Subject - Organizing My Frazzled Mind!

Subject - Organizing My Frazzled Mind! Organizing My Frazzled Mind! There's a commercial on TV right now where the screen very quickly flashes photos and they pile upon each other at a frantic speed. I told my daughter the other day, that's how my mind feels a lot of the time. In our world of high technology, speed is what everyone is focused on. The problem with that is we end up becoming very stressed from the never-ending input and change. So, what can we do to change how our brain is feeling? Two things come to mind--remember to breathe, and get organized! Both will be incredibly helpful in getting us to a less stressful, calm place. Remember to Breathe The first, remember to breathe sounds easy but it's not. How many times have you found yourself literally holding your breath waiting for something to happen or something to pass? We tense up in anticipation of those things we're not prepared for, things that we are anxious about, thing that we fear. Release Your Mind How many of you are stressed about money? You cringe when you hear the word budget because you don't have one. My financial planner told me that if people would lie out their finances on paper and make a plan that most would find out that things are probably better than they think. If you take the things that you fear, things that make you anxious and sit down, breathe and make a plan for how to deal with them, you will find that most are nowhere near as worrisome as you may have originally thought. Remove the Stress Something as overwhelming as an out of control, cluttered room can be incredibly stressful and make you feel frazzled. Now close your eyes and imagine how you would like the room to be. Clear and organized I'd expect. Notice how that makes you feel. Is the stress melting away? Now how can we accomplish this? Divide the 'Big Picture' Looking at things in the big picture can often be too much. We don't see an easy way through what we're trying to do. Break it down into baby steps or small parts and it suddenly doesn't feel quite as much to deal with. Tackle the Easy Stuff First tackle the easy stuff. The obvious trash. Are there newspapers you can toss, anything broken? Get a garbage bag and get that stuff out of the room right off the bat. That should clear out some space for you to work in. Next pull out anything that you no longer need or want and would be willing to donate. Donate to Ease Stress I've found most people have a much easier time tossing unwanted items to donation since they feel the items will still be used and not just thrown away. Once you pull those items out bag or box them and take them directly to the trunk of your car. Don't leave them in the room or you will be tempted to pull something back out. Avoid Getting Overwhelmed Taking those steps will free up some space not only in your room but also in your head. You will feel a sense of accomplishment and positivity which will then motivate you to move forward. The better you feel about what you've done, the more you will want to continue what you started. Most people stop in the middle of the project if they feel frustrated or feel that they're not making progress. By taking baby steps and working at something for a short and productive time, you will avoid that trap. Is a whole room too much to tackle at this point? Then focus on something smaller like maybe the trunk of your car, a closet or even just a drawer. You can take the same approach described for the room and use it for a smaller area. Pull Out Your Calendar One thing you can do to alleviate feeling stressed and overwhelmed would be to pull out your calendar and make a plan for the next month or even the next few months. Jot down all of the events you know you'll be dealing with and see where you might have time to yourself. Time to regenerate and spend sometime doing something you enjoy. Block out those times just for you. That time is just as important as the time you spend running around doing things for other people. Create a Meal Plan Perhaps one thing you can do is to create a meal plan just for the dinners for one week. Look and see what you have in the freezer or cupboard and then plan some meals. Make a grocery list to augment what you have on hand. If you can take worrying about dinners each day out of the equation, this will free up your mind for other things or for that relaxing time we were just talking about.