What does Productivity have to do with healing and relaxation? Everything!
It’s important in our lives to be productive. Follow my logic here:
Without productivity, things in life pile up and it is easy to become swamped. These piles soon become burdens. They begin to overwhelm you and you can easily become stuck and even depressed with them looming. Piles happen but….
Being productive allows you to tackle these piles of life and manage them effectively.By doing these you can easily flow from one project to the next and effortlessly accomplish those things that bring you the most joy in life. When we live in Joy, happiness, relaxation and health naturally follow.
Piles accumulate when we have lack of focus and when we allow our productivity to slip. Simply think of the chore that best represents the Piles of Live: laundry. When we have a plan for laundry and do it in a timely fashion, wash, dry, fold and put away. We are more productive overall. Here’s why:
The piles are manageable and clutter does not exist. We don’t have the stress of doing 20 loads at one time. It’s easier and faster to pick the clothes we are going to wear. We ultimately save time. We are more relaxed.
“Piles of laundry” when productively tackled brings more peace of mind and relaxation to our lives. Imagine creating systems around all the ‘piles of laundry’ in your life. Systems allow life to flow, a flowing life allows us to see what’s important to us and we live our life on purpose. Relaxation gives us greater health overall.
Do you want to be more relaxed? What systems can you put in place to tackle the “piles of your life”? How can you become more productive?
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Oh honey, I have piles on my piles! It’s so overwhelming I don’t know where to begin. It’s mostly books and papers since I teach and write. Thanks for a great post! Liz
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 8:44 am
Books & Papers~ YIKES! I went through a bookshelf this spring and de-cluttered it. Love it, Use it or lose it is my motto! And, a lot of the information in the books- I can indeed find on the internet now a days! Would you try tackling just ONE pile in the next week? See how that feels and whether it sends your productivity higher ~ I bet it does! KEEP SMILING
[Reply]
Comment by Liz Fulcher — October 4, 2012 @ 8:17 am
I love my piles! And I’ll know if you tampered with them because it’s how I organize! LOL! My desk in the corporate world had several piles, but just as how you describe the laundry productivity, I would tackle them in the same manner; albeit not wash, dry, or fold. Now that I am self-employed and working out of home, well, let’s simply say, that not much has changed with those piles, except their location perhaps!
I enjoyed this post, Laura, and love talking about my piles!
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 8:45 am
I’m pretty darn organized too! I work out of two offices ~Home and non~ it’s when I take ‘piles’ back and forth that things begin to Pile up ~ and I know it’s time to ‘do the laundry’ when i don’t want to walk into one of my offices!!!! :)_
[Reply]
Comment by Peggy Lee Hanson — October 4, 2012 @ 8:21 am
I just had to read this post as I had literally just commented on the one above and mentioned my piles of emails! I have piles of paper, piles of ideas and intentions, and my teenager’s bedroom is one big pile. That’s his business – I can shut the door! Thanks for the reminder – I will have a think about systems.
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 8:47 am
Emails! UGH!!!! I often have to de-clutter my inbox because of them ~ and have started asking family to email to a private email JUST SO I know when I get one from them 🙂 I think that declutter your email e-course may be a system I look into soon!!! Thanks for this reminder too 🙂
[Reply]
Comment by Harriet Stack — October 4, 2012 @ 8:26 am
I’m the same as Liz… my Mum has OCD and had a very strict routine around housework and that was all she did. Everything was immaculate and we could hardly move incase a hair fell on the floor – she once made me get on my hands and knees to find an eyelash that I’d brushed off my cheek. Now I live in a mess. I think I’m less stressed than my Mum was but I guess it’s all about finding the balance.
Great post! x
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 8:48 am
Well, certainly, I’m not looking for an eyelash ~ I’m not even sure when one would fall on the floor.
Balance for one and all!!! 🙂
[Reply]
Comment by Tracy Shave — October 4, 2012 @ 8:32 am
Great post! My trick is to do the difficult chores first. That’s when my energy is high. Otherwise, as the day moves on, it seems easier to procrastinate! Love te picture you chose!
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Martha ~ I LOVE that trick ~ I, and most of us for that matter, tend to avoid things that are ‘hard’ and ‘challenging’ tackling them first makes the rest come easier!!!! KEEP SMILING
[Reply]
Comment by Martha Giffen — October 4, 2012 @ 10:46 am
Like @PeggyLee I have “organized” piles. Sometimes it just takes baby steps, but I do eventually go through each one. Thanks for the reminder that there is one particular pile I need to “attack” this week. ~Debra
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Debra! I love organized chaos ~ it’s one step closer to productivity and ease. Attack Away! KEEP SMILING
[Reply]
Comment by Debra Jason — October 4, 2012 @ 11:11 am
Great advice. YOu hear about systems for your business. I had not thought about systems for my home life. thanks!
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Systems are even MORE important at home. In order to be present and be productive, I need to go to work and not “worry’ about what’s going on at home!!! 🙂
[Reply]
Comment by Ali Bierman — October 4, 2012 @ 11:50 am
I was just tackling piles on my desk yesterday, realizing I had several to do lists…oops, all in different places. I myself allow my laundry to pile up ’cause I want full loads of each of my colors to save soap and water–I’m an environmentalist. I have neat baskets in the basement. Speaking of basement, that’s on my list next…to tackle clutter and old crap down there. Thanks for these reminders, very motivating 🙂
[Reply]
Laura Clark Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
It doesn’t sound to me like you allow your laundry to ‘pile up’~ You have a system for it as opposed to walking down the stairs with it in your arms like this picture of the poor woman in the post!!!! Systems are so important ~ i even have a system for all my to do lists 😉 KEEP SMILING
[Reply]
Comment by Lisa — October 4, 2012 @ 1:04 pm