Prioritize

It's Thursday! It's time for a post for A Happy Simple Life!

I believe the first step in creating a simpler life is asking yourself if you have enough time for the things that matter to you the most. If the answer is no, then it may be time to take some steps to prioritize, downsize and minimize.

Priorities: (Noun)

1. A thing that is regarded as more important than another.

2. The fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important.

Everyone needs to have Priorities to help simplify their lives. I know that I am juggling multiple commitments and responsibilities that making a list of priorities could definitely help. I'm going to start today.

First Step: Prioritize

One of the first ways to support yourself in creating more simplicity in your life is to prioritize. What's most important to you? I would create a top five or ten list. This will give you a bigger view of how you're spending your time and where in your life you can make changes to support an easier and simpler life.

Write down the areas of your life that take up the majority of your time, such as family, you, work, home, projects, homework exercise, friends. Rate them in order of priority.

Then review your list, then ask these some questions "Does the amount of time I spend on each of these areas of my life match how important each one is to me? Could I be spending more time doing what's most important to me and less time doing things in areas that are less important to me?" If you answered no to the first question or yes to the second, then it may be time to re prioritize how you're spending your time.

Re-Prioritize Every Week

Not only is it helpful to prioritize the big items (family, work), but it's also helpful to prioritize your life in smaller chunks. What you can accomplish each week changes, depending on what's going on in your life. One week you may have huge project and have very little spare time, and another week you may have a huge deadline at work, so it's key to adjust your priorities to the realities of your life. Try to keep your weekly todo list short and sweet. This allows you to focus your attention, simplify your activities and feel good about accomplishing what's most important to you.