I've been very pleased to read how you're organising yourselves with the help of various calendars, reminders and organisational tools. It's difficult starting something like this if you've always been disorganised but using the technology you're familiar with, or by using wall planners, paper calendars, notebooks and lists you'll get a good start and hopefully gain some momentum.
I wish I could go around to all your homes and help you see the big picture. The truth is I know that some of you will make it and some won't - the thing that makes the difference is how determined you are to change your life. All I can tell you from here is that by starting to make sense of your home, and working to make it support the kind of family you have, will make a difference to how you live. But you have to work at it. If you sit around wanting change and hoping for your life to be different, absolutely nothing will happen if you don't get up and set your plan in motion. You have to do that, no one can do it for you.
If you've made no changes yet, I hope you get up right now and do something for yourself. Start planning your year and see how it feels. In my experience, everything I did early on in my change, gave me the incentive to make more changes. I hope the same happens for you because these early adjustments can help you clarify your intention and put you in a position of confidence and self-determination. Don't be the one who is still hoping to make changes next year. Do it now with the rest of us. Good luck, my friends, I send you love and my best wishes for your success.
Thanks for this motivation! Please keep these nudges coming they’ll really help me get there!
ReplyDeleteGood advice, Rhonda. Keeping up the motivation to make changes isn't always easy unfortunately but the beginning of a new year is a good start. Thinking of Rose today on the anniversary of her death twelve months on and all the best to Mavis and Tony if they happen to be reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteExactly spot on, that first step, even if it isn’t very big, makes all the difference.
ReplyDeleteGreat points to keeping motivated Rhonda, personally I'm all over the place with everything but I've got until the end of the month to plan everything. So hanging in there.
ReplyDeleteI find that sometimes I think too much about things rather than just getting in and doing them. For ages, I've been meaning to make my own washing powder and last week, I finally bought the basic ingredients for that. And I have an old ice-cream tub now to store it in. Over the weekend, I'll make it up because I am about to run out! Meg:)
ReplyDeleteThankyou so much for writing this series I have needed your help and inspiration. I have just moved and need to start again with making my home more functional. I had time to myself yesterday to write up my calenders and think about the year ahead, I am following your book. And feel excited about the year ahead. Clare (I meet youin Shepparton on your book tour)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the motivation Rhonda. I have been disorganized due to various reasons the last year and my plan for 2018 is to change that, but also reading comments it was reassuring to know I am not the only one, sometimes I feel like it only me. So by the end of this month I will have written down a plan and have already started. Keep up the great inspiring posts.
ReplyDeleteGreat motivation - thank you for the encouragement. I am trying not to set myself up to fail by making my plans too big or ambitious. I am finding that many small steps (and things that I can tick off my list) keep me going. So far so good - I've managed a number of small jobs that I've been putting off for weeks now - don't know why I didn't get them done before now - it really hasn't been that difficult.
ReplyDeleteMy laptop is having issues, but I use a daily calendar and I am making lists. I want easier, more simple ways of managing our household. Here we go..................
ReplyDeleteI use a wall calendar and also a to do list.
ReplyDeleteOne year on, the first one is usually the worst. Thoughts of you Rose.
Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteEven the tiniest positive change can crack open a wave of life changing future actions. Mine started with home made kitchen spray. It seems like it was in another life ..... oh wait!
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, i am 38 very new to this (about 5 days in!). I have bought your book "The Simple Home" on my kindle. I wanted to get "Down to Earth" too, but its not available on kindle, so i will wait a couple weeks until i can afford it. I also plan to buy the one on my kindle as an actual book too. I like to have an actual book!
ReplyDeleteI basically just wanted to say thank you so much. You put everything in a way that not only sounds appealing, but achievable. I have made the laundry liquid today and have bought a sewing machine with my christmas money. I struggle to sew by hand due to arthritis. I always cook from scratch/bake bread, so that part is covered, but will start growing and preserving.
I love your blog and feel that 2018 is going to be the year to simplify our home. This is going to be beyond helpful for us.
Thank you again
Welcome Hannah Lee. Take it slow - small steps, one at a time. I hope this makes a real difference in your life. xx
DeleteThank you Rhonda. So far I’m loving it xx
DeleteThank you, Rhonda. I have been married just over a year, and living on a farm for the first time in my life. I have been following the tips and advice in The Simple Home each month and am glad to revisit it again through the blog posts. The changes I’ve made have made a big difference. The work of sorting and decluttering continues. But we’re almost there.
ReplyDeleteHello Rhonda,
ReplyDeleteIn one of your articles, you mentioned that you might conduct a workshop on blogging (and I think you mentioned February). If you do, I would be very keen to participate. I'm not sure how to advise contact details as I'm also not sure if this is visible to all viewers.....Lynda
Hi Lynda, I was considering doing a blog course online but I need 10 people and I don't have that number yet. I'll advertise it again in early February and if we get the numbers then, I'll give my contact details and you can get in touch.
DeleteI really appreciate the motivation, but suggesting some of us "won't make it" seems a bit too ominous. I think we're all doing the best we can, and if some years don't look the way one might envision they might "some day" doesn't mean they aren't making progress.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your dedication to simple living, Rhonda. And, to all of you who comment -- it spurs me on to keep taking the baby steps. I have both of your books and reference them often. The Simple Home is guiding me through re-working my home binder and thinking through my future plans afresh. Down to Earth has SO much good information to supplement!
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, I always enjoy seeing your photos in which you have simply sweet doilies, napkins, quilts, draperies and such. They always inspire me to make more time for my stitcheries and knitting. I don't always do so because of the busyness of this time with 2 little boys and home keeping, but I do try. Baby steps, right?
You remain so dear to me. I smile every time I open your blog and see your kind face. Thank you for all of your years of dedication to this blog! I know MY life is better for it.
Baby steps, yes. Take your own time and as long as the dedication is there, you'll build the life you want. I remember those times in my own past with two little boys to care for. I didn't do much sewing or knitting then, my main task with the needles was mending.
DeleteThank you for your kindness, Sarah. I appreciate hearing from all my regular and long term readers so much. I read every comment and I build up a picture of you over time. It helps me stay focused and in touch with the many different stages of life you're all at. xx
Dear Rhonda thank you so much for your wonderful blog posts and your generosity in sharing your knowledge. I shall be retiring in August this year (I am 61) after working non-stop for 46 years. I am so looking forward to my retirement as I have so many things to do. I shall bake bread, keep making your soap, start growing vegetables to name but a few of the things I look forward to doing - all with your help xx
ReplyDeleteIt's very true that we need to work at making changes. I've been working at it for years already as I have difficulty keeping a "system" going so it needs to be tweaked and simplified wherever possible. Little by little I add different things to keeping organized. I forgot to mention in comments on your first post of the year that in addition to using my Google calendar and reminder alerts a lot, I also still use the old fashioned calendar.
ReplyDeleteI prefer a monthly paper calendar and I hang it on the kitchen where it can be easily accessed and read. It contains all the appointments for the month.
This means I have 2 systems going but the monthly one is easy to update and then when time permits, I will use that information to ensure the Google calendar is also updated with the necessary reminder alerts. It's not the most efficient for anyone who needs to make sure they are totally organized at all times and are in a hurry, but it's a compromise for what works for me.
Thank you for the blog, and book!
ReplyDeleteCheers Ange
This post resonates with me; I often have good intentions but don't follow through with changes to the point where they become a habit. Now that my son is six months old and in a more reliable routine, I hope to make changes that allow me to be very intentional about our little family's lifestyle, and to do some study that I have wanted to do for a long time. We are moving house today (writing this during a break while my baby naps on me) so hopefully the new house will signal a whole new beginning!
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