August is one of the busiest times of year. Back to school time is a period of hectic sales, frantic mothers, busy teachers, the return of school-year traffic and after-school events. Whether you’re a parent or just stuck driving behind a bus, everyone seems affected in one way or another. The trick to surviving back-to-school season is organizing your time and space.
Our home is the basic foundation around which our lives revolve. It is the first thing we experience upon waking, last place we see before sleeping. It is where we take our meals and spend time with family. Its environment can be conductive to relaxation or promote anxiety and stress.
Studies show that our environment affects our moods, emotions and behaviors. Clutter hinders our ability to focus and process information, and creates anxiety. The home influences our day-to-day habits that can promote health or hamper our wellbeing. Cluttered spaces and lives monopolize free space and time and can lead to stress and frustration.
A clutter-free space allows women to relax without struggling to find calm or comfort. Similarly, a cluttered schedule creates a life of chaos and anxiety in which each activity is crammed between others and is purpose-driven rather than savored.
Excess complexity and clutter can make our lives harder so that we can’t focus or mindfully appreciate the material and emotional richness of our lives. Simplifying our lives and schedules is one way to rid ourselves of anxiety and stress. It allows us the freedom to focus.
If you feel stressed for time this season, focus on organizing your space and streamlining your schedule. Cut back on non-necessary activities. Take a look at your schedule and decide which activities are the most important and cut others out. It’s far better to savor the moments we are given than to run from one to the next in a rush. Then we are able to enjoy what we have without being hindered by clutter and distraction.
