I gave myself permission to relax today. I tried not to think of it as a waste of time, but instead treated it as time to rest my body and brain, and to try and recharge. I still did things that I love to do though…

I read through old journals and notebooks: I found a laptop bag with some books in it and came across lots of diagrams, drawings and notes.

It was very therapeutic to read through how things have (and on the clutter front, haven’t) changed over the years.

Everything that I read highlighted to me that I used to spend so much time planning these changes and writing about them, but I never really took action. At least I’m taking action this year. From other things that I read, it looks like I took control and improved my parenting skills and work life balance, but not the clutter. Here’s something I wrote ten years ago when I was answering a question on something:

What’s scary is that is that I could easily write the same sentence now but instead of talking about owning a house for 20 years and dealing with the same clutter, I would be writing 30 years. I don’t know if it’s the same or different stuff that I’m sorting. If it’s different stuff then I had better have a plan to be continually decluttering after this year otherwise I’m thinking that it will just pile up again.

I had a relaxing bath: I do like a nice bubble bath with candles and listening to spa music. I did some reading, as well as thinking about life and how grateful I am.

I ate loads: I do love my food and like to eat little and often. I had a slice of toast and cup of tea for breakfast, porridge mid morning, leftover roast for lunch, a chocolate biscuits for an afternoon snack, and then my husband cooked dinner this evening.

I then made myself some strawberries and ice-cream. The only time I had to spend working in the kitchen today was to do the dishwasher.

I read some of The Stress Solution: I noticed that this book by Dr Rangan Chatterjee was on sale at £7 on Amazon the other day and opted for the ‘no rush’ delivery which gave me £1 off my next order. It arrived today which was a day earlier than expected! I’ve listened to it a couple of times on audible but wanted an actual copy for my collection of self-help books. I do like his mission and approach to combatting stress with simple and achievable steps to reset your life. I sat and read a few pages and flicked through the pictures. There was one in picture in particular which caught my attention where he is just sitting relaxing in a window seat reading a book. I would love a window seat. In his book he explains that stress shouldn’t be tackled from a single direction. He says…

“In this book, I am going to tackle psychological stress, emotional stress, dietary stress, physical stress, technological stress, life stress and much, much more”

Dr Rangan Chatterjee, The Stress Solution

I had an afternoon nap: I sat in the conservatory with my new book and after reading a few pages I nodded off for a while. It could have been 30 minutes, it could have been an hour… I have no idea. It felt good though.

I watched a movie: Finished off the day a movie and a camomile tea.

I had a headache when I woke up this morning but now it’s gone. Must be all the relaxing I’ve done today. I should be back on track tomorrow to tackle some more clutter.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra