The Sandbox Writing Challenge #14 — Simplify!

 

What can you do to simplify your life?

I have to have order to simplify my life. That means a calendar so I can map out my days, weeks and months. I also need to keep notes. I have three notebooks. One for writing ideas, one for keeping track of my diet and health, and one for general notes to remind myself of things I need to do, like bills to pay, groceries, etc. Another of my tricks is to keep a timer nearby. If I have a lot of projects to work on, I will give myself an allotted period of time to work on them and the timer comes in handy. I’ve been using my timer a lot lately with reading. I have so many books to read and try to read at least two at a time. I give myself an hour on one and then an hour on another.

I often end up resenting myself for being so structured, but I know it is for my own good. If I didn’t have structure, my life would either be chaotic or I would just turn into a lazy slug. Sometimes, when I get off schedule (like today), I feel like such a failure, but I am trying to overcome that. It’s good to be structured and scheduled, but I also need to remind myself that I don’t need to have something planned for every minute of the day, that I need to leave room for life and randomness, and that sometimes I just need some ‘me’ time.