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A small change may help you to stop arriving late

You're Late! How to Arrive on Time

by Patti Tokar Canton

If you are frustrated because, despite your good intentions, you have trouble getting places on time, then you may appreciate today's simple living tip.

I often find that small shifts can make a big difference. I recently made a small change that has helped me to arrive on time to appointments as well as making the process much less stressful.

A few months ago I noticed that I had gradually started arriving at appointments with barely a second to spare. Further, in order to get to my appointment or meeting barely on time, or even a few moments late, I had to make a mad dash to the car and make a harried, tense hurry-hurry drive in the car to get there.

When I became aware of this pattern, I realized that a major part of the reason was that I simply had a long list of things to do and I was trying to finish up a task before I left for my appointment. Inevitably, the task would stretch out longer than I expected, I would look up at the clock with a start and then rush off to change clothes and gather up anything I needed to take with me and scramble out to the car. In my hurry, I have even sprayed some gravel as I sped out of the driveway.

Trying to time myself or set deadlines for getting ready did not seem to help. Then I stumbled on the method that made the difference: I started getting ready to go early.

Basically, say if I needed to leave at 3:00, instead of waiting until 2:45 to stop my task, pick out clothes and put on makeup, then rush out, I would instead take a break from my task at 2:00 or 2:15, get completely ready, lay out my purse, keys, and other items, and then go back to the task and continue working until it was really time to go.

Getting ready to go early allows me to feel more leisurely about getting dressed and gives me extra time if something was misplaced or some delay emerges. It is much more relaxing and as a bonus, it allows me to feel more "polished" because I have the time to properly get ready to go.

I also discovered that once I got back to the task, I do not have trouble stopping at the point that allows me to leave on time. Since I am ready to go by that point, I do not feel stressed about needing to finish quickly so I can go get dressed to go. I am better able to predict what time I need to stop my task in order to leave so that I arrive on time. With a lot of the stress removed, I am much more productive during those last few minutes.

I often even take a book or my Kindle with me, because I just might be arriving early enough to read a bit while I wait. Now that is a real treat.

So there you are. One small change. One big difference. Much less stress. Ahhh.

Learning to Clear the Clutter

by Patti Tokar Canton

Today I'll share with you probably the most important thing I've learned on my journey to clear the clutter from my home: It's a skill.

I've always admired the people in my life that always seem to have a clean, clear, beautiful, and well organized home. Before I got well on my way to clearing my own home, my thoughts were a little envious that they "had" some inherent trait or talent that I simply lacked.

As I've begun filling boxes of things to give away, donate, or throw away, I've also begun learning. And learning. If you've followed the clutter-clearing articles on the Simple Life site and on the blog, you will notice that I've been sharing what I'm learning.

It's funny that it took me until now to realize that staying organized and keeping my home the way I want it to be is really a skill. It's not some elusive talent that some have and some don't have. It's simply a set of habits that are practiced to the point that the skills develop.

The skills are what surprise me. .... continue reading