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simple living

Slow down and simplify

Busy is the new fine – why I am fighting back

February 17, 2016

Slow down and simplify

New Year challenge fatigue – and it’s still December

December 29, 2015

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💫Pause and reflect 💫 A couple of weeks ag

💫Pause and reflect 💫

A couple of weeks ago, I went for a walk along the stretch of beach at the end of the street where I grew up.

It was a bit grey, but the sun soon emerged from behind the clouds triggering a memory. Over 20 years ago as a student wound up by the pressure of exams, a counsellor gave me a relaxation tape (hail those of us from the era of cassette tapes).

At the end of the guided relaxation, the narrator asked you to visualise a scene from your dream future.

It was here!

19-year-old me used to visualise being on this beach, sun shining, no wind, supervising a little person splashing about in the shallows. Way back then, my life today was everything I dared to dream plus more. I’d kinda forgotten that.

With this memory came some valuable perspective:

❤️For everything I’d like to do different or better, past me would think current me is kicking it.

❤️Sure, there are everyday frustrations and annoyances, but in terms of the stuff that really matters, life is good.

❤️Yup, the future is uncertain, but it’s worked itself out okay so far, so trust is will all be okay in the end.

All thanks to pausing for a moment in the sun.

What things (big and small) would past you be proud of?
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#moretimethanmoney #slownotlazy #slowproductive #slowlivingwithkids #slowlivingfamily #motherhoodsimplified #simplicityparenting #simplefamilies #contentedness #lookingbackmovingforward #pauseandreflect

✨Taking action on food waste✨ This week is Fo

✨Taking action on food waste✨

This week is Food Waste Action Week. As you all know, taking action on food waste is something close to my heart.

Reducing your food waste is one of the easiest actions you can take to fight climate change. You can make a positive impact in your home, starting today and it will even save you money.

No one likes wasting food, but it happens. To mark Food Waste Action Week, I’ve written up the four core strategies we use to reduce food waste at home. You can find a link to the post in my bio.

My food waste diary is showing that stone fruit is currently a trouble spot for our household. My action for the week is inspect our fruit bowl on the daily and identify anything overripe to chop up for the freezer before it goes moldy.

What actions are you taking to reduce food waste at home?

✨Know your exits ✨ Last weekend, we finished

✨Know your exits ✨

Last weekend, we finished a re-jig of our spare room which we’ve turned it into a second office.

We’ve been gently working toward this for around six weeks. In the process, we got rid of a couple of carloads of stuff from around the house.

Five or so years ago, this would have been an exhausting mission for us. Lots of mess as we waded through our stuff.

These days decluttering is much easier. I always have an “outbox” on the go – a staging point where I gather things I no longer need as I come across them.

But most importantly, I know my exits – my go-to methods of getting rid of stuff. Experience has taught me that actually getting rid of stuff, is at least as much work (mental and physical) as identifying what you no longer want to keep.

My number 1 decluttering tip would be always start with an exit plan.

What’s you go-to method for decluttering?

I love Freecycle/Buy Nothing/Pay it Forward groups on Facebook. People come to you, there’s a feel good factor of sharing and you can find a new home for things that aren’t in good enough condition to sell or donate to a charity shop.

Getting dinner on the table can be such a palaver

Getting dinner on the table can be such a palaver and then you’ve got to go and do all again the next night and the next …

Before kids, it could be a bit of drag. With kids, well if you have kids you know.

It’s one area of life where I find a good system is essential.
For me, self care isn’t bubble baths & massages. It’s having systems in place that reduce the mental load of the mundane so I’ve got energy left for things I find more exciting.

Here’s what’s currently working for me. I’d love to hear what’s working for you, because if you in anyway have this daily dilemma sorted the world needs to know 😂

*(Re)Introducing Food Waste Friday* It’s a retu

*(Re)Introducing Food Waste Friday*

It’s a return of the Friday fridge pic!

Those you who have been following me for a while may remember that I used to post regularly about my mission to reduce our household food waste.

I loved sharing my tips and struggles, and especially loved all the feedback that these posts provoked.

My food waste mission hasn’t faded, but life got in the way of regular posting. Ironically, Friday afternoons when I used to write these posts is now when I do a food rescue shift with the wonderful team at @kaiboshnz .

As I’m working from home, I’m optimistic I’ll find time to share again more regularly.
My plan is to return to weekly #FoodWasteFriday check-in in my stories.

Essentially there are three elements to my system:
* record all food waste to track patterns and progress (notes app, bullet journal or taking photos are all easy ways)
* weekly fridge check to find food that needs to be use soon and put in on the “use it up shelf” (bottom shelf in my fridge)
* weekly meal plan and shopping list, planning to use what I have first and not overbuy.

I’ve put my check-in template in my stories if you want to follow along (privately or publicly).

Please keep sharing your messages and comments, I could talk about this all day.

Also, I’m going to put a link in my bio to my original Food Waste Friday blog post, way back in 2015.

There was much nostalgia in finding this old post. Check it out, you’ll notice we had a different fridge back then. It met a rather dramatic end somewhere along the way and short circuited all the power in the house one Saturday!

How your food waste situation? Got anything you need to use up?

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