As the New Year begins, the urge to simplify, organize, and declutter hits hard. But if you’re not careful, you might end up creating more chaos than ease. In this episode, I’ll share two essential tips to help you truly simplify your life without adding stress or overwhelm. 

Starting the New Year with a fresh perspective on simplification can set the tone for a more intentional, less overwhelming year. This episode will help you focus on what truly needs attention and avoid the traps of overcomplicating your life with unnecessary “solutions.” Before you grab that new planner, app, or storage system, tune in to learn how to make intentional choices that bring real ease into your life for 2025.

In this episode, I share:

• Why simplification can backfire and discover the common mistake people make when trying to simplify their lives
• The two essential questions you need to ask yourself before making any changes to your routines or systems this year.
• How to approach simplification in a way that creates lasting calm and clarity, not chaos.

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FULL TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Be honest. Do you have a desire for more ease, simplicity, et cetera, in your life? Most of us do, right? Especially as we're launching into the new year, but word of caution, marketers are out there in full force right now promoting products, tools, services, apps, et cetera, that are guaranteed to bring ease in your life through organization or time savings. 

[00:00:22] But if you do not follow the two tips I'm going to lay out here for you today, what is unfortunately going to happen. Is that your decisions on what you're going to bring into your life to create ease are actually going to create more stress and overwhelm.  

[00:00:37] Hey there, welcome back to Work Life Harmony. So we have hit the time of year, we are wrapping up 2024 here, right? Which means that we're all kind of moving into that new year energy. And for so many of us, the new year energy includes us filling, you know, fill in the blank, but a sentence that starts with this is the year I'm going to. 

[00:01:08] Fill in the blank, right? And for many people, this includes areas around getting organized or simplifying our life. This is the year I'm going to get on top of my calendar. This is the year I'm going to declutter my home. This is the year I'm going to finally get that pantry, you know, organized or make sure that I have a system to remember what I'm supposed to be doing, right? 

[00:01:29] That's kind of the energy that we have right now. And I want to take time on this episode here to talk you through one of the best. biggest mistakes that I see people make when it comes to this desire to simplify or get things organized. Because if you make this mistake, you're actually going to end up even feeling more chaotic and more overwhelmed. 

[00:01:54] And then I'm going to share with you what we can do instead. All right, so don't worry, I'm not going to leave you hanging. So fundamentally, and I mean, guys, marketing is geared for this. We are marketed to, and especially this time of year, you're going to see tons of it. We are marketed so many products, tools, and apps that if we just had those, we would be It's going to make us get more organized and help simplify our life by and simplification in forms of time saving, right? 

[00:02:29] Or having the thing that does it a little bit quicker or promising better organization. And so we're feeling like, okay, that's going to simplify my life. It's going to make me really, really organized. So perfect example to kick things off here is the container store. Now, I will admit, I love the container store. 

[00:02:47] The minute I walk in, I instantly feel like I am just a better, more organized person. And they know that. And they market to us this idea of organization and ease. But here's where it's a slippery slope. They have an organizational system or solution for every single little nuance. So if you were to walk down the aisles for like the closet systems in there, they're gonna have tools that we need like hangers, right? 

[00:03:19] But then things start to get interesting. You head down and look at their jewelry organizational systems. Well, there's one thing just for bracelets, which is different than the thing for watches, but then you need a different thing to organize your sunglasses. Something different for like dangle earrings versus stud earrings. 

[00:03:40] And so before you know it. You've got 15 different bins to organize something that guess what, maybe really wasn't chaotic or disorganized in the first place. So let's think through kind of another example where we can see this. Uh, let's say you walk through your, you know, OfficeMax or Target in the office area or Staples and you start going through the office organization areas. 

[00:04:08] What do we start to see in there? Well, if we go to the planner sections, of course, I'm always going to go check out planner sections. You're going to see, Oh, there's a planner for goal setting. And there's a sip, a separate one for writing notes after you do meditation, but then there's a different one if you want to use a prompting journal, but then you need a different style for your gratitude journal. 

[00:04:27] And before you know it, you're walking out of staples with seven different, you know, quote journals or notebooks, each one promising some form of gratitude. ease or simplification. you had no notebooks and now you, now you have seven, And even go look down the calendaring aisle, right? We're feeling chaotic with our time. 

[00:04:47] Oh, well, if I just get the big calendar in the kitchen, but then I put one in each one of my kids rooms, but then one in my office and one of my purse, now I'll know what's going on. But now you got all these different places. And To look You kind of see what I'm getting at. We have this desire for organization and simplicity, but what ends up happening is we get sucked into needing more things. 

[00:05:11] to create ease, which oftentimes that those two compete against each other, right? Now, here's an area where I know I can get sucked into super easy is the kitchen gadgets. I, honestly believe at this point that there is a, or sometimes even multiple kitchen tools for every type of fruit or vegetable out there. 

[00:05:35] Like there's the one that if you're eating half the banana, you need this thing to put the other half in. Let's look at avocados. There's the one to peel it. There's a separate tool just to slice it. And then there's a whole different one to store the half of your avocado. There's a thing to hold a tomato for better slicing, but then there's a different one for your onions, right? 

[00:05:52] You know what I'm talking about. The garlic, there's the garlic press, the garlic. peeler and the garlic slicer. There's the lemon peeler, but the lemon zester. And I am a sucker for all of those kitchen tools because they're marketed as look at how easy we're going to make it. We're going to save you time. 

[00:06:08] We're going to make your life so easy. So before we know it, we have 37 kitchen gadgets just for fruits and vegetables. And we can't find what we're looking for. We forget that we have it. And in the moment we're like, Oh, I don't need that thing. I'm just going to throw it in a Ziploc and toss it in the fridge. 

[00:06:22] Right. But we are marketed to because everybody knows there's a desire for simplicity, for ease and for time saving. And so we are promised this when we are being sold apps. or tools or notebooks or planners. And so we consume them, but then we end up even more stressed than ever before, right? So maybe you bought into the journal for meditation, the separate one for goal setting, the one over here for gratitude, the one over here to take notes in for this class, but the separate one to take notes in for that class. 

[00:06:59] And then all of a You're looking for that place that you jotted down that phone number that you need. And now you're spending 45 minutes looking through every single notebook and sticky note and everything because you can't find it. So what we did in a form of ease is now creating more stress, more disorganization. 

[00:07:18] more overwhelmed. So what can we do to actually simplify our life as we step into the new year? Well, I want to give you two suggestions, two things that you can implement right away. All right. First and foremost is this, and guys, I have to tell myself this every time I go into So if I were to be perusing the aisles of, let's say, the container store, and I see a beautiful pink box, I'm going to have to remind myself, Megan, we are not here to solve a problem that does not exist. 

[00:07:58] We've all heard the saying, if it's not broken, don't fix it. if I were to be perusing the aisles of, let's say, the container store, and I see a beautiful pink box, organizational bin that I can go to organize my watches and have them all there beautiful in my closet. The first thing I need to ask myself is, is organizing watches a problem I have right now? 

[00:08:27] Do my watches create stress in my life? Friends, I own two watches. That's it. And I don't wear a smart device. It's a whole other reason why, but I own two watches. Do I need a whole bin to organize my two watches? no, I do not. And so I'm constantly reminding myself whenever I see a beautiful new, kitchen gadget, right? 

[00:08:50] Like I almost got sucked into the avocado slicing one at least 15 different times. Then I always have to pause and ask myself, like, is this a stressor for me? Am I, am I wasting a lot of mental energy or time in just using a regular knife to slice my avocado? No, it is not a stressor for me. So bringing something new into my home is not actually going to create. 

[00:09:14] I don't need any ease at all, therefore I don't need it. And so just any time we are presented or shown a product, always I'm trying to, whether it's, you know, it could be an app, right? It could be a book, it could be a tool, whatever it is that's showing that how it's going to bring ease and simplicity or save you time. 

[00:09:38] Always in the moment, pause and say, but is this a problem I'm experiencing right now? Is this broken in my life? Do avocados and how I manage, you know, peeling and slicing and eating them, is that a stressor for me? It is not. So if it's not broken, let's not fix it. Now that is a way to help us not just react and bring stuff in, but I want to give you a much more proactive way of tackling simplification in your life. 

[00:10:10] And it is this, I want you to take some time and reflect on what feels disorganized, or overwhelming or chaotic for you in your life today. And really take time and write it down. Every morning when you open your closet to get dressed, does that create, does that feel chaotic? Is that just a pain point for you? 

[00:10:35] Then write down closet. Now, if it's not, then don't write it down. Maybe for you, it's closet. God, the calendar situation is out of control. I have three Google calendars, a paper planner. We've got the one in the, in the kitchen for the whole family. I don't know how to keep all of this up. I don't know what's where, and I'm tired of everyone coming to me asking what's going on, right? 

[00:10:55] That might be something that goes on your list that you're like, this needs simplification. It is not ease right now. And I want you to proactively Think through what those areas are for you, whether they're physical spaces, whether it's taking up mental clutter, or it's just making you feel out of control. 

[00:11:17] Now, once you've identified those, what we're not going to do is pull up the internet and start looking for solutions. Yet. Here's what we do before we start looking for other solutions is you're going to pick one that you want to tackle first and then reflect on what does ease look like for you. Start dreaming about what would a solution to this problem look like? 

[00:11:49] What would feel? ease for you. So let's go back to the calendar one, because I know this is one a lot of people have, right? Where you're thinking, I've got three Google calendars. My family doesn't look at it. My husband won't use that one. The kids don't know what's going on. I've got the paper planner, right? 

[00:12:03] I would ask you what, what would a great solution feel like for you and yours will be uniquely yours. But one that I hear a lot is people will say, I just want to have one place that I look at over the course of each day and week that is reminding me what I'm doing and when I'm doing it. And I don't want to have to keep reminding my family. 

[00:12:30] I want some way for them to see easily what's going on. So now you've dreamed, okay, this is what I want for that solution. Now that you've thought about what is solution, what feels good to you now is when you get to go research what actual products, apps, tools that are out there that align with your definition of a solution. 

[00:12:55] And guys, here's why I want you to do it that way. Instead of researching products first, there are a lot of great solutions to problems, but everybody deserves to put boundaries around the things that they know work for them versus not. So for example when my husband and I were trying to figure out a good solution for, uh, how we wanted to do meal planning for the week and grocery list stuff. 

[00:13:24] If I went and searched for solutions first, there's a million apps and a lot of people love meal planning apps. I know that for me, the last thing I want is another app. Plus, I don't like working on a device with a screen that small for doing that kind of planning. So, instead, we sat down together and said, Okay, what would a solution look like for us? 

[00:13:51] What makes our lives easier? And once we figured out what that is, Now we were able to say, okay, what do we see out there that fits our definition of a solution? And it does not involve an app. Now for other people, they might be like, I just want it all right there on my phone. And so they know that they're looking for an app solution, right? 

[00:14:13] And this is why that, you know, once you've identified this area that you want to simplify, You need to put time into what does simplification mean for you, what does a solution feel like for you, and then go find the right tool, product, etc. that supports that instead of jumping into a tool, product, or solution that you already, if you put some thought up front, would know this is not going to be a good fit for me. 

[00:14:45] All right. So as we all move forward here into the new year, if you have a desire for some simplification, for some ease, maybe for some leveled up organization into this year, let's all commit together to remember, if it's not broken, don't fix it. Anytime you're tempted to bring a solution into your home, that's advertising, ease, and organization, gut check and say, is this a problem that even needs fixing? 

[00:15:14] I am not going to buy the avocado tools. I'm not going to do it. And then secondly, separately from that, really reflect on what areas of your life, either physical, mental, et cetera, do feel chaotic. And then pick one to start brainstorming on what would a solution look like before. you actually go shop for one. 

[00:15:38] All right. So I know what I'm going to be working on this year, both from a mental clutter and a physical clutter. I would love to hear what you guys are going to be working on as well. And let's make sure that our simplification and ease is actually creating ease and not more overwhelmed.