Progressive Pioneer

Small Steps: Kill Your Television

Just kidding, that's a little radical.  But in high school I had a bumper sticker that said "Kill Your Television," how funny is that?  I had a lot of bumper stickers on that car... But, here's the thing, did you know that most Americans watch 4.7 hours of TV a day?  Let's say you work for 8 and sleep for 8, that's more than half of your free time!  How can we do anything productive or even give ourselves the time and mental space to just breathe and recharge if we only have three hours with which to be creative, relaxed, close with our family or any of those very good and very important things?

So, here's my challenge to you.  I know you're not watching almost 5 hours of TV a day, I know.  BUT, I have a feeling, if you're anything like me, you're logging more screen time than you'd like.  It just happens!  One minute you're checking email, and then next thing you know you've followed an email over to facebook where someone posted a funny video... and 45 minutes are gone like smoke.  So, wherever you're at, just take one step back.  Maybe that means setting a TV-free night, or only checking email at certain times of the day (instead of stopping for a "quick peek" each time you walk by the computer), maybe it means canceling cable or saying no to TV, but yes to movies.  Wherever you're at, just push yourself a little further to read more and "screen" less. For me, this will mean no screens after 9:30 (thanks for the inspiration, Ariel!), and designated email-checking times.  We don't have regular TV (I think you need a special box now or something...), we just use it for the occasional movie and that feels pretty well-balanced.  But, it's the ever-accessible email, facebook etc. that sucks me in.  So, that's where I'm going to take my stand!  How about you?

images from Stock Exchange

Small Steps: Show No Mercy in Your Closet

Not too long ago I read about this clever idea for taking back your closet.  This person (wish I could remember who, so I could credit them...) placed a ribbon around each hanger in their closet.  As that item of clothing was worn she would take the ribbon off the hanger.  At the end of the season she would look in her closet and any clothing with ribbon still on the hanger had to go!  Isn't that brilliant in its ruthlessness?  So, if you haven't worn it this season, chances are pretty good you won't wear it the next. 

I did a similar thing, only all at once.  I just attacked my closet and if I didn't wear and love it, I tossed it.  Note that the items had to meet both criteria; if I loved it, but never wore it, or wore it, but didn't love it, it was out.  I spend so little time thinking about what I wear, that it doesn't make much sense to have to wade through items I don't like or use just to get to the half a dozen items that I do wear.  So, several garbage bags went to the thrift store and I felt noticeable lighter.  Something about removing excess physical stuff creates excess emotional and mental space, don't you think?

Now I feel like I have a better handle on my closet.  I can see at a glance what I have and I can also see what areas are a little "weak."  For example, I got rid of at least a dozen pair of jeans, jeans that I paid good money for that were in style, um, almost a decade ago.  So, now I wear pretty much the same pair every day, but who really cares?  I'll get another pair or two, but I like not really having to think much about what I put on.  I know it looks decent, otherwise it wouldn't be in my closet, so I don't really have to hem and haw about it, I just throw them on with a top that has also passed the "love it and wear it" test and I'm out the door. 

Do you have any secrets I should know about as far as organizing clothing and looking good without actually having to think about it?  (Do you ever get dressed in the dark so you don't wake the baby?  I'm finding that another benefit of the stripped down closet is less chance for crazy outfits when you can't really see what you're putting on:) )  I think my next step might be to lay out the week's outfits with accessories each Sunday night.  Then for the rest of the week I won't have to waste even one IQ point and I can actually look put together.  That's one thing I wish I did more; throw on some earrings, or a scarf, or a funky necklace or something.  I have a bunch, I just never think to do it.  But, one step at a time...  So tell me, what are your tricks?

Small Steps: Love Your Alarm

You thought I'd fallen off the steps-toward-simplicity-wagon, didn't you?  No no, just a minor setback.  I'd been wanting to start waking up earlier, only I kept staying up so late last week that it just wasn't happening.  Wake up 15 minutes earlier; is it really so hard?  Apparently so, because I can never seem to manage it!  But this is going to be the week, it really is!  And it's going to set a pattern for the rest of my life!!  I'm nothing if not optimistic:)

The thing is, I adore the mornings.  The gentle stillness before the world is really up and humming.  Those first morning rays filtering in through the window.  The way I feel calm and centered and ready to face my day when I start out unhurried.  All of these things I love!  What I despise is the moment between being in bed and out of bed, okay and about the first five minutes where I stumble to the bathroom all squinty eyes and grumbly and brush my teeth and splash water on my face.  After that I feel great!  So, why do I let my dislike of those few rather miserable minutes deprive me of the beauty, peace and productiveness of the early morning?  Good question! 
So tell me, what is your secret for hauling yourself out of bed to take advantage of the morning?  I suppose going to bed at a reasonable time would be a start:)  But, now that Vivian is waking less at night, and sometimes even sleeping all the way from about 8:30 to 6am(!) I feel like it's time to take back my mornings!

The old axiom of early to bed, early to rise really has truth to it.  I'm sure there's plenty of science to back me up on this, but I just feel like the majority of people are probably more productive earlier in the day, we likely get more done on a day that starts earlier and I imagine are more pleasant, focused and organized.  So, just fifteen minutes earlier, that's all I'm asking of myself, to contribute to healthier, simpler, more streamlined and relaxed days.  What do you think?

All images from Country Living.  I got caught up in looking at pretty bedrooms.  Do you think if I remodeled my bedroom I could get up earlier...?

Small Steps: Sort Your Rocks

Have you ever seen that object lesson about time management where someone tries to add a bunch of sand, rocks and water to a jar?  First they show how if you fill it with water first, there's no room for the rocks or sand.  Fill it with sand and you can add a little water without overflowing.  But fill it first with the rocks, then you can add sand and it filters into the little crevices, then you can even pour in water on top of that.  The lesson is that if you make room in your life for the most important things, you'll be able to find space for the less important, but still enjoyable things.  Whereas, if we forget to make room for the important things, sometimes we run out of room (or time) and they get missed. 

So, as one of my small steps toward simplicity I'm aiming to do the important things first in my day.  Before I check my email, or read a book, or do "fun" cooking (experimental stuff that's fun for me and isn't just filling hungry, noisy mouths), or play outside, or anything non-essential (that even includes cleaning!!), I'm going to sit down and immerse myself in the scriptures for a bit.  Right now in my life, that's my most essential thing, the thing that helps me feel centered and helps the rest of my day run more smoothly.  I find that if I wait to do that, it often doesn't get done in the avalanche of other things demanding my attention.  But, these last few days as I've made a point to do that first, before I tackle the breakfast dishes, or sit down at the computer, or even before I read Sam a book, that the rest of the day is so much better, and it doesn't take away from my time either.  It's almost as if it expands the amount of time available to me somehow.  I find that I'm more productive on the days that start out right.

And just so we're clear, it's not actually the first thing I do in the morning, but rather the first thing I choose to do.  This means that because I'm woken up by Viv first thing, she requires a bit of attention, then I throw on some clothes and head into the kitchen where Clay and Sam are usually having oatmeal and I get something to eat.  This is a busy, but enjoyable time of day, and not the time to squeeze in a bit of reading.  At nine, Viv goes down for a nap and that is usually the first time of the day that I have a moment to pause and think, "Okay, what am I going to do now?"  And that's the time I pick up the good book, instead of the myriad other things I could do. Sam and I went out to the garden yesterday and gathered up some rocks so I could create a physical reminder for myself to organize my own "rocks, sand and water."  (Bonus: our garden has a dozen or so less rocks!)  It sits on our plant table as a gentle reminder, lest I put off the most important things, for those that leave less space, if only emotional space, than the truly crucial activities.  So, what are your essential activities each day, the things that if all else fails, you hope will get done?  Excercising? (That one's on my wish list.)  Cleaning?  Reading?  Time outside?  Reading with the kids?  I have a feeling that as I acquire balance in one area, my "need to do first" items will shift and change.

Steps Toward Simplicity

Recently a sweet reader emailed me about time management and simplicty, hoping "to be able to benefit from [my] habits and structure."  Ummm...  about that...  You see, I'm trying to simplify and pare down and find more time just like everyone else!  She talked about struggling to find a balance in her life as a new mom and looking for fulfillment and greater peace (me too!).  For her, the answer was greater simplicity, she just wasn't sure how to go about making it happen.  I wish I had the answer.  Like so many things, I don't think there is one answer or a quick fix, but rather many small changes that gradually amount to something greater.  
And so, in honor of baby steps, and for this reader and so many others (including, and especially, myself!), I am resolving to implement small changes each week that will bring me closer to my own goal of a life lived more simply, more streamlined, more focused on the important and less on the "static," toward a life more marked by simplicity.  I hope you'll join me and share your own small steps, ideas, and progress along the way.
Simplicity comes in myriad forms and can touch all aspects of our lives.  There's a difference too, between simplicty and convenience.  For me, saving time by prepping for several meals at once brings me a feeling of greater simplicity, while picking up dinner at a drive-through does not, even though it may save time.  I'm looking for ways to cut out time-wasters while increasing the time I spend on important things like my kiddos.  I'm also looking for simplicity in areas such as what I put into my body (homemade bread, for example, though a bit more time-consuming, still counts because it's a simpler food (less ingredients) and has traveled fewer miles to get to my table), how I travel, what I consume, etc.

I'll try and cover a variety of areas: food, time management, kids, consumer goods, daily living and homemaking.  I'm excited; I'm feeling more zen already!  Do you have any ideas about good steps to take toward simplicity?  Or areas you're trying to de-crazy and bring a little more peace and balance to?

PS Speaking of simple foods, Margot over at Old School posted my almond milk tutorial.  Go have a look if you missed it here!