Do you have a reset button? A routine that helps you stop all the madness and take stock of your life?
Slow down the crazy train…
If you have been with me for awhile, you know that this time of year is when I manually press the reset button by making a big batch of pancakes for Fat Tuesday and then spending the next 40 days until Easter simplifying my life. Not because of any religious obligation like when I was a child growing up Catholic but because I like the ritual of renewal and starting over that comes with the promise of spring and Easter.
This year, however, my tradition is going into overdrive. In my post from last year, My 3 Favorite Paleo Pancakes and A Lenten Reset, I not only share my favorite ways to enjoy the treat of pancakes on a paleo diet, I share some of the ways that I remind myself about the life I’d like to be living:
- I don’t buy anything new and use what I already have
- I limit groceries to $20 a week (fresh fruit/veggies/eggs) and eat up what is in the pantry
- I get rid of one item a day (declutter)
- I don’t eat out (unless it’s someone’s birthday)
This year with everything that is going on, I am going to take it up a notch in honor of feeling pretty overwhelmed with life and wanting to stay in the moment. So, this year I am going to add:
- Getting rid of one BAG of things a DAY (super declutter)
- Go on a social media “diet”
- Set a timer for my time
- Breathe
Yikes.
Declutter Daily
With a close approaching wedding day and a new roommate for life, getting rid of one item a day is not going to cut it. In fact, I have already started and amassed about 20 bags of stuff to send to donate or sell and I ceremoniously moved it all out to the shed. I have lived in my home since 1999 and I have a lot of STUFF.
I’m pretty proud of the entire bookcase I have cleared off, empty shelves in the kitchen and bare hangers in the closet. I boxed up 8 of 12 place settings of fine china I somehow thought I would need at the age of 23. But there is plenty more to do, I haven’t even touched the disaster that is all my hiking and backpacking gear. My plan is to walk around the house once a day to fill a bag with stuff I don’t need or won’t fit in my tiny house (the mantra I use to remind me I want less stuff in my life).
I have read multiple books on decluttering (and I imagine you have, too). If I had to pick my favorite two it would be Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat by Peter Walsh (who also wrote It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan For Living A Richer Life With Less) and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.
Peter talks about the fact that clutter and too many possessions is not only a physical weight but an emotional one that limits our ability to live a full life and Marie’s tip on getting rid of anything that does not bring you joy have helped me get rid of A LOT of stuff. And maybe feel a little guilty about rolling up my socks…
Go On A Social Media Diet
This one is going to be a killer. I spend WAY too much time online with social media. I’m having fun, meeting new people and connecting with the most wonderful world. But on the flip side, I am finding myself not only losing the battle with time management (sucked down the rabbit hole) but overwhelmed with what I feel are so many problems in the world right now. So many things that break my heart. So many causes.
The term for how I am feeling right now that is a hot topic in the social services world: vicarious trauma. The idea that we become so overwhelmed with the problems of other people and our exposure to it in the news and on social media that is a trauma of its own.
This isn’t the same thing as needing to stick my head in the sand. It means getting my information from places other than headlines designed to shock and viral memes. I do recognize that being able to step away is a privilege not everyone has and that there will simply be things I can’t step away from.
I took the step of removing the social media apps from all my mobile devices, along with immediate ways to connect with my blog. I scheduled a few things ahead of time to post and I’m sure there will be things I read online where I will hit the share button to send to Twitter or Facebook.
Just like my philosophy on my eating habits, I don’t believe in all or nothing and anything I don’t plan on sustaining for the rest of my life. I will limit myself to 15 minutes a day to check in on my laptop at home for messages and notifications (communication via social media is still an issue) and I will set a timer.
Set A Timer
I actually started this a few days ago to see how it would go but I am setting a timer for when I sit down to spend time on my computer and then getting up when it goes off and doing something else. Right now it is 60 minutes a day but I hope to have it be less.
I am going to use this idea with other things like setting a 15 minute timer for exercising, cleaning the kitchen, picking up the house. There are plenty of articles out there on setting up your household chores on 15 minute increments. Already it is helping me to be more purposeful with my time and I can’t wait to see what I accomplish!
Remember to Breathe
I don’t think it is only me but lately I have become aware that I am not breathing. Okay, I’m breathing but do you ever have those moments when you suddenly realize you have been holding your breath? Like during traffic or when you are in line with the slowest checker ever at the grocery store. I will fully admit I am my worst self in the car. And when I am in a slow line I have to say a little word of thanks for opportunity to practice my patience just to bring myself down off the ledge. And I am not always good at that.
It is in these moments that I not only realize that I am not breathing but I am not who I want to be. So, I am going to call on an ancient practice I learned a while back at a women’s retreat. It is called a Breath Prayer and it is similar to a mantra. You can make it your own but the idea has two parts.
- As you take a full belly breath in, say the name of your focus (in my case, my favorite name for God).
- As you exhale fully through the mouth, make a request.
During the retreat activity, we were asked to center ourselves first and then think of what comes to mind when we think about peace and calm. Of course, mine turned out to be: “River of Life (breathe in), help me let go (breathe out).”
I can’t tell you how well this helps me focus and calms my soul. I wish I was more consistent at using it and I’m going to focus on that until Easter in hopes of creating a better habit.
I have decided that I do need to continue to write, it is how I deal with so many things. But, I may just have to set a timer for that, too. And, because I believe that setting limits in order to simplify should not add more stress, I don’t beat myself up if I don’t follow things by the letter or modify as I go. For example, my wedding and honeymoon will fall during this time and there will have to be some exceptions. As long as I reach my end goal of getting back to or creating new habits, I have succeeded.
You can read some of the ways I had to be creative with food for St. Patrick’s Day or make my own dish-washing detergent last year in My 3 Favorite Paleo Pancakes and A Lenten Reset. Who knows what I’ll need to come up with this year!
How about you? How do you put the brakes onto a crazy life and get back to the basics? If you honor the time before Easter, what are your traditions?
The mini pancakes pictured above are made with cassava flour and the recipe is the first one in the above mentioned pancake post (I subbed out almond flour). It is topped with sunbutter, Kerrygold butter and Enjoy chocolate chips. Clearly this is still a treat despite paleo/primal friendly ingredients but life sometimes needs a little pancake ritual.
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