Discardia_ More Life, Less Stuff - Dinah Sanders [65]
Pick out your clothes the next day and make sure you have enough clean things to get you through the workweek.
If you had to get up early or aren't feeling 100%, take a little nap before sundown—just a catnap to give you a little extra rest.
Make sure you have all the groceries you need in order to eat well throughout the week.
Pack a good lunch for tomorrow.
Set out the breakfast things before you go to bed so it's easy to fuel up at the start of the day.
Do something fun and silly—laughter is great medicine!
Take a little time to be still, do nothing at all, and let your mind lose its busy buzzing.
The Look-Ahead
Life is full of surprises, but there are plenty of things that stress us out that we could have predicted and made less painful if we'd only planned a little bit. You can dramatically reduce your craptastic moments by following the simple practice of regularly doing the six simple steps of The Look-Ahead.
1. Look at what's coming up on your calendar and to-do list.
2. Think about what you'll need to make it go right and about what could go wrong.
3. Learn from the recent past by recalling what was less than optimal during that time.
4. Think about how you could avoid or reduce similar hassles in the future.
5. Implement as many of those positive changes as possible.
6. Confirm that you have properly noted any preparatory to-do's on your list, especially anything that requires an errand.
It's so simple, but we all see people failing to do this, like that guy at the Department of Motor Vehicles, who is having a hissy fit because he's been waiting in line and didn't bring anything with him to turn that time into something productive or enjoyable. Don't be that guy. How about that gal, who is running all over town on her lunch break and trying to find a present for a birthday party she's attending right after work tonight? Don't be that gal. It's really not hard to steer yourself clear of a lot of pain.
Once a month, have everyone in your household sit down with their calendars and quickly go over the next six and the past six weeks, making sure that every event impacting other people is known and learning what works well. Everyone should know houseguests are coming, when they need to give someone else a ride or otherwise be available, or about similar significant features in the domestic landscape.
Once a week, do The Look-Ahead with your work and personal calendars for the next and past month. On what would you like to look back a month from now and know that you did? What loose ends from the past month do you need to tie off?
At the end of each day, look ahead to the next morning, noting commitments and writing down anything from now that you want to pick up again then.
Set yourself up for happy calm. It won't always work, but it's worth it when it does.
Slow down
A large part of keeping yourself happy boils down to slowing down long enough to pay attention to what you need. Eat lightly and blandly if your belly is weary. Drink water if your head is aching. Sleep more if you're tired. Be alone if you're weary of people; if you're not, be with those who give you energy rather than drain it. Take whatever forms of rest you need. Stop not being awesome to yourself. You have the right to be completely selfish sometimes—and, in truth, it is necessary in order to be able to give more and better over time. Slow down, cool down, and be your best.
As clinical psychologist Ester Buchholz said, “Others inspire us, information feeds us, practice improves our performance, but we need quiet time to figure things out, to emerge with new discoveries, to unearth original answers.”
Discardia reminds us to let go of our hurry and listen for what we can do to make our lives better.
Symptom #25: Distraction
Solution #25: Be Here Now
When someone is impatient and says, “I haven't got all day,” I always wonder, How can that