THE FIRST WEEK OF THE NEW YEAR following time off from work, traveling, celebrating the holidays and being out of your routine can feel overwhelming and exhausting. It is not uncommon to experience an emotional and physical hangover from spending more time with extended family and indulging in foods and beverages that are not a part of our regular routine.
It’s easy to shame yourself post holiday season and create a plan to get back into shape, organize your house and eat a healthier diet. While these intentions are good, we set ourselves up for shame and failure when we dive into January headfirst.
The best way to get back into a healthy routine is slowly and steadily. The roadmap back to feeling rested, energized, healthy and in control is to focus on the simple day-to-day tasks of organizing our days in a way that promote peace of mind emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Whenever I feel out of control and out of sorts because I’m out of my routine I always resort to the same three action steps to establish an immediate sense of order. First order of business it to clean out my fridge and throw out all leftover food, expired condiments and anything that looks like it has overstayed its welcome. I take everything out and wipe down all the shelves and put everything back organized by food groups and size. The finished product is a clean, sparkly visual that helps me feel like my life is in order.
Call me crazy, but I definitely make better food choices when my fridge is clean and organized. The tidy visual of the stain free shelves and every item in its place makes me less likely to just grab something that may make me feel tired in the long run.
Next step is to do the same in the pantry. Every item has its place to be and if the olive oil is next to the goldfish I move it and organize all items by category. The finished product is an organized pantry that makes me feel like I am a responsible adult who can handle day-to-day life.
Last one, I change the sheets. I put on my favorite sheets, fluff the pillows and line them up in a way that brings me joy. There is nothing better than climbing into a bed with fresh sheets when you feel like your life is chaos.
I would love to take credit for these simple but powerful ways to establish an immediate sense of accomplishment, but I have to give the credit to my mother. These were the three things she did faithfully after holidays, big trips, a house full of visitors or a bad day. As a teenager I would roll my eyes as every countertop had the contents of the fridge on it and she wiped down the shelves, now I laugh because it turns out these life hacks she came up were sheer genius. Thanks Mom!
Before you cut carbs, join a gym, sign up for a class, quit your job or make a major life change, try these three little action steps to give you an immediate sense of clarity, peace of mind, a sense of accomplishment and joy!
YOU ARE WORTH IT!
Meghan Fritz is a psychotherapist practicing in State College, PA. For more information go to changeyourstoryllc.com.
