Soothed by Structure

Happy New Year!

It is 6:00 am, and I’m in my happy spot: our living room recliner with a cup of coffee, my journal, and my current spiritual read (“The Inner Kingdom” by Met. Kallistos Ware).  These quiet early morning moments are a balm to my soul. It’s where I enter into stillness that I might carry that stillness with me into the busy day ahead with all of its responsibilities and interactions. It’s when I schedule in movement, connection, nourishment, and rest.  On this particular new morning, however, I’ve added an additional intentional living activity that is already providing a sense of calm and inspiration as I look ahead at 2025.

I don’t know about you, but having important information in a bunch of different online spaces (email, kajabi, slack, messenger….) can leave me feeling a bit lost- like key details and to-dos are falling through the cracks. I waste a lot of time trying to remember where to find that date, or pdf, or course description, etc. One of my goals for this year was to create order from that confusion.

Yesterday, I pulled out a one-inch binder, dividers, colored pens, and a three-hole punch. We finally replaced our printer ink (yay!!), and I was able to embark on my productivity plan for Filled With Less. This morning, I printed out three months’ worth of calendar pages, some divided to-lists, our course pdfs, book club pdfs, membership topics, podcast documents, and other frequently searched for information. Next I assigned each ministry category a color (blue for Six Weeks to Sanity, purple for membership, red for book club, etc). From there, I’ve been entering in all important dates and meetings for this year and my task lists for each category.

Seeing everything organized in one tangible place already feels like an energizing new beginning!  It never ceases to amaze me how creating order opens up new possibilities for growth, creativity, and fruitfulness!

Take a moment to reflect on where you are feeling scattered and overwhelmed, and then brainstorm ways to quell the chaos. Pausing to make a plan for structure and systemization pays enormous dividends when it comes to reducing stress and increasing joy and motivation!