Last week I wrote about minimizing daily distractions in order to make my dreams come true, and how simplifying my life is the first step to ensure this happens.  I have only interned for two days so far this week, but combined with my transcription work and applying for substitute teaching positions, I’ve already had some practice at simplifying.  The biggest thing I’ve currently managed is to reduce the number of nights per week that I cook meals, allowing for leftovers on the other nights, and oftentimes enough for lunches, as well.  This way as soon as I’m done working, I can spend time writing, or head over to the gym, knowing that all I’ll need is a matter of minutes to heat up dinner. 

Another way I’ve simplified my life has to do with my daily routine.  First, instead of taking time to apply eye shadow each morning, my bronzer doubles as blush and shadow.  Something as simple as this cuts my prep time by several minutes, while still providing me a healthy glow.  Second, I set my alarm 15 minutes early so that I have time to pick out my clothes and prepare a lunch and snack to bring to work.  Admittedly, I could do this the night before, but I usually change my mind about my selections in the morning, anyway.

And who doesn’t want a way to simplify household tasks?  In our home, we post a chore list on the refrigerator with each family member’s name and their assigned to dos listed.  Consequently, I don’t have to think about what needs to be done, and because the workload is delegated, not one person is stuck with all the work.  But since I always seem to end up with the dreaded (in my opinion) dusting, I keep it simple by taking just 10 minutes out of my day to dust a different room over the course of a couple weeks. 

A big area where many people find themselves in trouble when it comes to distractions has to do with over-committing or over-scheduling.  Now that I’m back to work, I am not able to just hop in my car on a whim to run an errand or two, or spread my appointments throughout the week.  Rather, I have been working on combining trips to be most efficient with my time (case in point: mixing vacation next month with a little business on the side).  And finally, sometimes it’s okay to simply say “no.” ~ cs