What the?!
September is almost gone!!!! Yes, I know that it is only the 8th, but time is flying and I am so behind the 8 ball.
Seriously, I wanted to get this note out to you a few days ago, at the real beginning of a month, but I had – stuff happen! I dealt with the threat of a hurricane – a hurricane that never hit South Florida, but made me put up shutters and wait in gas lines (Prayers to the Bahamas). And then I had the delayed start of the first day of Kindergarten for my son. These two interruption in life, completely derailed my well thought-out plans. But I bobbed, weaved, and kept moving.
Has this ever happen to you? ??♀️
I am sure that it has.
But let me back up a minute and introduce myself, I am Sharika Kellogg, The 25/8 MOM. I am a choice mom to 3 amazing boys, an entrepreneur, a speaker, and a parent time management hacker & mindset coach. I left the corporate rat race almost 3 years ago to be a “work from home mom” – which allowed me more time for family life and myself. And today, I want to talk to you about getting organized so that you have time and space for simple pleasure
The month of August and the threat of Hurricane Dorian taught me a lot about pairing down and loving material items less. I sold my home last month and the closing happened so fast that I literally had to pack a 4bedroom house and 4 people in 3 days. The move itself opened my eyes to how much sh… ( ?I will keep it clean) “stuff” that I had accumulated and felt compelled to keep and never used.
Here’s a few questions for you: when did we become convinced that more is always better? That the more money we spend equals more happiness?
How did we lose sight of simple pleasures?
I did. I wanted to retain items that did not give me joy. Clearly, because I was not using them. It felt incredibly good to toss out and donate the items that I knew that I was not going to use but kept. I don’t even remember why I was keeping some of them – maybe because it was name brand or I thought that I would make something out of it later (and I am far from crafty) or thought that it would come back into fashion. Who knows!
Next week, I would love for you to join me for my first Mommy Tap Out Corner podcast about Simplifying Yourself. For the rest of September essentially, we are going to be working on taking an honest look at our lives with an eye toward reducing the clutter to make room for more joy, money and time.
Are You Ready?
Seriously, I will be in the trenches right with you. This is something that I struggle with and am constantly working on and perfecting, on a continual basis. I confess, I love helping others organize and get their stuff together more than working on my own “stuff.” I am always saying yes to others and piling onto my own to-do list.
My to-do list grows by 5 tasks – daily. With the start of school, I have already volunteered for 3 committees, planned 2 business trips and it has only been 2 days since school started. And the list continues to grow. I just love to help people. But sometimes the person that you need to help is you.
And that is me! I need to help me to get even more simplified and organized. What would doing this get you? “Me-Time” to do whatever you want. A little extra time for yourself is not a bad thing, is it?
But here is the thing, as much as I love helping others – I am kind of “tapped out” with time this month and cannot do this for you. (Sorry!) But you can do it yourself for yourself.
My mentor, Nicole Walters is always telling me to “do the work” and “stay ready.” I have to admit that it took me a minute to actually turn on my listening ears to hear what she was saying and why she was telling me this. But if you do this work, you will see this change in your life – for the better.
So, let’s get to work! Look for my email next week kicking off my Simplifying Yourself movement.
Have a Greeeeeaaaaattttt Day!
Sharika
