How well did you do on your homework assignment last week?
What? You forgot all about it?
OK, refresher: We talked about creating margin. Your assignment was to take 10 minutes (plus a few seconds) to pause, breathe and think about how you could create some space in your schedule … in your head … to cut back on the crazy. And then write it down.
If you didn’t do the assignment, here’s your second chance. Go on; we’ll wait.
The next thing is a bit different but still gets us toward our goal.
Your goal may not be exactly what mine is, but maybe they will align, because my ultimate goal is this:
To help you live to your fullest potential, to figure out your purpose (if you don’t know it already) and to live the life that God intended when He created you. Your life has meaning, and He does have a purpose and a plan for you. And when you figure that out (and live it out), it brings Him glory.
I can’t tell you what your exact purpose is, but I’m here to help you figure it out.
And let me repeat this, in case you skimmed past it:
YOUR LIFE HAS MEANING.
It has meaning, but sometimes we’re too distracted by stuff to remember that.
So we need to do something about it.
Today’s assignment is to establish a time each day – just 10 minutes – that you can do something productive. Ten minutes, people. You can do it.
Maybe your inbox is bursting at the seams. Maybe your desk is piled with crap*. Do you need to make a couple of quick phone calls? Is there moldy food in the fridge? Do you have a gazillion photos on your phone that are gobbling space and slowing things down (and maybe causing you to pay for extra storage)? Is the countertop in the bathroom so cluttered it stresses you out every morning?
So that you won’t think I can’t feel your pain, here’s the right half of my bathroom counter:

Yes, it stresses me out, and decrapifying it is on my to-do list.
What do YOU need to decrapify this weekend?
Homework assignment: Spend 10 minutes decluttering, organizing, purging or in some other way tackling something that has been on your to-do list for too long.
Go ahead. Put down the internet and do it now.
After 10 minutes, stop, even if you’re not finished. That’s enough for now. (Besides, I want you to finish reading this post.)
Now pause for a moment: Doesn’t that 10 minutes of productivity feel GOOD?
That’s what I call a baby step. And if you’ll do that every day for the next week, you’ll be well on the road to establishing a habit.
You’re in the habit of checking Facebook, watching TV or playing [insert addictive phone-app game] for well over 10 minutes a day, no?
So consider this Step 1 toward PRODUCTIVITY.
Next: Post a victory comment and/or share a productivity tip or resource of your own (a few of mine are below), then share this post with a friend who needs to decrapify something and spend a few moments being GRATEFUL that you have more than enough to be happy.
*DISCLAIMER: My mother did not teach me to use the word crap or any variation. In fact, she maintains that if I say “crap,” I might as well use the S word. (She has a point, so pardon my French.)
Resources for decrapifying your life:
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen (a book I’m reading).
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown (my favorite book of 2015).
- Mary Organizes website by a friend from the Arkansas Women Bloggers community (except she recently moved to Texas). Join Mary’s 91-day DeClutter Challenge, and/or you may even decide to hire her.
- On YouTube, Lorie Marrero, author of The Clutter Diet (I haven’t read the book, but I love her videos).
- This morning, through one of Lorie Marrero’s videos, I discovered GiveBackBox, which looks like an awesome program. If you don’t live near a Goodwill (which creates jobs and which Lorie partners with), you might find GiveBackBox useful. Here’s the founder talking about how it started and how it works:
Now, go have an awesome and productive week!