It’s quite ironic really, but in trying to simplify my life too quickly, everything got out of control and complicated. I’ve given myself a good talking to and I’m going to slow down a bit.
I have a big list of things I want to do this year, some of them silly organisational things, some of them essential health goals, all have the aim of simplifying and improving my life and those around me. I’ve decided to take some of my own advice and tackle every item bit by bit, not all at once.
The next four years are a journey, not just in paying off the mortgage and moving to Portugal, but in getting my life as I want it. I’m looking for this kind of contentment eventually.
List items for 2008:
- Simplify my 5 personal email accounts – Completed
- Go totally paper free, bills etc
- Reduce junk mail to zero – Completed
- Lose weight
- Eat more (organic) fruit and veg
- Get fitter
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Sound like pretty good goals to me,especially the fruit & veg one :0)
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Reducing junk mail is very rewarding. I live in the USA, so I don’t know what to recommend for junk mail reduction in the UK, but there are several organizations here which serve as clearinghouses for direct mail marketers (catalogs, etc). US mail recipients can contact these organizations and instruct them to exclude a specific address from the list that is shared among the companies who use their services. Similar opportunities are available for credit card solicitations and so on. Reducing mailbox clutter helps curb impulse purchases (reduced exposure to advertising), cuts down on waste, reduces the amount of fuel used to transport the junk mail, and has the positive effect of making the percentage of personal mail received increase dramatically (which makes me happy). These days, when I got to the mailbox, I usually return with only one or two items, as opposed to a huge stack of unsolicited junk that went directly into the recycling bin and/or shredder.
PS: If all else fails, most companies offer the opportunity to opt out of direct mail by contacting them via their website or email. This requires some time investment up front, but in the end it helps stop the flow of mail from even the most pesky advertisers.
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I got a bit ovewhelmed with a long list as well.. so great idea to focus on a few at a time. Love reading your blog!
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Interesting. I have somehow managed to organize my emails after a lot of hard work and only after applying a lot of filters in my Thunderbird Mailbox, then Gmail, Yahoo, Rediffmail besides those associated with my own website. It is the most challenging task to accomplish I think where you can hardly expect to be cent percent perfect. Lol.
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I think it’s an excellent idea to reduce the todolist, sometimes you can try to get too much done and end up achieving nothing.
It might also be worthwhile breaking down these goals so that you can achieve small chunks at a time, and also put a time limit on them, for example if you had 5 email accounts then you might plan to sort out one account each month so by the end of 5 months this task would be complete.
Good luck
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You’re right about biting off too much at once. I believe simplifying is a life long process and not something we can just leap into feet first. Baby steps, as they say.
I like the idea of having a list of areas that you’re working on first. You’ve inspired me to make a similar list of my own.
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thank you for all your comments..i feel lots better now. I need to remember this is a marathon not a sprint, however when you have ‘must get it done now’ tendencies like me it can be difficult to slow down
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It is so true that trying to overhaul all at once is very overwhelming. I think it took about 18 months of gradually getting to a place where I looked around me and though “hey, my life is actually simplified now!”
You have some great goals!
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thanks emily!
I should take my time, after all I have until 2012 to get my life how I want it
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