answered there.

I read this phrase somewhere – stop fixing yourself and start creating yourself. This resonated with me and I at once thought this can also be related to your home. Stop thinking about organizing, decluttering, hating your home, or cleaning. Instead think of it as creating and crafting a nurturing home.

You can declutter and organize as a way to get closer to your ideal space, not as a task on the to do list. This mind set change gives you a hint of motivation. Resistance eases away. Imagine that phrase before doing housework. “I am creating a nurturing home.”

How can you create your home? How can you craft your vision?

Show up daily to do this. Even if it’s 5 minutes. Re-set your expectations about how you can live and what all the home care means.

If you are creating a home, maybe you put those papers away and put flowers on your table instead. Maybe you streamline your bathroom so it’s easier to get out in the morning. Or perhaps you turn off devices by 9pm.

How can your home be nurturing?

What can you do next?

If you aren’t sure, what’s next or where to start, we’d love to have you in the Declutter Group to help you with that overwhelm and help you create your vision.

I was deep cleaning my room over the weekend when I came across old notebooks that had goals written in from 10 years ago. I was surprised that most of them were accomplished.

At the time when I was tracking them I rarely made my deadlines. I would get mad at myself for taking so long.

I am sure you have the same thing with your goals. Maybe you had your SMART goals set up with your timeline and action steps for decluttering, or a home project or getting your finances in order.

Often other priorities get in the way, or we lose interest and start a new goal or project.

But, I found if you steadily keep at a project, it gets done. Even if you don’t hit all the deadlines. Even if you have to go back to the project over and over again. Often we find goals take longer than we think if we are trying to fit them into regular life. We overestimate what we can do in a day.

Yet over the course of months or years we can get there.

What goal do you have that you could chip away at this week? Wouldn’t it be great to look back on your goals a few years from now knowing you did them even if it wasn’t as fast as you thought they should happen?

(If Decluttering has been one of those goals, you can get some planning, support and accountability with the Declutter Group starting Oct 5th.)

I read an article called The Great Decluttering of 2020: The pandemic has inspired a clean out of American homes. I have seen this sentiment in my Facebook Group and online as well.

1/4 of people working, have been working from home. Kids have been home for months and only now are some going back to school. With less social activities, exercise classes and commuting, more time is spent at home. And there is no hiding from the clutter.

Some people actually got more clutter during this time, soothing anxiety with online buying or not taking care of things since, “no one is going to see the house anyway.” Online/homeschooling have led to more papers and books around the house.

Others got a burst of energy, tired of seeing the clutter day in and day out. They have used this time to declutter and gain more space. It was the push they needed. More got exhausted and overwhelmed, realizing how much they wanted to declutter but not knowing where to start. Everywhere they turned was another reminder they have too much stuff.

The clutter drains your energy, something that is already in short supply. It’s hard to focus when there is stuff everywhere. When you are home more, it becomes obvious something needs to be done.

How about you? Have you participated in the great decluttering of 2020? Or has overwhelm stopped you?

It helps to break up your decluttering in smaller pieces like my Declutter Calendar does. Or if you want support, a plan and accountability the Declutter Group is starting soon.

A common part of getting older and entering retirement is having an empty nest! This poses an important decision to make – should you downsize your home? There are endless factors to consider when it comes time to make this tough decision. I am going to lay out a few popular topics to keep in mind when planning your future living arrangements.

You need more money for retirement

Due to financial reasons, many Americans aren’t rushing to retire at 65 anymore. If you’re already retired or thinking about it soon, it’s understandable to feel nervous about your finances for the future. But what does this have to do with downsizing your home?

If you have paid off your whole mortgage loan, then it might be smart to sell your house and buy something smaller and save some of that cash. However, if you’re still paying on your mortgage, then consider refinancing your mortgage and how you could benefit from this. Refinancing allows you to get a new mortgage loan with a lower interest rate than your original loan. When you choose a no-closing-cost refinance, you don’t have to worry about paying anything upfront. This is a smart choice when you want to refinance your mortgage but also have bills to pay off or you want to invest in your savings account.

Selling your house to downsize or refinancing with a lower interest rate like this can give you peace of mind if you feel stressed over the future of finances throughout retirement.

Home maintenance is becoming too much

When the upkeep of your home is becoming too much of a strain on you, that’s a good sign that it might be best to downsize. Cleaning, yard maintenance, decluttering, and other upkeep can cause a lot of stress on your mind and strain on your body. It’s not easy to clean a large home, especially if you’re not using all areas of it anymore. Additionally, keeping your landscaping neat, cleaning your siding, and repairing things in a timely manner is a lot to manage.

Maintaining your home is vital when it comes to selling your house in the future. The last thing you want to do is make the decision when your home is already deteriorating. It’s better to stay on top of the maintenance when you can, and when you feel like it’s becoming too hard, consider downsizing as soon as you can.

Your house layout no longer fits your lifestyle

There are a lot of physical characteristics of family homes that no longer fit the lifestyle of a retiree. We already know that maintaining a large home or a lot of land can be tough, but here are some characteristics of family homes that may no longer suit your needs:

• Two stories. Having two floors in a family home is great for the extra space and privacy for everyone who lives there, but as you age, it can just become a hassle. Now more than ever, modern ranches are being sought after for their convenience and open floor plans.
• A lot of space. If you’re an empty-nester, you know your children likely won’t be coming back home to live; they may already have their own house and kids too! This means that you don’t need all of the extra bedrooms or playrooms like you used to.
• Formal areas. Formal dining and living areas are great when you’re entertaining friends and family on a regular basis. But with age, other family members take on the responsibility of hosting holidays and birthday parties and the need for these formal rooms in your home dwindles.

These are just some of the things to consider when you’ve been thinking about downsizing your home. If you’ve felt the strain of keeping a big house well-maintained or need extra cash to help fund your day-to-day life, then living in a smaller home might be the way to go! If you have already downsized, what helped push you to make the decision?

We’re taught from a young age that we need to be conscious of our bodies. Our parents teach us how to protect ourselves, not fall and wear a coat. We learn what to do when we get sick. But, taking care of our mental well-being is not always shared. We’ve become more aware of the value of mental well-being. So since most of us weren’t taught this aspect, what can we do for our mental well-being?

Here’s a simple guide to teach you how to take care of your mental well-being.

Be Kind to Yourself

We live in a fast-paced world, and we are constantly facing difficulties, whether it’s on a global or personal scale. Either way, we put a lot of pressure upon ourselves and tend to forget to give ourselves a break. We’re always trying to keep our family happy, trying to do our job perfectly to keep the boss happy or the business running- there are a million things that we need to do on a daily basis- for anyone and everyone but yourself.

Take the time to focus on yourself as well. You may put this in the background, but it is so detrimental to your mental health. Make it a point to read a book you love, do some meditation, or go for a swim. Anything that will help you clear your mind and give you downtime to find some inner peace is a must on a regular basis.

This kindness to yourself is also about the words you say to yourself. Notice your self-talk and see if it is kind. Is it something you would say to your best friend or a daughter? Be compassionate and forgiving to yourself.

Surround Yourself with Love

To have a healthy mind, you need to have positive reinforcement. It’s more difficult to stay positive when surrounded by negativity. But also remember you don’t have to take on their negativity. Be clear about what’s your emotions and what is their’s.

One way to surround yourself with love is a pet. You’ll find that many people that go through rehabilitation or have mental health issues also use Emotional Support Animals to help them get by. And you don’t even have to worry about leaving them behind. The services provided at Therapetic give you insight about what you need to do to get a certified letter that allows you to take the ESA anywhere. This includes places that generally don’t allow pets such as hotels, airplanes and so on.

Give Back

One of my favorite ways to take care of my mental health is taking care of others. While taking care of your mental health involves introspection and taking care of yourself, you’ll find that giving back to less fortunate people can also feel great. It can be therapeutic to step away from the material things that you are focused on in life and look into how you can help others who are less fortunate and are struggling.

If you find a way to connect with humanity and really make a move to make a difference in a world that has many dark corners, this will do wonders – not just for those you are helping, but also for you own mental stability and well being.

Challenge Yourself

There’s really nothing worse than stagnation when it comes to your mental health. It is a silent killer. You lose that spark when you aren’t trying new things or growing.

In order to feel alive, challenge yourself on a physical and mental level. Your mind can grow, and your body will be active, and you look forward to your days.

We are more than a body and self-care is not only about physical health. You can become a healthier person, inside out, mentally and physically. Don’t ever allow yourself to neglect your mental health, as this is the backbone and spine of everything else about you. Always remember that your physical condition affects your mental, and your mind affects your physical body. So let’s keep both healthy!

You will feel so much better, when you realize the news is pushing your buttons and not giving you the whole story.

The news is no longer the nightly news we grew up with – mostly straight with not much opinion. In fact if you were showing bias, you would get called out. If you are thinking that is still how it is and you are trusting it all, I am sorry to say that isn’t how it works anymore.

Now data shows what gets the most clicks. They can play with headlines to see which gets more views. Media is gathering info about people watching and tracking in the social media and websites. News is no longer about getting people information. It’s about getting clicks and having people come back for advertising revenue. TV news can use that information to mold what they say on their news/opinion shows.

News sites and shows must have found out it is outrage, opinion and fear that keep people coming back since that is what we are given.

And how can they give us that? By taking speeches out of context. By misinterpreting someone and then being outraged at the misinterpretation. By editing videos to show the opposite of what was said. By using a photo that is angled a certain way. They now base whole articles on one anonymous source, something that journalists would never think of doing before. I was a Communication and English double major is school. What they call journalism, would not have received a passing grade in my college. Fast and wrong now beats slow and correct.

The news cherry picks the worst of the “other side” so you start thinking everyone over there is crazy. That the news even thinks there is another side shows how far they have gone off the path. In reality, most people are decent and are trying to do the right thing. Most people are centrist people that don’t believe in the fringe (but the news wants us to believe the fringe is most people). The loudest people on Twitter and social media don’t think like most people. The people at various protests that are shown are picked out based on the narrative that media wants to show. They don’t represent an entire group of people. Not even everyone at the protest. But, division gets more clicks. If you can convince half the population that the other half is nuts, they win. If they can divide us by party, race, income, beauty, whatever they get more cash.

I have been feeling so much better now that I take the news with a grain of salt. While my Facebook friends are terribly upset about something, I hold my opinion because almost every time I find out what happened was not what was reported. I always go to the source, the whole video, the transcript. I see who is quoted and what bias they may hold. I no longer allow the news media to tell me how I need to think about an issue or tell me who I need to hate today.

If you look at all the news from the past couple of days and do your own research, how much holds up even a few days afterward? We are all human, so we are quicker to assume a story that matches up to our thinking is the real story. That’s when you have to triple check and see the other viewpoint.

Most people are not thinking about issues and forming an opinion. They are getting their opinion based on what news they watch. I got sucked into Twitter the past few weeks and what struck me was each side would be getting certain facts totally wrong. They never heard the corrections to stories or updates. They are spouting off “facts” that with a bit of research they would know are not true. Certain videos only showed up for Conservatives. Certain videos only showed up for Liberals. They aren’t seeing the same stories or are getting half a story so of course they are going to have different opinions. And you can tell what news they are watching, because the opinions are just like those sound bites. I love when I find thinkers on Twitter that talk in nuance instead of party sides.

Even on Facebook, we will see one side tell the other side to get their facts straight. As if only their side has a monopoly on truth, when in reality both sides are manipulated.

If you are only watching one news channel, or news with the same bias, you don’t know what is really going on. If you believe everything that the news says, you don’t know what is really going on. If you have the belief that everyone on one side is a certain way, you don’t know what is really going on. If you have chosen a side and form opinions based on what your team says, you don’t know what is really going on.

If we want to make a difference we need to focus on what we can influence. How we can affect the people around us by mentoring, having conversations, checking on our neighbors, holding food drives, or finding out what is happening in our local government. Next time you hear a story you are outraged about – get the facts. Then see if there is anything you can do. Often we find those outrage stories didn’t affect anything, except some people pretended to be upset about it.

The times are too important to follow blindly the outrage of the day.

This time in the world has made your problems with time come to the forefront. Trying to work at home and homeschool. Working 14 hours shifts at a busy hospital. Not knowing what to do without the distractions of the world. Watching too much TV. Not working for the moment, but still not completing any of the stuff you claimed you never had time for.

I remember waking up not at 5am like experts say you should. Not wanting to get out of bed because a long to do list was already first in my mind. Rushing to get the kids to school then me to work. Guilt when I had to pick the kids up a few minutes late. Rushing home, errands, kid’s activities, throwing something together for dinner. I always felt behind.

Life was pressure, multi-tasking, shame, shoulds, overwhelm and a constant feeling of not-enoughness.

And I was so tired of it.

So, I went on a quest to find ways I could get things done without the pressure and stress. I learned to focus and prioritize, creating a life I could look forward to. And most importantly, ending the day feeling satisfied even if not everything got done.

What have you noticed about time lately? Where are your sticking points? How do you feel when I say the word time?

If you are tired of how you have been dealing with time, I’d love to have you join my Changing Your Relationship to Time class starting April 6th.

Let me give you some skills and ideas for getting through the day with more grace and ease. Help you find meaning and joy.

It’s in times of crisis that you hone in on what is most important to you. You notice what you wished you had been doing. Or realize you need to write Grandma because she can’t have visitors. Or see how needed your caregiver is. Or how being kind to others makes you feel.

Some of you may be realizing how much time you waste on stupid stuff and worries. A lot of irritations seem small in comparison to the big event changing our lives.

Things are slowing down for many people as there are no social engagements, sport events, programs to drive the kids to. (And to the workers that are now working longer and harder than ever, we thank you!)

Many people spend their lives running from one event to another.

What happens in the quiet?

How do you feel when the world doesn’t seem to spin as fast?

I hope you take some of this time going within. Journaling, making art and checking in with yourself. What have you been noticing? Are you relieved by the social break? Do you long for more of this time in your life? Have you seen how much you like laid back time with your family without obligations?

Or have you noticed you are feeling lonelier? Have you made any career realizations? Do you see where you have been stretched too thin?

Go within. Be still. Meditate. Pray. Write.

When you are no longer running – what is there? Do you see trauma that needs healing? A peace in your brain? Character traits you aren’t fond of? New decisions that need to be made? A life calling? Habits to break? Re-connecting with your spirit?

Crisis often makes wound-too-tight lifestyles collapse. You realize the way you have been doing things doesn’t work.

Anytime life goes upside down and starts to fall apart, is a good time to check in with any realizations that come from it. What are you noticing?