Book Talk:
After listening to a podcast where Rachel Balducci was discussing her new book, “Overcommitted: Cut Chaos and Find Balance”, I decided to devote this post to books and resources that have helped me try and achieve the ever elusive goal of “balance”. One of my priorities is to make my home a haven for my family and others. These are some of the books that have helped me on my journey. (See below for more of my thoughts on simplifying life.)
- Make My Life Simple: Bringing Peace to Heart and Home, by Rachel Balducci – If you don’t follow Rachel on social media, then you are missing out! She is hilarious! In this book she gives practical, down-to-earth pointers for achieving peace in your life.
- I Used to Be So Organized: Help for Reclaiming Order and Peace, by Glynnis Whitwer – I found Glynnis through the Proverbs 31 ministry and I loved her practical wisdom on setting priorities. A favorite quote from the book: “God has given each of us enough time, energy, finances, and resources to accomplish what he wants us to accomplish.”
- The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized, by Karen Ehman – Karen is another Proverbs 31 author/speaker. From the cover: “Karen shows you how to efficiently take care of the “how tos” so you have more time for the “want tos”. I have several pages in this book dog-eared for reference!
- Making Room for God: decluttering and the spiritual life, by Mary Elizabeth Sperry – this is a small book that looks at decluttering our lives from a Catholic spiritual focus, rather than on the often-popular secular trends. She tackles the sinful roots of holding on to too much stuff.
- Happier at Home, by Gretchen Rubin – in this book, the author sets out on a year long project of making “her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort and love”. Isn’t this what we all want? Especially after spending SO much time at home over the last few month?
- Organized Simplicity, by Tsh Oxenrieder – this is also a popular book recently, but it didn’t seem to fit my current season or something. I ended up giving it to my sister. 😊
Likes and Links:
Here are some links that can also help:
- http://www.flylady.net/ I found Fly Lady probably 20 years ago or more when I was “in the trenches” with young children and an overwhelmed spirit. Back then she had a book, a simple website, and an email subscription with daily reminders. Her motto is “you can do anything for 15 minutes”. I’ve kind of “graduated” from her system, but I still remember how she helped me bring some semblance of order to my chaotic life. I’m probably going to check out her latest stuff!
- http://www.catholicmom.com/home_organization.htm This is a website for Catholic Moms that has a lot of good resources!
- https://wellnessmama.com/3812/organization-checklist/
- And Kathryn Whitaker has a whole section on her blog about organization: https://teamwhitaker.org/organization/
Keeping it Real:
A new normal?
I’ve been back working from the office since May 4th, but I have to tell you, the transition to working from home was easier than the transition of going back to the office. I thought that the novelty of working from home would wear off after a couple of weeks and I would be ready to go back, but that’s not what happened. Instead, I discovered that I actually liked working from home and was even more productive. Going back to working at the office was much harder than I thought it would be!
One thing that I think was key for me was the imposed slowdown caused by the coronavirus. There were no meetings to attend, no activities to plan for, no need to “go” and “do” all the time. I was able to just “be”, and I don’t want to lose that. I want to be more intentional from now on – a full calendar doesn’t make me a better person – it can make me a crazy person! I often felt overwhelmed by everything. I also sometimes feel overwhelmed by what I perceive as the “demands” on my time – and often those demands are of my own doing. I’m learning to set more boundaries as a result. I’ve been trying to evaluate opportunities my core values and priorities: God (prayer), relationships, work (servant leadership), and healthy habits for my mind, body and soul. Sometimes I’m successful, sometimes not so much.
On Cathys Bookshelf 