Your Systems Are Making Life Harder | Simplified Summer Pt. 2

Time to tackle the paper and digital clutter in your desk, devices, and life

The method I use to simplify my life

Declutter Discontent™ is a 4-step Gospel-centered approach to declutter the home, heart, and habits. The four steps include: take inventory, refresh space, create system, and implement system and boundaries. Clutter isn’t just a home problem but a heart one too. This method helps you clear physical clutter, while also addressing the deeper issue: discontentment. Because peace and joy don’t come from a perfectly organized house or a seemingly tidy life (trust me, I tried!). True lasting peace, not just relief, can only be produced by the God of peace. I’ve got a beginner’s digital guide and a signature online course on my website to help you declutter discontentment and finally enjoy the life God gave you.

Step 1: Take inventory

To be honest:
I think we’re all overwhelmed or stressed for one or both reasons:

• We’re overcomplicating our systems

• We don’t actually have systems and rely on our mental lists to ‘wing it’ daily/weekly

Inventory questions to ask yourself:

• Which current systems are working? Which ones aren’t?

• What needs to be decluttered/removed? What needs to be done? What can be delegated?

• What would help me go from overwhelmed to organized?

• What would help me go from chaos to calm?

Step 2: Refresh systems

Time for a change
You wouldn’t wear snow boots in the summer so why we do try to create so hard to create and maintain the ‘perfect or ideal morning/evening routine’ and expect it to work all year? But the point is we all need routines and systems to thrive, especially during summer. Seasons aren’t just literal; they’re Biblical. There’s a time for everything under the sun, including a time to keep and throw away, a time to build and a time to tear down and start fresh. (see Ecclesiastes 3)

Ideas to refresh your system:

• Set a day of the week for specific chores (e.g. laundry, mopping, etc)

• Pick a morning when you’ll sit down to plan out your week (bonus: enjoy your morning coffee during that time) and try this system weekly at least for 3 weeks

• Try to task-batch certain chores like organizing your pantry every time you go grocery shopping so it’s more manageable

Step 3: Create a system

Keep it simple
You need different types of tools for these three categories of life to keep you organized. I love this wisdom from Do More Better by Tim Challies! It’s applicable for men and women, whether you’re a SAHM, college student, or young professional etc! He suggests picking tools for:

• Task management

• Information management

• Scheduling / Event management* (We’ll cover this in August’s workshop: Simplify Your Calendar)

Step 4: Implement system

Test it out
In my workshop, I share the step-by-step process for my home and work systems that keep my organized, especially as a WFH mom. Subscribe to keep reading this post and access this month’s decluttering workshop and printable digital guide below this paywall (only $10 if you subscribe here).

What’s Included:

• A 3-page printable guide

• A pre-recorded workshop