31 Days Of Decluttering In December: Day 24

Wow! We’ve made it to Day 24 of our 31 Days Of Decluttering In December challenge! Only one week left of 2013! Today many of you are traveling, are at home with your families, or at the homes of your loved ones. Many of you are not home to work on decluttering your home, nor should you be! I would like you to intentionally enjoy the next 2 days with your family, friends, and loved ones!

Your challenge today involves decluttering your mind by sitting down with a pencil and paper and think about 2-5 of the biggest problems you faced this year. Grab your pen and write them down! Leave some space between them because I would like you to come up with a few ideas of how to fix those problems for next year. These may become your goals for 2014…hint, hint!

To give you an example, one problem that I’ve had this year was being intentional with my money (I used to be very good at setting a budget, sticking to it, using coupons for items, and saving.) This year I have been lazy. I feel that we are wasting money in certain areas, especially groceries and that I could be doing better. A few ideas on how to fix this problem for next year could be: setting a budget and sticking to the grocery category by watching the sales flyers, using more coupons, and sticking to my list at the store.

Another problem I had this year was time management. Part of my time management problem stems from my season of life in which many people are dependent on me. However, when I do have free time I could do a better job of using it. One way would be to create a time budget. Another would be to create a more detailed schedule (I’m personally going to veto that for myself because my life doesn’t work that way at all. I’ve tried it and it frustrates me to no end! Being married to a farmer who has no set schedule and having small kids I’ve found that by completing the 5 Most Important Things I Do In The Morning has really helped me better than a detailed schedule has.)

I have found for myself that when I actually write things down and process them, I usually come up with a better solution to the problem than if I just think about it. If it’s easier to make a brainstorming web, do it. Some people process with words, others with pictures. Do what works for you! I would love to hear what problem areas you have in your life and we can address them this coming year together. I really encourage you to take 15 minutes and do this challenge, it could be life changing!

I will meet back up here this evening, with my complete list. (I have way more than 5 areas I need to work on but I’m going to start small and on the most important. Starting big sounds great but always leads to burnout.)

Here are the previous challenges in this series: