Taking Time

Taking time…to do what?  How many jobs do you undertake each day?  Do you stop and take a breath, to look around and enjoy the day?  So often, we are too busy doing it, instead of taking some time to breathe.

Let’s look at what you may be undertaking each day:

• Preparation of meals

• General cleaning of home (vacuuming, mopping floor, making beds, wiping down                    benches, etc.)

• Laundry

• Gardening and lawn maintenance

• Payment of bills and oversight of finances

• Booking appointments (medical, financial, education, etc.)

• Decluttering and organization of space.

Now take time to stop, grab a coffee (or tea), go outside, and breathe.  Why not take 5-10 minutes to be in the sun, and just enjoy those moments.  Taking time to just be ‘you’.  

Life becomes busy, so how do you stay on top of everything without becoming overwhelmed?

• Write down the jobs you need to achieve each day, that week, over the month
• Declutter and organize your home space so that you can ‘breathe.’
• Look at the jobs you are undertaking and take on one or two each day that you really don’t want to do and then tackle some of the jobs that you know are not too much to get done.

Take time to just enjoy life.  If we are so busy doing things, and not taking time to enjoy life, then perhaps we need to re-evaluate what we value?

Providing tips to working from home

One of the joys of working from home is that you are in 'your space'.  However, working from home also means organizing, creating a peaceful space to allow creativity and thrive, and keeping it simple.

There are challenges to working from home.  

Simple points such as:

• not being distracted by clutter, noise, or household jobs,
• being present in getting your work completed and not distracted by scrolling on social media,
• ensuring your family and friends know that you have set times when you are working, and not available to socialize, even though you are physically at home,
• keeping your space clean and tidy so that distractions of clutter or accumulation of piles don't deter you from completing assigned workloads.

How could you minimize distractions?

• Set time aside weekly to clean your office space and go through any piles of accumulated paperwork, etc,
• Set time aside daily to ensure that you have completed simple tasks before you begin working in your home office.  (Making your bed, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, vacuuming, etc)
• Set your break times and take them.  For example, morning tea or lunch.  Do not bring your lunch back to your office.  Take time to eat away from your laptop and desk.  This might mean you have your lunch on the back patio or sit in the sunshine for 10 mins.
• Once you have completed your assigned work for the day, leave your office tidy and close your equipment, just as you would when leaving the workplace office.

These are just some ideas.  You will have more ideas that you can implement.

A New Year - Are You Ready for Change?

 Reflecting on the year we have journeyed through has been one of challenges and change.

Change occurs, even when we do all we can to ensure that we continue our path in comfort and routine.  Sometimes, the pathway is rocky with pebbles we slip on or stones on which we stub our toe; there may be a large rock that requires help to push out of the way.

As we journey together on life's path, let's help one another by sweeping off, picking up, and removing the stones that people slip on or stub their toes on.  We must learn to ask for help when the large rocks cannot be removed by our strength alone.

What are a few practical ideas we can undertake to prepare for the new year?

• Declutter your office.  Don't be afraid to work through the paperwork and items in your office and make some tough decisions about what is really needed or what should be relocated to another area of your house.
• Plan and set up your daily/weekly/monthly planner. (I use a color-coded system to assist with key deadlines that must be met).
• digitalize documents that you wish to keep but do not require a paper copy and add them to a specifically named folder.
• Declutter your digital devices. Do you really need 10 photos of one moment, or would 1-2 copies be enough?

Change and challenge will occur in the new year coming.  Let's pray and seek the Lord's direction and help.  Let us be prepared to step out into a "new thing"!