DECLUTTERING YOUR LIFE IN 13 WEEKS (10 MINUTES AT A TIME): WEEKS 7 & 8

We’ve looked at a lot of external places in your life that can easily develop clutter—and that’s great. Your mom will be happier, and it will be easier for you to find stuff. But we also need to tackle some of the inner clutter you might be dealing with. So for the next two weeks, we’ll concentrate on simplifying some of the internal aspects of your life. Don’t neglect these steps because they’re private!

Week 7: Drink some water first thing in the morning.

I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes tying an action to what you’re thinking about helps you keep carrying it out day after day. Take ten minutes to have a glass of water in the morning, first thing, before you do anything else, every day this week. Just fill up a glass and find a comfortable, quiet place to sit.

While you’re drinking your water, focus on God. On the first day you do this, just try to sit quietly. Don’t let yourself start talking right away and try to keep your mind from wandering. Just try to keep your focus on Him. It is really difficult to do this, but give your best effort. It will get easier. On subsequent days you can sit quietly again, or read your Bible or your daily ec devotion. Or you can pray, but try not to make the prayer all about you. You’ll find that setting aside ten minutes each morning to do this helps clean out some of your inner clutter.

Most teenage lives could use a little silence and peace. Take a few minutes for yourself every morning and you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel throughout the rest of the day.

As always, at the end of the week, evaluate what this was like and whether you’d like to keep doing it.

Week 8: Learn to write things down.

This week is all about helping you learn to put your priorities in writing so you can get more done, worry less, plan better, and remember what you need to. It's what you'd call a Life Skill: writing things down so you remember them now.

If you're the disorganized type, you REALLY need to do this step. Take it from a disorganized graphic designer! If it weren't for the notebook I keep on my desk at work full of important information, I'd never get anything done. I had to work extra hard to get in the habit of keeping a notebook because I'm not naturally inclined to do this kind of thing. But once I did, it made my life so much easier. Don't be discouraged if you're kind of all over the place at first. Just keep at it!

You can use your school day-planner, a sheet of notebook paper, a pocket notebook, or any other book that strikes your fancy for this. Just pick something and stick to it. This book is going to be information-central for you for the next week.

First, take ten minutes now to write down everything in this book that you know you have to do this week, leave space to add to each day if you need to, and make a running list of other stuff that needs to get done that isn’t day-specific. Here are a couple of ideas for arranging your information. Feel free to print them out and use them if you like!

Once you've got everything written down, you'll just need to remember two things: First, you have to check the book regularly to see if there is anything you should be doing. And second, remember to write down any new things that come up during the week. Be specific so that you'll remember what you're talking about later. A note that says "do that red thing" isn't going to be much use to you if you don't remember what the red thing is.

That's it. Simple, right? But it might not be easy for you to remember to check your list. You'll probably have to work a little at it. Get in the habit this week of checking your list before and after school. Before school, read what's coming up for the day and allow yourself a little time to get in the right head space for whatever you're going to be doing. After school, take a minute to write down your new assignments and appointments. This shouldn't take you longer than a total of ten minutes per day. Once you get in the habit of referring to your list, you don't have to remember all the stuff that's on it. You just have to remember to look at your list.

One other thing. Be sure to put your list where you can find it every day when you need to. The best list in the world is useless if it's hiding under your bed in a pile of junk. So make your list, go back to your list twice a day, and remember where you put your list. Oh, and don't lose it. And it's probably a good idea to keep your old lists in a central location so you can find them again if you need to (this is one reason a pocket notebook works very well).

Are you feeling more relaxed, organized and together? Good — because you are! Look back over the last 8 weeks and see what new habits you've tried out that actually make your life better. Make a commitment to keep doing them! And get ready for some new habits in two weeks.