I had a bit of a breakdown a few days ago because I got home from work, I was hungry, had a lot of packing to do before going to North Carolina for the weekend and a million other things being added onto my to-do list. After I got home from work, I sat on my bed and started to make a list, after the 8th thing I knew I would have a Dory moment and forget about, I wanted to give up. Laundry was started a few days ago but still had clothes in the dryer. The day before I had started to clean up the apartment but got easily distracted by packing because I was afraid I was going to forget something. Labor Day Weekend was supposed to be a fun, relaxing trip, but it turned into so much stressful planning beforehand.

Lately, when I get home from work I am overwhelmed with the things I have to get done before bed that often get pushed to the next day because there is just not enough time in the day. My life has a routine right now and this routine has too many things scheduled back to back leaving no room for flexibility. The work schedule I have is partly to blame because, by the time I get home from work, it is already 8pm leaving little time in the evenings to relax or get stuff done.

Things have been piling up lately and the only way to create a solution is to look at the things themselves that are piling up. September is booked solid with social events, some adulting like getting my plates finally transferred over to Pennsylvania ones, organizing that junk drawer in my kitchen that is driving me insane to name a few. I have just started to accept that I can only do so much in one day and I cannot keep adding more things to my to-do list. I made a schedule on a post-it to plan what I can do during the week with the time that I have and it has been very helpful. What stresses me out most is when I add more things onto my to-do list and can’t get everything done in one evening.

When I moved into my apartment, I had to do a big splurge before the movers moved me in. I got rid of like half of my wardrobe, purged old products and only kept what could fit into the box. It has been a few months in the apartment now and I am starting to accumulate more than what I originally had. Some things were needed, like cleaning supplies, duplicates of shampoo when they go on sale, some new work clothes. My thing has always been that there has to be a place for everything and when it starts to get full, it is time to throw something out.

When I try to clean my apartment on Saturdays, it was easy because I didn’t have that much stuff so it only took a short amount of time to straighten everything. Now that I notice I am accumulating a lot more- I need to stop buying. Since I live by myself, I have a weeks worth of bowls, silverware and plates to use during the week and Sunday nights is when I run the dishwasher. I have a small laundry basket that fits a week’s worth of clothes so I can do laundry quickly on a Friday night. By being on top of everything and only having the minimum number of things that I need, I don’t get overwhelmed with stuff I don’t need.

Somehow in the last few months and especially with my parents’ move, my kitchen cabinets are overflowing with food. I kept ordering dinner because I was too lazy to cook when I had a ton of food I could make. I made changes in my evening schedule to make time to cook and then have leftovers the next day. It also saves me so much money during the week by using what I already have. I also think I am going to go back to a no more buying products rule. I stopped buying haircare and skincare products for a year to use up everything I had and I think I am going to go back to this rule. I haven’t purchased a lot of new things lately, but I have multiples of everything that I just don’t need.

With less stuff, a little more planning and being flexible, I can finally enjoy sitting on the couch doing nothing on a Sunday morning!