BY CHERALYN BARRINGTON
Lions’ Pride Assistant Layout Editor

With a busy schedule, life can often seem like a juggling act; here are ten ways to simplify things this years.

1)Clean or Organize Personal Space
The saying goes, “cluttered room, cluttered mind.” One thing that often helps people find peace of mind is to de-clutter personal living space by organizing. Finding a new place for something or organizing an existing space can be very therapeutic. The brain finds it easier to look at things that are orderly so this can help clear the mind. Also, by having specific places for everything, items will be misplaced less often, which creates less stress, and saves time that may have been spent looking for them.

2)Getting Rid of Extraneous Items
Getting rid of old items that are rarely used will help to de-clutter personal space. If the items are donated, other people might find a much better use for them. One man (or woman’s) trash can be another’s treasure! Also, throwing things away can be metaphorical for “getting a fresh start” or making room for new items.

3)Keep a Planner
Using a planner to keep track of daily appointments and due dates ensures advance notice and a constant reminder of important events. Since memory only retains a certain amount of information, having everything written down can really help take extra pressure off.

4)Time Management
With school, work, social time, and having time just to eat and sleep, it can be very difficult to find time for self-reflection. Writing down an all-encompassing schedule that includes all of these things plus some personal time can help with organization and make things easier.

5)Have Alone Time
Having alone time is extremely important because the hustle and bustle of life involving many different people can be tiring after a while. It is imperative to have some time to think alone and self-reflect.

6)Keep a Journal
One way to have ultimate self-reflection is to write thoughts, fears, and wishes down. Writing one thing down can trigger another idea and many ideas that may not have been thought about. After writing, re-read the entry because this helps to give a better self-perspective. Once fears or ideas are spelled out on paper, it is easier to solve or accept them.

7)Get Rid of Toxic Friendships
Friendship is supposed to be about love, loyalty and respect. Often times, this is not the case and friends can have a negative impact on each other. Sometimes it can be difficult to notice this because people get use to having the same friends with harmful qualities for an extended period of time. If a friend is causing more bad emotion than good and they do not respond to a conversation to help fix this issue, it may be time to let them go, or spend less time with this person. Negative feelings and comments are often contagious and no one should have to feel bad because of another person’s issue.
8)Calming Hobbies
Having time alone or spending time doing things that bring about good emotions like happiness or self-confidence can be very therapeutic and calming. Since school and daily activities are loaded with stress triggers, it is important to be able to take a break from all of that. Activities like listening to calming and feel-good music or taking a yoga class can be very rewarding.

9)Read a Book
Reading a book often serves as a very good temporary escape from real life. Reading about the book characters conflicts helps to focus the mind on others. Reading also allows for alone and self-reflection time.