Are Commitments Cluttering Your Life?

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Use these tips to re-evaluate the commitments you make and declutter your calendar and your life.

Clutter isn’t only too many items on your kitchen table and piles of unsorted mail on your desk. Clutter comes in all forms. One way clutter can manifest in our lives is through the commitments we make.

Many of us are afraid to say no, and so we agree to things that overwhelm us. Are commitments cluttering your life? If you feel like this happens to you, read on for some actionable fixes.

Are Commitments Cluttering Your Life? One of the ways clutter can manifest in our lives is on the commitments we make. Use these tips to declutter your calendar and your life.

Be Selective With Your Commitments

Most families have two working parents and kids who participate in activities seven days per week. Families can easily expect to have multiple commitments pulling them in every direction daily.

At the time, it may seem like you can fit everything into your schedule, but having too many commitments makes it hard, if not nearly impossible, to be organized without intention.

One of the first steps in being more organized is decluttering your calendar. When you prioritize your commitments, you can see where your time is going more clearly and make cuts when needed.

Having an organized calendar can help you make better choices, reduce stress, create opportunities for a more streamlined and organized life, and increase your happiness – as well as that of your family.

You can’t do everything that comes along, and if you attempt to, you will find yourself quickly exhausted. You have the ability and the responsibility to say no to some commitments for the health and happiness of you and your family.

Here are some tips for streamlining commitments that you can try:

1. Just Say No

Consider no as an automatic response. If your weekends are busy, then say no. People will appreciate this more than constantly a maybe or a yes that then gets canceled. You don’t have to worry about other people’s feelings or FOMO if you know that there is no room in your schedule to commit. Most people won’t be offended if you decline their offer. Be kind, have a blanket response ready, and say no.

2: Have a Family Meeting

Decide as a family what sort of commitments are on or off the calendar.

Making decisions together helps families work towards a common goal. If saying yes to too many activities means the lawn is never mowed and the laundry is never washed, and you are eating take-out every night, this is a clear signal that you are overcommitted.

Decide together on the activities scheduled and the actions required to maintain the status quo at home or in business. If the cost of saying yes is too high, then declining the commitment is the right thing to do. Doing this together helps alleviate disappointment and avoid overwhelm and stress in the home. Planning a calendar and choosing activities together is also an excellent way for families to connect

3: Evaluate Your Priorities

Look at the commitments you are making and ask yourself why you make them. Are you saying yes to anything out of guilt or coercion instead of committing to things that you genuinely want to do?

If you are not committed with excitement to what you are doing, you probably don’t want to use your valuable time on that particular thing. Don’t allow guilt or a misguided sense of responsibility to make you over-commit and overwhelm your schedule.

4: Take a Commitment Fast

Did you realize that you feel better having fewer commitments outside the home? Was it easier to stay on top of chores, resting, and doing things you love when you opted out of “yes”? A commitment fast will show you if you’d like to consider limiting your obligations on a more permanent basis.

Conclusion

There will always be some commitments that we need to make in our lives. Some commitments are necessary for ourselves and our families, but often, they are part of a mindset and habit of behavior that feels normal.

We often guilt ourselves into saying yes all the time because we don’t want to disappoint people, without considering the consequences that over-commitment has on our own lives and our families’ lives.

With these tips, you can declutter your schedule and remove unnecessary commitments, creating significantly more time and peace in your life. Consider evaluating your calendar and making adjustments; you might be surprised by just how many things you can let go of.

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