Yesterday, while working with a client to clear off her kitchen counter and create a IN/OUT System for her mail & paperwork, she talked about feeling overwhelmed by the holidays and her piles of stuff and just wanted to hibernate for the winter. I assured her she wasn't alone and shared some more of my story about radically simplifying my life with her. I understand that the extent to which I am going to simplify my life is not for everyone, but I also know that applying the idea of LESS IS MORE to any situation where the stuff in your life is overwhelming can be liberating.
So, I asked her how she felt about just throwing out the stack of magazines she'd been planning to read and she said it actually sounded appealing and after a quick sort through the stack she only saved ONE magazine. We also tackled a pile of catalogs that she'd been saving because she had to shop for Christmas presents and she was able to narrow it down to THREE catalogs, two of which she'd already marked pages with items she wanted for her daughter & grandson. I then had her put the catalogs in her TO DO NOW folder so could get the items ordered this week.
I also told her about some of the articles & blogs I'd been reading about simplifying Christmas by looking for ways to make memories and spend time with our family and friends instead of feeling obligated to buy them more stuff. Ideas like taking your kids to the movies instead of buying them the DVD or taking them to the zoo instead of buying a stuffed animal. It all comes back to what I've been telling her and anyone who would listen for year to make MEMORIES not MEMENTOS.
We ended our session by getting her kitchen counter cleared off and putting away all of the items we'd found the belonged in other rooms and then sat down to talk about how to keep the clutter at bay during the holidays. She already uses a day timer for her TO DO LIST and has the items have to be done that day at the top and other tasks that need to be done soon on the bottom. And she follows Stephen Covey's methods so any items that don't get done that day get move to the next day's list. Looking at her list I was able to suggest taking ONE task each day from her TO DO folder and/or list and making it a priority for that day.
We also discussed several other small projects she could work on between now and our next session on January 4th and she scheduled time for each of these tasks on her calendar. To help her keep this commitment to herself, she will be calling or texting me when she's ready to start her homework each week and then check in with me after she's done to share how it went and how she's feeling. It's all about taking little steps and focusing on one small project at a time to help keep the feeling of being overwhelmed at bay. Hopefully, all of the work we did together and breaking down some simple projects will help make this season brighter for her and help her enjoy more time with her family & friends.
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