Life can be really stressful, unless you are one of the lucky
few who are blessed with an utterly easy-going view of life – nothing is a worry,
“she’ll be right” surfie philosophy. But for the majority of us living can be a rather demanding
experience, especially if you are: a uni student (hey, it’s tougher than it
sounds), full-time worker, parent, olympian, or, like me, are extremely
conscientious. We all know
how therapeutic it is to clean out our wardrobes, so why not take the same
approach with life in general?
Here are some of my suggestions:
-
Write lists, dorky I know, but it really is so much
easier. If you jot down everything you need to do/remember then the pressure
isn’t on your brain to remember, but rather your notepad’s ability to (I’ve
been told they are like elephants, they never forget!).
-
Simplify! If you don’t need to know about it or have
it, get rid of it!
-
Participate in the idea of exchange. For example if you
take up a new hobby then let an existing one slide; if you add a new Facebook
friend then delete one you’ve lost contact with. Otherwise, ten years down the
track you are going to have 5,000 ‘friends’ and how many of them would you
actually invite to your birthday party? Maybe 100? Over time we change and evolve;
something that was relevant and important to us five years ago, may not be now.
-
Learn to say no! If you can't get your mouth to form this
tiny little word you will end up taking on too much.
-
Make a plan and set some goals! Even if it’s just for
the next day/week/month, and if you’re really adventurous you can do the next 10
years. This will give you something to work towards. Plus when you actually
achieve what you set out to do you’ll feel proud!
-
Finally, if all else fails, identify what is important
to you and eliminate everything else. Pretty simple!
Good luck!