A clear mind is a healthy mind. Having a healthy mind is one of, if not the largest part of being a healthy person. If we are cleaning up our lives we need to start with our minds. The goal for cleaning up our minds is to clean up both our short and long term minds. How do we deal with short term quick changes and how do we make sure our year is planned for success!
I have been feeling very scatter brained. One way I like to stay organized is lists. They are something I have come to love more than anything! So I will be making lists galore to organize everything from our cleaning schedules to upcoming school events for our oldest daughter. Keep reading to find out more…
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Cleaning Our Short Term Minds
I love the phrase “If ‘plan A’ doesn’t work there are 25 more letters in the alphabet”. It keeps me going because so often in my life plan A fails, and fails HARD. As as result our family has learned to make plans and at least two or three backups. It happens for many reasons but when it happens it always takes a lot out of us. Changing plans mid stream can be very difficult, not only on the children but on us as well.
There are a couple ways we have found to help our mental reactions when things like this happen.
- We take a deep breath
- Assess the situation and see how badly the change might effect the girls
- Make at least two alternative options
- Joke about what the worst thing is that could happen (VERY IMPORTANT)
- Make the change and stick with it
We find that joking takes some of the stress out of the situation whether we like it or not. It’s tough to stay angry if your laughing. Levity is situations always helps remind us that things could always be worse. Even when we have a 2 and 5 year old melting down in the back of the car.
Cleaning Our Long Term Minds
While breathing and laughing help when plans change quickly, planning for the long term takes a little bit more work. Lists are something I have come to love. They keep me sane each and everyday. I use them for my work, for the family, and for the household. I know my hubby thinks it is a bit overkill but the house is a well oiled machine so who is laughing now. Hehe, ME!
In order to get the whole picture of what our year is going to look like hubby and I decided to sit down and do a full year plan. We have never done one of these before so it is a total experiment for us. I will keep you posted on how its going throughout the year. Here are the steps we are taking.
Step 1:
I am going to sit down with my hubby and do two big things. We are going to make a goal list for each of the members in the household. Once we identify what the top 5 goals are for each member we will come up with mini lists of tasks that will help each member reach those goals. Those will filter down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks. I will explain this in a later post.
Step 2:
The second thing he and I will be doing is a big brain dump. We will both sit down with a big piece of paper and write down anything and everything on our minds. Everything from financial obligations to grocery shopping, travel plans, work related obligations, doctor appointments, etc, the sky is the limit. Then we will come together and discuss and organize the stuff on both pages.
Its helps you not only get out whats only on your mind in a tangible, visual place but it also make a plan. It reduces stress and helps you clean up your mental clutter.
Step 3:
Lastly, we will take all of the information we have gathered from steps 1 & 2 and make a plan for the year. We will take the 5 big goals and the many little ideas and goals that will need to be completed throughout the year and put them all down in our planners.
We both have hand written planners which will coincide. This way we can check in every couple weeks and make sure we are still on course.
We are hoping with all of these new and creative ways of decluttering out minds we will be able to keep our brains clean and be able to better focus our worlds. Clearer minds are a big part of healthier bodies and happier lives.
How do you clean up your mind?
Next…Cleaning up home.
XOXO,
Kristin
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