50 Tips for a Life in Order

Today marks the 50th post of My Life In Order!  Even though there have been ups and downs, triumphs and defeats along the way, this blog has been a constant in my life this year.  I'm proud to have posted faithfully every week and to have done so in a transparent and authentic way.    As I sit here with the beautiful morning sun pouring in, listening to the quiet of my family still asleep, I'm so grateful to be right where I'm at.  That's kind of profound.  Do I wish there were some aspects of my life that were different or better? - sure, but I'm learning that being content with now while expecting growth is the only way that positive and lasting change will happen. ​

"....being content with now while expecting growth is the only way that positive and lasting change will happen."

I just did a quick scan of my house from the vantage point of my couch, and what I see is certainly not perfection!  I look down to my pink and white striped shirt and leopard print pajama pants - I don't match, but I'm comfortable.  I see clean, folded laundry on the stairs waiting for my kids to take it to their rooms - it's not out of sight, but it's clean and my family has plenty.  I gaze upon my kitchen counter filled with shopping bags from a back-to-school shopping trip my mother-in-law took with my son and grocery bags with food I'm taking to a family reunion - it's cluttered, but it speaks of the abundance of family in my life.  I see dust on my furniture, and I'm reminded of the glorious day I spent relaxing and recharging yesterday instead of doing housework.  Some would look at me and my house right now and think I'm unorganized or not put together, but I feel very much in order.  Items in my life have a place and a purpose, and I have the ability to enjoy my home, my things, my family, and myself.  In honor of my 50th post, I want to share highlights from my blog, so please enjoy 50 Tips for a Life in Order:

1.  Do things in order, and don't get ahead of yourself.  Take the time to do it right the first time. 
Read Order Part 1: A Lego Lesson

2.  Set boundaries and honor them. 
​Read Order Part 2: Honoring Boundaries

3.  Remember you are in charge of you.
Read Order Part 3: Who's in Charge?

4.  Ask for and accept help.
Read Order Part 4: Help Me!

5.  Embrace your creativity (even if you're not an artist!)
Read Can Creativity Be Orderly?

6.  Make a plan to process the paper in your life and manage it regularly.  
Read The First Big Win: Wrangling the Paper and The Binder System

7.  Don't be afraid to throw things away.  
Read The Paper Purge

8.  Laugh at yourself!  
Listen to My Life in Laughter: Cozy Shirt,  My Life in Laughter: Gold Saturn, My Life in Laughter: Drive Through Judgement

9. Use a timer to learn how long it takes you to do tasks, and use an alarm to help you manage time.
Read Getting Better at Time

10. Look on the bright side, find positive aspects of even the most frustrating circumstances - reframe to stay sane!
Read 10 Reasons I Love My Unfinished Bathroom

11.  Cut yourself some slack!  Don't expect more of yourself than you do of others.
Read Lower Your Expectations

12.  Remember parties and vacations are supposed to be fun - plan ahead so you can enjoy them!
​Read 10 Steps to an Organized Party and Organized Travel Made Fun

13.   Get your family involved in housework and accept that how they complete a task may not be how you would do it.
Read Fun Things and Jobs

14.  Be patient and prepared for opportunities.  Don't rush because you feel bad that others are waiting on you.
Read Left Turns in Life 

15.  Take time alone at least once a year to think about what you want to focus on in the future.
Read Plan Your Focus for the New Year

16.  Set goals that are realistic and align with your focus.
Read Be S.M.A.R.T. About Goal Setting

17.  Don't wish away time.  
Read Freezing Time

18.  Take action!  
Read Actually Means Action

19.  Use technology to help you save time, not waste it!
​Read How Use Your Phone For Good

20.  Use the Pomodoro Technique to break up your work into sections and give yourself breaks so you don't get burnt out.
Read Cheating at Productivity

21.  Use a task management software (NOT your email inbox) to keep track of your to do list
Read Productivity the Nozbe Way with Expert, Michael Sliwinski

22.  Organize your kitchen - you spend a lot of time there!
Read Organizing the Heart of Your Home - The Kitchen

23.  Use what you envy about others to help you change yourself.
Read Turn Envy Upside Down

24.  Seek wise counsel - talk to a coach, join a mastermind group, get a mentor!
Read It Was Time to Do Something About It

25.  Be kind and helpful to others - they will likely return the favor.
Read Why Can't Things Be Easier?

26.  Make a list of your most important tasks the night before so you can sleep better and hit the ground running the next morning.
Read Confessions of a List Maker

27.  Make a list of what you want to be known for and use it to guide your decisions.
Read What Do You Want to Be Known For?

28.  Check in with yourself regularly.  Make sure your actions are in line with your focus, moving you toward your goals, and true to what you want to be known for.
Read It's Time To Check In With Yourself

29.  Create new traditions.
Read The Power of Tradition

30.  Keep your computer and phone 'clean'.  These are tools you use many times each day - if they are cluttered, your overall productivity will suffer.
Read 9 Tips for Digital Spring Cleaning

31.  Identify tasks that drive you crazy and experiment with ways to make them work better.
Read A Laundry Experiment: Part 1

32.  Be aware that words have power, use them carefully.
Read If You Can Say Something Nice, Do!

33.  Store out of season clothes or clothes that don't fit somewhere other than in your closet.  This forces you to go through your wardrobe periodically.
Read The Seasonal Switch

34.  Acknowledge that how you look impacts how you feel.  If you want to feel put together, try to look put together.  This is why getting up and taking a shower and putting on "real" clothes tends to make us more productive than if we stay in our PJs all day.
Read How We Look Impacts How We Feel

35.  Analyze your best day ever and do what you can to recreate it!
Read Make the Rest Like Your Best

 36.  Get creative about storing items -  have fun making your home function FOR you!
Read Lego Storage Under the Stairs

37.  Expect the best until proven wrong.
Read Changing My Pet Peeve

38.  It's ok to play catch up.
Read 6 Steps to Get Caught up With Paperwork

39.  Learn from those around you - everyone has at least one idea you can borrow.
Read Top 10 Organizing Tips from My Dad

40.  Make a list of travel dos and don'ts and add to it after each trip no matter how big or small.  Review the list before you travel.
Read Organized Travel Made Fun

41.  Don't try to do it all - find the right person for the job.
Read Find The Right Person for the Job

42.  Plan for solitude.
Read 8 Ways to Stay Focused at Work

43.  Brand new experiences make great memories.
Read Making Time Matter

44.  Cultivate good habits.
Read Don't Let the Weeds Take Over

45.  Color code!  Assign each member of your family a color, or create a color system for various areas of your life and use with a folder or binder system.
Read The First Big Win: Wrangling the Paper

46.  Use a physical journal to jot down ideas, make lists, doodle, etc.  Writing helps us process our thoughts and ideas.
Read Confessions of a List Maker

47.  Put down your phone and be present.
Read Can Creativity Be Orderly?

48.  Take the time - if you can do something now, do it now.  It's so much easier to do the little things as we go rather than let them build up and require a large block of time to accomplish all of the "undone" things in our lives.
Read Getting Better at Time

49.  Spend time on what you love and with who you love - somehow things we are passionate about seem to stretch time and make it richer.
Read Making Time Matter

50.  Be consistent in something, you'll likely become consistent in other things, too! 
I'm proud that this is my 50th blog post, and I haven't missed a week since I started.  This shows me that I have it in me to be consistent and helps me have confidence that there's much more that I can accomplish! 

​Thanks for reading and for your support in my journey to get (and keep) My Life In Order.