Routines can help simplify your life so you can live more freely. Anyone who knows me well, knows I love a great spontaneous adventure! My mother was often the target of my random adventure ideas (picnics and road trips). My kids never knew what I would come up with any day we had free from school and work (museums, canoeing, hiking). My husband also knows I come out of left field with ideas such as going camping at a moments notice. It’s what makes life fulfilling and joyful for me. That being said I don’t like not being able to do the things that bring me so much joy. There has been too many times I have had to ignore my adventurous side because of poor habits and a cluttered life. That all changed with de-cluttering my life and introducing routines.
Have you ever had to say no to a spontaneous urge to take a long drive, day trip, go on a local adventure or take off for a last-minute weekend getaway? It happens. The idea or desire comes up, but you have a ton of stuff to do that makes it feel irresponsible to just forgo the necessary chores and responsibilities for the day or weekend. So, you have to put it out of your head and deal with the duties of life and let that moment of inspiration pass.
Moments of spontaneity are our deepest desires manifesting for us. Urging us to live more fully. It is the essence of finding happiness in the now. The moment before us is so precious yet we rarely get to just seize the day.
During the everyday grind of your life, routines can really help you keep things simple. Please forgive me for referring to life as a grind but it can certainly feel like it. The great thing about simplifying your life is it slowly starts to become less of a grind and feels more joyful. Creating routines for household tasks and chores set up a great foundation for an easy flow through your days which actually make it possible to take off on an adventure for the day or whole weekend.
I’d like to share some of the routines that have made it easier for me and my family to seize moments of spontaneity without hesitation.
- Don’t leave a trail of messiness behind you. As you go about your daily “living” wash your dishes, toss dirty clothes in the hamper, wipe down the counter. Create a place for everything, so everything can go back in it’s place. Do this all in real time not saving it for later. If you add up all the time it takes to clean up after yourself as you go it is very minimal. Multiple days of not tidying as you go add up to a big mess. If the moment of inspiration arises, you will have a mess in every room and feel the pull of “too much to do”.
- Have a chore schedule. If you do one chore each day, it will leave your weekend open for exploring a new place, living in the moment, doing something spontaneous or just resting and recharging your battery. For instance, sweep floors on Monday, do a load of laundry on Tuesday, grocery on Wednesday, etc.
- Delegate age appropriate chores to kids. Give them a chore schedule too and it will help with overall tidiness of your home while teaching them good habits in the process.
- Do some meal planning/prepping so that the mealtime can also be a routine. It can flow effortless and also create enjoyable family time.
- Have a backpack or overnight bag prepared for spontaneous occasions. If we decide to take off for the day or weekend I just have to throw a few clothes in the bag. My travel toiletries stay in the bag ready to go. When I get back, as a routine I refill anything that needs it so it’s ready for the next time. Each family member has a water bottle and string backpack in a storage cubby in case a spontaneous park, hiking or museum outing comes up. We can grab and go.
Before simplifying became a thing in my life I would let those moments of inspiration pass me by because my life was not organized in a way that let me feel like I had the time to just “take off”. When I did seize the moment , upon returning there was so much to catch up on it created stress. I saved most chores for the weekends so going off on those weekend adventures would put me behind on everything. The journey of simplifying my life has reaped many rewards. I still have to do the chores of life, but reorganizing them into daily routines has given me more control over how I spend my time. Now I feel free to explore any adventure when the moment arises.
Remember to enjoy the journey.
Always be true to yourself!
Jen to the Zen