If you're anything like me, the dawn of every new year I feel energised by making this year simpler and more productive than the last. I am hungry for collective wisdom about the best way to achieve, prioritise, keep my kids happy – all the while avoiding the feeling of overwhelm from by piles of washing, no food in the house and overdue vet visits by February.
Very mindful of 'helpful advice' overload, I'm going to share my top 4 tips for anyone wanting to start the year off feeling under control. Please understand that I am far from perfect, and I see every year is a fresh opportunity to improve on the last and learn from those times when my organised alter ego might have been left by the wayside in favour of a quick takeaway meal.
1. Plan your first week of lunches/dinners
After a month or two or living a bit more freely and spontaneously, knowing that lunch boxes and busy days are looming can make me feel a bit anxious. To start things off well, I'll plan out a week of lunches and dinners and commit to the time of the next grocery shop so the fridge is stocked and mornings aren't too stressful. Making a double batch of a dinner features a bit too - we like to keep life simple. Here are a few reusable containers we're fond of:
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Ekobo Bamboo Fibre Bento Lunch Box |
Kappi Reusable Silicon Zip Lock Bags |
Muji Aluminium Lunch Box |
2. Get a wall calendar
This helps if you have a few people in your house who have lots of activities/events, so they also know what's going on and don't always ask you! I haven't worked out a way for a wall calendar to sync to a Google calendar yet, but I'm sure it's not far away! We personally use this Kikki K planner both at home and in the studio.
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One of our favourite Scandinavian-inspired children's bedroom and workspace designs (oh, the storage!) by Heju.
3. No resolutions
For the last 5 or 6 years I have avoided setting resolutions in favour of small goals and an overall theme for how I live my life. Some examples of themes over the past few years have included 'YES', ' COMMUNITY', 'SIMPLICITY', where my decisions about how I spend my time are based on this word.
I also love having goals, but not big hairy ones, and that's how resolutions feel to me. I set small, achievable quarterly goals for different elements of my life across Relationships/Family, Personal, and Work, and that works pretty well for me.
With the theme of 'Community' for 2019, early January was spent surrounded by friends and family in Tasmania.
4. Have a place where you go to get organised
It can be the kitchen bench, a desk or wherever suits your lifestyle, but having a dedicated place where you read mail, do your life admin and plan your time can help categorise your headspace too. It helps if there is somewhere to put your minutia and paperwork out of sight for when you don't want to look at it, but it's there when you're ready to go through it.
This approach to organisation has underscored my emphasis on creating simple, minimalist storage pieces at Plyroom. Through my own experiences I’ve realised that living a simpler, more seamless existence requires planning and diligence. Each and every storage piece we produce is designed to facilitate a simpler life through the collective ability to sort, hide, and prompt organisation on a regular basis.
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