Tuesday 23 July 2013

Simplifying

Life doesn't get any simpler; in fact it seems to become more complex. So, one of my tasks for the summer is to think about simplifying. Part of this is working though my priorities as a Christian, wife and mother and part is trying to sort out some little things that make life easier. These are a few thoughts about the latter. Please do add your simplifying tips!
  • Meal plans for when I can't think what to cook, often 6 days out of 7! I usually do this but sometimes slip and it does make days more complicated.
  • Prepared food for after home education groups. I'm not sure whether I'm extra pathetic but I'm always tired after group meetings and it really helps when there is food in the slow cooker or ready to go in the oven
  • Fruit for dessert-healthier and easier.
  • Intentional trips-trips take time, energy and money. They also take time away from learning at home. They can be great but work best if we have a reason for wanting to go; for one of my children, being about history is enough! Generally, though term time trips are best if they re-enforce some learning or to help out with some weak area.
  • Local extra curricular activities-this has saved me so much time. In the last two years, we have walked to extra curricular activities. Not driving miles has saved so much time and money plus the exercise is no bad thing. This won't work for everyone but for us, in greater London, there is a fair amount that can be done within easy walking distance.
  • Explore the local area.
  • Declutter

Do you have any thoughts about freeing up time, from the lesser to the greater?

16 comments:

  1. Oh, the decluttering. It is the bane of my life. We seem to collect so much more stuff than most, although I think it is partially lack of storage (No loft, no basement, no garage and only 2 bedrooms upstairs - we've literally nowhere to put anything!)
    You couldn't do a few posts on decluttering or better still, come round and declutter for me?
    As for ideas, I have to say the thing that serves us best is the lessons we learnt in Northern Ireland. Life is so much simpler there as it's all about friends, family and fun, rather than how many groups or clubs we can all belong to. We live just outside London and the culture here is so different from Ireland. Ireland personifies simplicity (in a good way!)

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    1. Hmmm-decluttering isn't on the list because I'm successful but because I need to work at this!
      I'm sure you are right-life in London is just so fast and complex yet the happiest times are often the most simple.

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  2. I need to be more organize and start to declutter. Thanks for sharing

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  3. Simplicity....is a great thing, but so hard to manage, isn't it? But oh! My family just returned a few weeks ago from visiting London! Wow, you could do one field trip a day and still not see everything!!

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    1. We find that visitors to London often see more and go to places that we haven't visited. There are so many field trips that we could do!

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  4. Oh excellent, I think I need a series on this too. I do try but like your friend above I think space may be our main problem. I am ALWAYS decluttering, taking advice from other blogs trying to throw out or pass on things all the time, using it as a way to bless others etc. I also try to think more about what we are buying, ie will this just be tomorrow's clutter! I'm interested in angelicscallyways comment about NI - I think people here (mostly schooled remember) ferry their kids about to way too many after school activities. My attitude is if my kids are out from 9-3 I want them to spend the majority of the others hours with me. This certainly does make life simpler but of course restricts their experiences. It's all balance. I think my new go to meal is going to be baked potatoes, packed the kids up for the beach on Monday to give their dad some peace and just before I went I filled the slow cooker with baked potatoes, the basis of the meal was there, I just filled the table with toppings when I got home and it went down well, maybe a handy idea for your home ed group days?

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    1. I like the idea of doing baked potatoes in the slow cooker-hadn't thought of that. That would be really easy.

      Ferrying around after school is just so tiring! Been there and it means that the children are hardly at home. Now we home educate, I like them to do some after "school" activities but, apart from the church group, are all in walking distance which works so much better.

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  5. Yes, I am always trying to simplify things. I apply it to homeschooling as well- I ask myself how I can get things done in less time. Sometimes that means giving up something I thought was necessary. But my daughter would rather have more free time to pursue her own adventures.

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    1. I like the idea of asking how to get things done in less time.

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  6. We are in serious de-clutter mode as we hope to put our house on the market soon. we live way out of town, so a garage sale is up next- oh, how I dread it!
    love your list, btw!

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    1. Nothing like moving to focus the mind on decluttering. A garage sale sounds like hard work!

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  7. We moved last year, so I decluttered our old house and didn't bring many unnecessary things with us. I threw some boxes away after moving that I realized I didn't really need. Simplifying has come in the form of very easy and inexpensive meals since the money isn't there right now. My kids didn't do well with "boring" meals and not eating out at first, but they are getting used to it. It could be a blessing in disguise not having money because they learn to be satisfied with what they have. We are trying to simplify life, also, by getting rid of cable. We don't need it.

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    1. Nothing like moving to encourage decluttering! Thank you for visiting.

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  8. Dear Sarah Elizabeth, I have no suggestions for simplifying our lives and living without clutter, but I love to read suggestions from those who have found realistic ways/methods to do both. I have little excuse for living a stressful, cluttered life as we have only one child, a daughter, aged 14 but will soon turn 15. Yet, our lives are extremely stressful. My husband is a farmer and we homeschool our daughter and we have two dogs and a rabbit and five kittens and we have our own blog. That explains some of the stress we experience, but not all, because I have read of homeschooling families with several or many children and they have more order in their homes than we have in ours. We are Evangelical Christians and we live in Northern Ireland by the way.

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    1. Thank you for commenting. I'm looking forward to reading your blog. We've recently acquired two kittens-the children would love more pets!

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