Last week after

I wrote about simplifying our lives, I was asked "Just where do you

suggest one begin."

The truth is

I don't have a response to such a query. I wouldn't even know how to make

suggestions to family and friends whom I know really well. One's clutter

or lack of simplicity is a very personal issue.

I don't even

have a set pattern about how to begin a project or tackle some overwhelming

challenge that needs my attention. I might first make a list since that

act gives me something I feel like I can control, even if it's just pen

and paper. At other times, I might just jump in and get started. Certainly,

I would be open to reading a book or books on a subject about which I

know little.

When one individual

asked me about recommended reading, I went first to my own book shelves

to look for a couple of books I had purchased several years ago. I actually

managed to read one of them! Couldn't find them. Probably loaned them

out.

So I went online

to Amazon.com where I found 87 "simplify" titles. Twelve of

those that were listed as bestsellers or highly rated by Amazon customers

follow. NOTE: I have not seen or read these books.

- Focal Point:

A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve

All Your Goals by Brian Tracy

- Simplify

Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter

- Organized

to Be Your Best! Simplify and Improve How You Work by Susan Silver

- Feel Good:

Little Changes to Simplify Your Complicated Life by Pamela Allardice

- 52 Ways to

Simplify Your Life by Lynn Gordon, Karen Johnson

- The Simplify

Journal: A Workbook to Help You Regain Control of Your Life by Janet Terban

Morris

- Simplify

Your Work Life: Ways to Change the Way You Work So You Have More Time

to Live by Elaine St. James

- Organized

Chaos: The Key to Declutter, Organize & Simplify Your Life by Sylvia

Jessy, Teri

Flatley (Editor), Jill Fromelius (Illustrator) - Simplify Your Life: Slow

Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter by Elaine St. James

- Good-Bye

Clutter: Organize and Simplify Every Room in Your Home by Susan Wright

- Simplify

Your Life With Kids by Elaine St. James, Vera Cole

- 365 Ways

to Simplify Your Work Life: Ideas That Bring More Time, Freedom and Satisfaction

to Daily Work by Odette Pollar

I noticed that

Elaine St. James name kept popping up. Turns out she was running a successful

real estate investing business and was entrenched in an incredibly busy,

complicated life. She says one afternoon, sitting in front of a time-management

system "roughly the size of Nebraska" that was filled with names

of people she needed to call, addresses of places she needed to be, and

lists of things she was obligated to do, she had a moment of clarity.

She realized that she desperately needed to simplify her life. She and

her husband took a good look at what was making their lives so complicated,

and gradually began the process of scaling their lives down. Today, with

most of their old distractions, worries, inconveniences, complications,

and headaches gone, Elaine and her husband spend the majority of their

time enjoying each other, their families, and the things they love most,

while still living quite comfortably.

Yet, she now

maintains that you don't have to do all hat she did. She says the purpose

of scaling down is to rid your life of the things you don't want, need,

or enjoy ... so that you can concentrate more of your energy and attention

on the things that really do matter to you.

Now, for a

really enlightening moment I had while looking for book titles. On Amazon.com

where they describe any book you might be interested in, at the very bottom

of the page they list other books people bought when buying the one you

are reading about.

At the bottom

of one page I found three other books on simplicity and one on menopause.

Suddenly I

wondered ­ do we have to wait until then to simplify? I recall once

asking a thirty-something woman I know well who may be just about the

busiest woman in Georgia, if she had read a book I had given to her. She

just looked at me.

I figure it's

on her book shelf waiting until the kids are grown, carpooling is over,

gymnastics are ended, baseball is no more, three loads of laundry a day

do not call to her, volunteering one day a week at her son's school is

no longer in her schedule, providing snacks for special school events

is not required all this while working at a "real" job for an

employer who understands the value of a flexible work schedule.

That look she

gave me said much!

Back

to News Home Page |