When we look at our time and figure out where it’s going and how we spend it, it’s often helpful to see if the agenda items and the projects, the commitments or the activities we’re involved in, the service providers we use or the extra volunteer work we take home still “fit” with who we really are now and how we want our lives to be! For example, I recently saw I had some activities and classes that were taking me far away from home and didn’t feed my soul as much as some of the other programs I was doing (some of which also were far from home location-wise,) and I decided to shed some of those for the time being. I also saw that not all the commitments to other appointments or business leads or things I’d originally thought would help me or steer me in the right direction were still useful.
These examples are particular to me, but everyone has some version of this. Reassessing and letting things go was such a big relief for me and, in speaking with friends about this idea, I found widespread confirmation that doing this shedding of sorts provides “space” for less stress.
As we head into a new school year, what a great time to do this. It’s at these times that it’s helpful to separate out the proverbial wheat from the chaff in our lives. This is a season, along with the new notebooks, pens, backpacks, shoes, commitments of time, more cars on the road, of change and newness. What do you, (even if you’re not involved in school season, per se,) see as a part of your new metaphorical learning course of action or plan for change? How do you look at streamlining your time and life and how does this process help you in your own practical day to day life? Does it help you, as it helps me to refocus to get in touch with a higher purpose for our lives?
Recalibrating and streamlining your life can help you stay calmer, happier and more committed to your own self-care, your fundamental life projects (or however you term what’s most important to you,) and bring you more joy. This can happen as an outcome of your spending more time on what does work for you rather than what doesn’t.
In winnowing out what doesn’t fit, the extraneous, we see that there isn’t time for everything. Some things might have to wait and some things aren’t meant to be…and those are both okay. As a lifelong overachiever type, that is a hard lesson for me to sometimes internalize. I find that moving many things across the desert all at the same time may not be the best plan and I have to set some down now and then, so I can keep moving forward with what I can do at that given time! Going forward with a few things and tabling the others works. Go figure. 😊
After reigning things in a bit, it’s often helpful to to see what’s already working well in our individual corner of the world. In clarifying what currently works WELL in your life and how your time feels best spent, one can often see that shining more positive light on that which you care about most, can help you go forward in other areas of life. Which, in turn, can lead to a happier life.
We often focus on boundary setting, goal setting, time management and planning. And those are all important. But it’s also important to listen to your gut and see if it says, “hey, this works for me,” or “hey, this isn’t working anymore,” and just calmly and kindly figure out a way to move ahead in the best way possible with this new piece of inner knowledge. Listen to and build on the things you are most interested in!
Ask yourself, “what do I want my time and life to stand for right now, at this season of my life?” For some people it’s family, for some it’s time outdoors in nature, some people find it in meaningful work, in their faith, in giving back to others. Balance is different for everyone and what people prioritize with their time, their money and their skills is all subjective and everybody gets to find their unique way in this challenge.
Here are some questions to help you get started.:
What are the most important things you care about at this season and time?
How do you visualize your connection to what’s important looking like?
How much time do you want to be involved with things that don’t matter so much to you anymore and what can you let go?
What are you most grateful for and how do you want to grow more of THAT in your life?
Wishing everyone a great start to the new school year and the new year…one where we all take the time to focus on that which is important to us. We at Joyfestivalindustries have faith that everyone can try to build good, strong connections to that which matters most to each of us and bring more light into our own small corners of the world.
Thanks for reading with us. We’d love to know how you’re honing in on what’s most important for you and what you’ve got in store for your best future plans and time commitments! Please email [email protected] with thoughts on the questions above and how you bring joy into your life!
