Just Two Minutes!

Two Minutes

We’re fast approaching the end of another calendar year.  Our families, society, various institutions we attend, our jobs and our schedules for life and living all work on a 12 month period of slotting our lives into 365 days.  Our average day consists of approximately 14 hours or 840 minutes.

My last blog for this year is to suggest something inspiring just for you: something that will nudge you towards putting yourself first in your life, a nudge towards self-care. Yes, I know, it can be difficult.   And if you are a mother with children you often don’t think of yourself and what you need at all!  Until of course you end up with a cold or something similar and then you are forced to rest and take time for yourself.   Don’t you think it’s time to make a small change for you?  It starts with just 2 minutes out of your day.

First:  Upon waking, allow your day to come to you.  Just lie there, do nothing, feel yourself breathe.  Sense that delicious time between being asleep and awake.

Second:  Stretch your limbs, feel your weight on the mattress. Slowly move yourself into a sitting position.  Close your eyes and feel yourself breathing.  This has taken less than 1 minute.

Third: As you sit, bring one thing to mind that you could do just for yourself, for this day.  Think small!  You want this to be achievable and you want your action to be successful.

A few suggestions might be…

·        Ask a friend to help you

·        Commit to seeing a movie

·        Take a longer shower/bath

·        Turn off your cell phone for a period of time so you can have a breather from calls

There is something during your day that you can alter to give you a pause and space.  Be gentle with this, it isn’t something to be worked at, it is to allow something to come to you that brings comfort and support.

When you have that one piece that you know is it, breathe into that idea, wrap it around you in your thoughts, take a deep breath and with intention place your feet on the floor and begin your day.

Tip:  At the end of your day take stock of what you put in place that morning.  Were you able to achieve success?  If not, check to see what prevented you from doing so and try again the next day.  Remember, keep it small.  It takes 2 minutes of intention and then an action to achieve great things. 

Decorations

It is time to bring out the holiday decorations.  Do you know where they are?  Can you find them easily? Are they all in one location?  If you have answered 'no' to these 3 questions, my sense is that you are probably feeling somewhat overwhelmed by it all!  And again this year you are undoubtedly saying to yourself "This is definitely the year to get organized with this."

Familiar language?  Well this year can be different as you have two key items in your tool kit of life and living that you might not have had last year.  You have intent to make a difference AND you have a timer, that small, simple tool that you learned about in the first blog.

First:  Get out your boxes and turn on your time for 1 hour.

Second:  As you take out the items you want to use for this holiday season, put aside anything that hasn't been used in previous seasons or that you don't particularly like.  If there is an emotional attachment to anything put THOSE aside.  Take the rest and recycle them or donate to a charity of your choice.

Third:  Now for the items with an emotional attachment.  Keep 1/2 of them and give the other 1/2 to your children, grandchildren or family member that would love them.  That way they still remain within the family and they'll learn the back-story and history of the item that they may not know.

Times up!  Did you beat the timer?  If not, put the timer on for another hour and see if you can finish the project.

Tip:  Using a timer helps you make a quicker decision, use it often.

Gifts

In preparing for this holiday season, bringing bins from the garage and hanging pictures, I invariably have memories from past holidays come flooding back.  As items are retrieved from the dark, brought out, dusted off…events, people, situations and emotions come settling back in. 

A continued surprise however, is a particular family event that happened 19 years ago.  The memories of this still resonate with fun, fondness and the deeper connections it brought to us as a family.   What makes this all the more powerful is how, when we gather each year for our gift exchange we still talk about that past event.

Like the present state of the economy, it too was a time of financial restraint and being fiscally responsible.  We discussed at great length what to do with our gift exchange, what to do with how much to spend, how much to give.  With all learning we’re forced at times by outside circumstances to reevaluate, to sit back, reconsider, rethink and rework an idea.  On some level it was just a package under the tree. 

This financial ‘kink’ forced us to do something that was not popular, not acceptable on many levels, and for all of us at the time on this scale, unheard of. It was ‘Regifting’!

When we hit on this idea there was at first dismissal and negating.  As the idea percolated however there was such a sense of fun about it that family members that before hadn’t cleaned out, sorted or looked at gifts from the past started to clean out closets, drawers or the garage looking for something appropriate.  For all members the process of cleaning out and sorting had started.

Clothing, shoes, dishes, toys, games and even a TV was regifted.  In fact there was so much thought put into each individual gift that to this day there are still items used from that first regifting.   What came out of something uncomfortable at the time now is expanded into the community.  We donate to a family member’s chosen charity; we regift one item to each member every 2^nd year. We have become conscious of how we spend, how we share and what our imprint is on the earth.  The residue from that one event has rippled to the next generation.  The children, our future citizens are now so aware of their imprint that they want to regift every year and now give to children who don’t have as much. 

Tip:

Choose something you have worn once or twice, regift it, cleaned, to someone you know would love it.

 

It’s Time

When was the last time you said, “I’ll do it later!”?  Recently?  Is that language part of your daily vocabulary?   Your weekly vocabulary? If just reading this is a button pusher, sit here a moment and breathe into the disquiet that you are experiencing in your body.  Take another deep breath in and release the breath completely.  Now soften the shoulders, jaw and smile to yourself!  It is okay to be in this place. 

You undoubtedly had something come to mind immediately.  This is about organizing your life and making your surroundings more visibly appealing, your home more organized and spacious. That ‘something’ that comes to mind is tapping you to take charge, to make a change and to take an action step towards doing it. 

Inaction and procrastination are the thieves that steal your spirit, your energy and over the long haul…your sense of self and how you bring yourself to the world.  When you say ‘later’, ‘maybe tomorrow’, ‘I’ll get to it next week.’ and you never get there, you add to that layer of stress that in turn contributes to a reduced energy level.

It is that small motion of stepping forth into a commitment to the self. This can be achieved doing a bit of sorting, a bit of clearing every day or every week, for 30 minutes or more.  The 30 minutes out of your day can often be the best 30 minutes you give yourself.  It is first of all telling yourself that you honor the words you speak and it can be a form of meditation as your brain is completely focused on the task at hand. 

So take that timer I spoke of earlier in the first blog, put it on for 30 minutes and step into that cupboard, open that drawer, go through that shoe rack and ‘just do it.’  You will be surprised how good you feel at the end.   

The best gift you can give yourself is to get organized.  Start with something small that can be done easily in ½ hr.  Achieve success in small steps.  The bigger steps will then look after themselves.

TIP:

Circle the calendar for the next 30 min clearing and sorting.

 

Fall Back

Next week, Nov 7th, we go to Standard Time.  This is a perfect opportunity to not only change the batteries in your smoke detectors but also do some clearing of make-up and cosmetics.  Like batteries, these items have a limited shelf life.

Generally speaking in Canada there are no expiry dates posted on cosmetics.  Probably with the idea of being thrifty you are holding onto your moisturizers, mascara and foundations trying to make the most efficient use of them.  In doing so these items loose their effectiveness and are a haven for bacteria.  The item that is particularly at risk is your mascara.  3-6 months is the shelf life for this product.  Your eyes are sooo worth a fresh look every 3 months, don't you think?

Let's start!  Put the timer on, no more than an hour.

First:

Take all cosmetics out of your cupboard, drawer or shelf. This includes perfumes.  Put them on a tray or cookie sheet.  Include all samples or promotional items received in gift bags.  Clean the cupboard, drawer or shelf.  You might even need to use the vacuum.

Second:

Now go through all these items, discarding anything you've opened, used once, never used or won't use and never liked.  Discard anything you know you've had for longer than 10 months. This does not apply to perfumes as their shelf life is longer.  Be gentle with the earth, mind you, recycle what you can.  What you have left you must absolutely LOVE!

Third:

Go through all your cosmetic brushes, what do you love, what frustrates you and what will you never use?  Don't keep application sponges to use again.  Keep what you love!  Put all brushes in a warm bath of mild soapy water.  Rinse, let dry on a clean towel.  While you are at it wash your hair brushes.  Rinse, air dry.

Put all products you are keeping into special containers, maybe a beautiful piece of  pottery for your application brushes, a woven basket for cleansers and lotions, small flat tray for your eye makeup.  Be creative and resourceful.  You look at this every day.  Shouldn't you start your day with beauty?

Don't forget to do the same for your travel items if you keep them separate. 

Tip:  Use clear plastic containers that often collect in your kitchen cupboards to hold items in drawers.

Fall Cleanup

Have often been asked by clients how to do the process of organizing and sorting quickly as the task before them seems overwhelming.

This blog, posted bi-monthly will be to give suggestions and tips to help you get some sense of order back in your life, one step at a time.  I will break down each task into its more simple components.  That big cleanup job that you may be postponing will start to look less daunting as you take the small steps necessary towards completion.

So lets get started.  Thanksgiving weekend, the start of Fall.  Among other things in preparation for this season, clearing the patio, balcony or deck is important for 2 reasons.  You have spent good money to get various pieces of furniture and you want to protect your investment.    First, check to see what items are broken, recycle anything if it can’t be repaired.  If there is anything you purchased that you don’t like, donate it.  You have to absolutely LOVE it to store it.  Second, clean your items with mild soap and water, dry with a soft cloth.  If you have an umbrella check for tears or spider webs.  Third, protect your pieces from the elements by putting them in a locker, garage or cover them with plastic if they remain outdoors.  Never store cushions outdoors.  Store these indoors at room temperature.

Tip:

Put the timer on for an hour to help keep you to the task.  See how much you got done in that time?