After focusing on listing our priorities last week, this week’s lesson is all about finding and getting rid of non-priorities. To me, there are 3 different types of those that take way too much of my time and, worst, of my energy:

• activities that don’t bring “value” to my life, that don’t make me happy (mindless TV or internet browsing, gossiping and negative talking, fantasies about “what I’d do if I’d win the lottery”, which makes me unsatisfied with what I have right now, etc.)
• mental clutter, which weighs a lot even if it’s immaterial (worries about things I can’t control, like what other think, unsaid things, unspoken resentment that “eat” me from inside, non-constructive comments or criticism, which is something I’m unfortunately very good at, etc.)
• physical clutter (mostly things that comes from “shoulds” or “woulds” or “might’s”)

Those various types of clutter all have the same effect, no matter if they are “real” or immaterial: they are blocks on my road to the life I want to live.

They don’t let me grow and develop my potential, they drain me out, they make me stumble and fall down (metaphorically or really), they make me waste my energy and lose focus… Well, they are not good and they can create much much suffering and pain.

This weekend, a sad event put things back in perspective: a friend of mine had a severe accident. He fell off his roof and/or had a bad stroke, we don’t know yet which one came first. Anyway, this terrible event helped me remember that things we take for granted might not last, that we have to live RIGHT NOW and not wait until X or Y happens.

I’ve taken the resolution to not delay the important things I have to do: tell my family and friends that I love them, show them that I care about them, support them when they are going through a rough time. If that means that I will have a pile of dirty dishes in the sink because I spent my evening with my friend’s wife, supporting her while she’s waiting to hear from the hospital where her husband is fighting for his life, so be it. Once my time is over on this earth, I won’t be remembered for a sparkly clean house or a perfectly organised desk, I want to be remembered for being a good person, a caring and loving friend, daughter, girlfriend, sister, and hopefully soon a mother.

This doesn’t mean I have given up on the idea of organisation but it put it in perspective: people I love are my #1 priority and I won’t let anything, any stupid attitude issue, any bad character trait come against it.

Now, please, do me a favor, go see your husband/wife/partner, kids, parents, friends and hug them, tell them you love them, show them your support with thoughtful little gestures and keep my friend in your thoughts and prayers.

Take care ! (and I’ve never meant it more than today!)

Marcia here

Chloe, I absolutely agree – that’s why I like to tell people to be organised just enough to live life like you want to. There is certainly more to life than perfectly organised folders and matching pens 🙂

PS Sam has not been well and will be back with her guest post as soon as she’s better.

I was very excited when I received the first e-mail for the Simplify Your Live e-course. Reading the summary, I already knew this week would be all about vision: what does a simplified life look like. I was already convinced this would be a very important part of the project, the foundation for the rest of it, and the actual lesson confirmed this.

I have to be honest: when I first read very quickly the pages I had just printed and saw “What is your life purpose?”, I completely freaked out: how was I supposed to answer that question?? 😉

Then I thought that Marcia would never give me such a deep question without making me ready to answer it, and I read more throughly.

I was right, the lesson and the article provide great starting points to fuel your thinking. Of course, if you expect one of those “one size fits all” kind of course that will give you answers without you having to reflect and dig a bit deeper, you’ll be disappointed.

I started by reading the documents a couple times during the first two days, and I always had the questions and articles in a small corner of my head, sometimes without noticing it.

Unconsciously, it matured and after a couple days I was ready to grab my pen and start filling the forms. The point was to reflect on why I want to simplify my life and what is the goal, what it’ll look like one the process is complete (if such a process can ever be “complete”!).

To me, “simple” is another word for “peaceful“.

I want my life to be easy, to “flow” smoothly, I want to feel comfortable with the people, the things, the activities that are in my life and how they make me feel. My simplified life would be balanced, with a good mix of lightness, of ease and deep relationships (including with myself).

Some things that are blocking me to get this simple life are mainly some character traits, like my (quite frightening) ability to create drama, my taste for arguing and wanting to always be right, laziness that makes me waste myself (my time, my energy), gossiping, negativity.

To fight against those traits I basically have to be more conscious, more mindful of what I do, what I say, how I think. I must make purposeful goals and remind them to myself often, so that I stay focused on those. Baby steps, daily actions (maintenance is a big issue for me) and visual reminders will be powerful tools, I think.

Pfew, what a novel!! Thanks if you read all along! 😉

Take care!
Chloé

Wow, wow, wow!

What fantastic insights and it’s only week 1!!!!

I’m so, SO proud of you already – so glad you’re really digging in and asking yourself the hard questions.

Do you have any questions for Chloe? Or did any of her insights resonate with you?

Hi everyone,

My name is Chloé and I’m so happy to be one of Marcia’s guest bloggers for her “Simplify Your Life” series.

I’m 31, I live in France with my boyfriend of soon-to-be 10 years Guy and our pets. We don’t have kids yet because of some infertility issues but we’re going through an IVF procedure, so hopefully this will change soon!

I work full time for the small town we live in, I’m in charge of the communication: the town magazine, the website, the press, the events’ organisation, the mayor’s speeches, etc. It’s a very stressful job but incredibly interesting. I’m also a digi-scrapper and an amateur photographer.

I’m pretty disorganized because I’ve never been taught, but I’ve realised how annoying it is and I’m trying to improve that.

I’m really aspiring for a peaceful environment and a simple life, but I didn’t know how to get it… until now!

I couldn’t pass the chance to guest blog for Marcia, first because I love her vision of organization and because her advices always work great for me, and second because of the e-course itself. I can’t wait to get started and share this journey with you.

Doesn’t Chloe have a great job? I think it’s awesome!

Leave your questions for her in the comments or otherwise just welcome her to the blog.

P.S. I personally can’t wait to follow along with the two ladies’ journeys.