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 of the ways clutter can manifest in our lives is on the commitments we make.
Many of us are afraid to say no and so we yes ourselves into a place where we are overwhelmed by the things we have signed up to do. Are commitments cluttering your life? If you feel like this happens to you, read on for some actionable fixes.
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 every which way on a daily basis.
At the time it can seem like you will be able to fit #allthethings into your schedule, but having too many commitments makes it hard or 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 to be more streamlined and organized, and increase your personal happiness- as well as the happiness for your family.
Here is a useful 24- hour planner that will help you take a look at your whole day. If you would like instant access to the entire printable vault, go here.
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 simply 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 make a commitment. Most people won’t be offended if you decline their offer. Be kind, have a blanket response ready, and simply 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 what activities are scheduled and what actions need to be taken 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 a great 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 truly want to do?
If you are not committing with excitement to what you are doing, you probably don’t really want to use your valuable time to 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
For one month, cut out all unnecessary commitments. Try fasting from commitments and see what you and your family think at the end of the month. Do you feel more refreshed and less stressed?Did you realize you feel better having fewer commitments to do 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 commitments on a more permanent basis.
Conclusion
There will always be some commitments that we need to do 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 guilt ourselves into saying yes all the time because we don’t want to disappoint people, without thinking of the consequences that over-commitment has on our own lives and our family’s lives.
With these tips you can declutter your schedule and remove commitments, creating so much more time and more peace in your life. Consider evaluating your calendar and making changes, you might surprise yourself with just how many things you can let go.
