Less Stress in the Chaos

Minimalist dining area featuring light wooden furniture against a calming green wall, accented by simple decorative elements for a serene and clutter-free ambiance.

Embracing Change: Adjusting Habits for Seasonal Joy

You are not alone in facing life's challenges. As seasons change and schedules become hectic, holidays seem to arrive quickly and unexpectedly. Here are some adjustments we've made to our daily habits and routines to intentionally enjoy the changing seasons and holiday festivities.

Maintain simplified systems. Before the school year begins, we establish a lunch schedule and an organized system for success. Sundays and Mondays are dedicated to meal planning and food preparation. Consider this a mini home team meeting—we ensure we're aligned on the same calendar, update the weekly schedule in our command center, and inventory our groceries to plan meals for the week. How does this help with changes and holidays? By October, the 'new routine' has been adjusted, and we are now living with habits integrated into our daily lives. Making lunch becomes a natural habit, like brushing teeth.

Continue to let things go. We have designated boxes for donations. Regardless of the time of year, life stage, or level of schedule chaos, if a shirt no longer fits, it goes directly into the donation bin. Before each school year starts, we do a clothing purge. This way, if holiday gifts bring new clothes or items, the space is already available. Our September calendar includes a week for purging toys/books. It's simply one bin, 15 minutes, or 15 items a day for one week. By the weekend, donation bags are loaded into the car, and additional space is created in our home. Why do we dedicate an entire week to purging toys/books?

1. Schedules are hectic, and we don't have a whole day to declutter.

2. Space is needed for any gifts that may arrive.

3. Fewer possessions = less stress.

Removing items to manage in daily life gives us more free time to cherish moments.

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