Happy Wednesday! I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite ways to unwind after a busy day at work or a great way to start my day is with a good book. I am looking to make more time for reading in my day to day life. I always start my day by reading a devotional and journaling. Now, I want to start incorporating reading a bit every night to wind down.
Last November, Emily Ley launched her third book, “When Less Becomes More”, If you have been following for a while, you know that I love Emily Ley, her planners, books, and her mission. I have really made an effort to bring simplicity into my life and it has ultimately made me more balanced, calmer, and I lead a more purposeful life with it.
Now, onto the book review. I remember Emily sharing with her followers the process of writing her new book and I couldn’t wait to dive in.
The whole book is about how sometimes less is more and we can be happier in life when we aren’t distracted all the time and pulled in different directions. She breaks the book down in 10 areas where we can make the choice to live simpler lives and not be stretched so thin that we aren’t living fulfilling lives.
I started reading the book right when it came out, which coincided with my upcoming college graduation. I was at a time in my life where I was balancing classes, being very involved with school and campus, working, applying and interviewing for jobs and ultimately being spread too thin. Emily’s words about being overcommitted and not overwhelmed resonated with me. Like me, she loved everything that she was doing but felt burnt out. As I made my way through her book, I came to the realization that we have the power to make changes in our lives to lead happier and purposeful lives and that’s something I’m working on in this new stage of my life. Making time for things that matter to me and cultivating friendships and relationships that bring me only joy and allow me to grow.
Without fearing of being too dramatic, reading Emily’s new book came at the perfect time for me and it changed my life. I strongly recommend reading this book and Emily’s other books as well. You can see my reviews of A Simplified Life here or what I learned about Grace Not Perfection here.
This year, I also decided to buy one of Emily’s signature simplified planners. I purchased this one here. When I started a new job, I wanted to start on the right foot with getting organized. What I love about the Simplified planner is that you can use it however you want, for classes, meetings, to do lists, meal planning. There are so many ways to use it.
I’m going to break it down for how I use I best for my schedule and life.
I first use the month calendar for when I work, have appointments, events. I have it colored coordinated for work and personal, the same colors for the calendar on my phone.
For the day to day set up, I have what days I work, the times I work, and what things I worked on each day, then I have a to-list for each day. My days off is when I have longer to-do lists but I still like to see what I need to do every day.
I like having all my information in one area that I always have with me and not in several different spots.
Having a planner saves me time and makes my life run smoother, two things that Emily Ley is a big advocate for.
That’s just a quick look into how I am starting off the new year and the mentality for the upcoming year.
