Rashional Thoughts: Taking time to think through main priorities; implementing a few basic systems saves time, energy

Cracking open a crisp new calendar with 12 months worth of life yet to discover is always one of my favorite moments of the new year.

Smartphones and digital calendaring options don’t provide the same satisfaction as pen in hand filling in schedules, appointments and plans.

While I do use a hybrid organizational system between the two worlds of digital and paper, it is still the hardcopy calendar and my endless lists that clear space in my mind to be able to think, dream and rest.

The chaos surrounding all that we attempt to pack into the Christmas season only serves to magnify the calmness that comes on New Year’s Day.

I’ve lost count of the number of years my goals going into a new year included simplifying life, creating more margin and decluttering at home and work.

But this year I’ve decided to surround myself with a team of friends and co-workers who have similar goals. We are working together to manage the chaos.

At the office and at home we are determining bite-size steps to declutter one drawer, one closet and one room at a time.

We also are streamlining systems in a way to avoid recreating daily, weekly and monthly routines multiple times.
By slowing down one time to think through exactly what needs to be done on what schedule and then creating a checklist with a timeline, there’s no more wasted energy.

One of the hardest areas to tame is always the pull and demands from others on our time. No matter how organized we may be, we can’t control every life moment. We can continue working to create enough margin, however, that when those moments surprise us we have room to adjust.