The beauty of an empty inbox is a thing to behold. It is calming, peaceful and wonderful. An inbox that is overflowing with actions, urgent calls for responses, stuff to read … its chaos, its stressful, its overwhelming.

A friend recently posted: “Help! Im drowning in email!” Lets look at how to get your head above water first, and then how to get safely to dry land.

Head Above Water

You need to give yourself some breathing room. A flooded inbox is overwhelming, and you dont know where to start. So heres where were going to start:
Create an “actions” folder or label in your email. This is where youre going to store any emails that you need to take action on (other than just replying or filing or whatever).
Pick the most important. Go through your inbox and check off 10-15 that are the most urgent action emails, and file them in this new folder. If you dont get to the sections below right away, you can at least work from this folder for now.
Temporarily archive. Now create a “temp” folder. File everything thats still in your inbox into this temp folder. Everything. Youre going to get these out of the way and not worry about them at the moment. Well get to these, but it gives you a little breathing room.
Set a new policy. Every new email that comes in will follow the rules in the next section. No more allowing your inbox to pile up.

New Emails

So what to do with new emails that come in? Set some rules, and commit right this minute to ruthlessly sticking to them:

Process from the top down. When you open up your email, process the inbox completely. Start with the top email in your inbox, and open it. Take one of the following actions, in this preferred order: (1) delete (use this liberally), (2) archive (in case you want to look it up later), (3) quick reply (four sentences or less) and then archive, (4) put on your to-do list for action (if you dont have a list, start one now) and then file in your “action” folder. This last item includes long replies (which should be as rare as possible). If you take one of these four actions, you should dispose of every email.
Go to the next email and take quick action, and so forth. Dont spend longer than 20 seconds on any one email, and even then you should only do that if youre doing a quick reply or adding the item to your to-do list. If you process this quickly, youll be done with your inbox in minutes.
Only when youve processed should you start worrying about the to-do items. You can choose to do those now, or later. Dont start doing the to-do items when youre processing.
Newsletters, etc. Youre never going to read all those newsletters, notices from services, catalogs from companies, and so on that regularly get delivered from your inbox. So go into your “temp” folder and delete all of them right now. All of them. And whenever new ones come in – emails that are not from real people directed just for you – youre going to go to the bottom of the email and click on the “unsubscribe” link. Every single one of them should have an “unsubscribe” link – if not, mark as spam. It only takes 10 seconds to click on the unsubscribe link and then go to the new page and hit the unsubscribe button. And if you do this for every single one, youll soon get a lot less email.

Follow these four rules and youll never have a full inbox again.

Stop the Flood

OK, things should feel a bit more manageable now. Now we want to set some long-term policies so that you get fewer emails from now on.

Heres what to do:

1. Unsubscribe from everything. This was talked about in the section above, but just in case you missed that, go back and read the newsletters item. You dont need newsletters flooding your inbox.

2. Stop sending so many emails. The more emails you send, the more youll get. Use email as little as you possibly can. Call people if you can, or walk over and talk to them. If those arent possible, see if you can figure it out for yourself. If you send an email that doesnt require a response, say so.

3. Send shorter emails. Theyre more likely to get read and acted on, and itll take less of your time to write them. Try sticking to 4 sentences or fewer.

4. Check email less often. Set times each day, and only check email on those times. When you do, process your inbox to empty using the rules above.

5. Filter out notifications. If there are notifications you do want to see, create a folder or label for them, and create a filter (Gmail is great for this) so that the notifications go straight to that label/folder and skip the inbox.

6. Set policies. Put up policies on your website or send the policies out to the people you work with. These policies should be aimed at reducing the number of requests you get. For example, if requests are coming to you that should be going somewhere else, put that in your policies. If people should deal with things through a different channel than email, say it in the policies. Try to figure out your most common types of emails, and find solutions so you dont have to respond to all of them.

7. Post FAQs. Similarly, if you get a bunch of questions regularly, post the answers publicly so that you dont have to repeatedly answer them by email. Itll save you a lot of time.

Processing the Old Emails

Youre going to want to return to your “temp” folder, when you have the time, and start processing it. Some steps:

Process it in chunks if there are too many to do now. Just do it for 5 minutes and then come back later.
When you process, follow the rules for processing your inbox above (under the “New Emails” section). Start at the top, take quick action on each email, moving it out of the temp folder as fast as you can.
Feel free to mass delete emails. If you know youll never reply or act on emails, just check a bunch of them off and delete or archive. You can get big chunks done at once this way. Give yourself the freedom to let these go – and just worry about what you need to do from this point on.

By Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. Visit Leo at www.zenhabits.net

What is the Simple Life?

There is no single definition of simplicity. My vision of a simple life will be different than yours, or anyone elses – and none of us is wrong. Ive read about someone living in a log cabin in Alaska, with no electricity or running water or television or Internet. They chop wood from the forest outside to burn for heat and cooking. They use water from a nearby stream for drinking and bathing. They walk or bike to town to go to the library or to use the Internet. Thats a pretty simple life by most definitions – but when I talk about leading a simple life, I dont mean you need to live in a log cabin in the woods – I certainly dont.

Ive also seen photos of pretty expensive houses, decorated in a very minimalist fashion, spartan in their simplicity, but also decorated with expensive furniture. These houses are gorgeous, and their minimalist interiors are extremely attractive … but it takes a lot of money to get to that point. This is one kind of simplicity, but its not for everyone.

Ive also read about people who live extremely frugally, rarely buying new items, making things last as long as possible, re-using plastic bags and bottles, growing food in a garden, buying things second-hand in thrift shops when necessary. This kind of frugality is one kind of simplicity, and to some extent I use many of these ideas myself. But its not the kind of simplicity for everyone.

So whats my idea of a simple life? Again, this isnt what you need to shoot for, and its not even what you need to agree with. We can each have our own vision. My idea is that I make room in my life for the essentials – the things I love to do and the people I love to be with. I remove the non-essentials as much as possible, and leave a life that isnt overwhelmed with tasks and projects and errands, but has space … space for what I want to do, and space between things. So that I can live a peaceful life, move slowly, work happily, and spend time with the people I care most about.

This might mean that I live frugally (so that I can work less, or save for whats important), or it might mean that I sometimes splurge, because life is too short not to enjoy things while you can. I find ways to enjoy myself without spending money, but at the same time I am not afraid to treat myself and my family now and then.

Whats your idea of a simple life? Its almost certainly different than mine. And thats good – we dont want cookie-cutter approaches here. We want something that makes sense to each individual person, that fits their personalities and dreams and life situations.

Think about what your idea of a simple life is, so that you can find your path to get there.

The Many Paths to Simplicity

So with each person pursuing a different destination to a simpler life, how can we find the paths to those destinations? There isnt one answer.

We must each find our own path, obviously, but we can still learn from others. Ive learned from many people along the way, and in fact I still learn from all of you each day. I think I learn more from the comments of my posts than you learn from the posts themselves, but thats what makes this conversation a wonderful thing.

“The simplest things are often the truest.” - Richard Bach

My best overall advice is to think about where you want to go, and then figure out a path to get there. And then take the first step. Once youve done that, you can worry about the next step. You will probably take a different path than the one you first envisioned, and in fact you may get to a different destination than you first imagined. Just take it one step at a time, and see where you get.

That said, Id like to offer some ideas that may help you find your path. These are not to be adopted wholesale, and in fact some of them contradict each other. Thats because they represent different paths – and again, there is no one right path. Take inspiration from them, try some out if you like, but dont take this list as a prescription to anything.

• Take it slowly. There is no need to rush to a simpler life. Take deep breaths, and take things one step at a time. Baby steps. Enjoy the process.
• Do a major rehaul. Sometimes it can be revitalizing to do a rehaul of your entire life. Wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. Now, that might mean moving to a new house and only bringing the possessions that mean the most to you. Or it might mean getting a new job that you love and setting your own schedule around the things you love doing. Or it might mean doing a major cleansing of your house, getting rid of most of your junk. It could mean just dropping all commitments except the things you love most.
• Remember whats important. Why are you trying to simplify? Is it to make room for the things you love? Then be sure to identify those things, and keep those things in mind during this process. Is it simply to reduce your stress and live a more peaceful life? Then remember that on your path to simplicity.
• Adopt changes gradually. As one commenter pointed out, and as I have said in the past, if you adopt one small change at a time, you can make major changes over the long-term without the changes seeming very big at all. Make one small change, and soon that becomes the norm for you. Then make another, and that becomes the norm. Each step seems small, but they can add up to really big progress over months and years.
• Try different types of simplicity. You dont have to pick one way. You can try frugality, then minimalism, then cabin-in-the-woods simplicity, then chuck all your responsibilities and hang out on a beach all day. See what works for you.
• Join a community. There are online communities and maybe even groups within your neighborhood that are going for a common goal. That might be frugality, or decluttering, or living with a minimal impact on the environment.
• Take assessment. Im a big fan of stepping back and taking a look at my life in general, reflecting on what I want my life to be like, on what kind of progress Ive made, on what needs to be done. Its good to do this at the beginning of your path to simplicity, and every now and then along the way.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” - Henry David Thoreau

Whats your path to simplicity? What have you learned along the way? Share in the comments!

By Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. Visit Leo at www.zenhabits.net
Photo courtesy of alicepopkorn

Buying something new requires the extraction and destruction of a lot of resources, not to mention the destruction of our environment in extracting, hauling, manufacturing, packaging and shipping the item.

So if we want to avoid buying new things, what should we do if we need something? After all, there are always times when we feel we need something — not just want or desire, but need it for a real purpose. We might need new clothes, or books, or a bike so we can cut back on using a car.

One woman decided to buy nothing new, which is an interesting solution, but probably not for most people. But while you might not want to put such a drastic moratorium on yourself, here are 7 things you can do before even considering buying a new item.

1. Reconsider your need. Do you really really need it? Or is it a want? Or can you change things so you don’t need it? This should always be the first thing you do.
2. Borrow. You might only need it temporarily. Borrow books from friends or the library. Borrow a dress for a special occasion. Borrow a tool for a short-term project. Be sure to lend things in return, when you can.
3. Ask friends and family. Sometimes people you know might have the item you need, but not need it any longer. Instead of loaning it to you, they might be glad to give it to you. You only need to ask. I’ll often send out an email (or tweet) if I need something that others might have.
4. Freecycle. Same idea, but using a wider network. There are Freecycle networks in many areas — people who want to give something away, or who need something, post to the list and very often exchanges are made — for free.
5. Buy used. It’s infinitely better than buying new, because when you buy used you’re not having new resources taken from the earth and manufactured, but rather extending the life of resources that have already been used. Try thrift shops, charity stores, yard or garage sales, Craigslist or Ebay.
6. Make your own. This won’t work in every case (if I had to make my own clothes people would laugh at me more than they already do), but sometimes you can make something that’s just as good as buying, with inexpensive materials or materials you already have. This works if you’re good with crafts or carpentry especially. It can also be fun to get the family involved.
7. Go without. I know this seems the same as the first item on the list, but actually it’s a bit different: say you decide you really do need something, but can’t find it anywhere or make it. Should you buy new? Well, maybe you can go without it for awhile, until you do find a used version. Maybe you need it but don’t need it right now. Often things will turn up when you keep your eyes open — someone will happen to mention they have the item, or you’ll see it on Freecycle or Craigslist after a week or two. And sometimes, the need for the item will go away, and you’ll be glad you waited.

Sometimes you might have to buy a new item, even after exhausting all these options. But if you can run through this list first, often you’ll find you didn’t need it new.

7 WAYS … TO AVOID BUYING NEW STUFF by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. Visit Leo at www.zenhabits.net

Photo courtesy: Brave New Films

As we move through our daily routines we are often faced with obstacles and challenges which can lead to some degree of stress and anxiety. So to become more relaxed and free of tensions it is important to break away from your ordinary routine and find ways to de-stress. This process can be very simple or more in depth, but why not try something new and different? Here are 8, not your everyday ordinary, ways to de-stress and release tensions.

1. Massage your ears. The ear massage is a fantastic way to release endorphins in your brain and make you feel good. The beauty is that it only takes a few minutes. Start by gently rubbing your earlobes with your thumb and index finger. Then squeeze the outer edges of your ears all the way to the top. These parts of your ears have tiny reflex points that can relax specific areas of your body. Finish by using your index fingers and middle fingers to massage behind the ears on the bony part of your skull.

2. Finger paint. If you thought that getting messy and painting with your fingers was strictly for kids, think again. Finger painting allows you to have fun, be artistic and play in a child like way. It gives you permission to express your creativity and spontaneity without expectations. So why not be the creator of some new abstract art pieces. Visit a nearby childrens store and pick up a set of finger paints – ages 10 and up.

3. Strip down your living room. Take note and see how much stuff you have laying around your house, especially your living room – the place where you often wind down and relax. Then, declutter and learn the powerful art of Minimalism. Get rid of anything and everything you dont use or need. Give away or donate decorations and household items. An open and clean space creates a place of peace and tranquility. Its also easier to relax when you are not surrounded by stuff such as laundry, work, electronics and even reading materials because your subconscious mind doesnt feel like you have things to do.

4. Try laughing yoga. We all know that the power of laughter has a wonderful effect on our mood and is one of the best feel good things we can do. However, the opportunity to laugh like this doesnt always come easily and often. A fun and crazy way to make yourself laugh uncontrollably is to find (google) a class, club or yoga studio in your area that offers laughing yoga. You may have to step out of your comfort zone but you will be in for a wonderful and hilarious surprise.

5. Be brutally honest. Have you ever felt frustrated with yourself because you wanted to say something to someone but didnt in fear of what might happen, what that person might think or how you might make them feel. Instead of bottling things up inside you, which causes stress and tensions, why not let it go through the power of honest speech. Express your emotions and tell people how you really feel without being rude or obnoxious. Be loud and bold. Notice how relieved you feel.

6. Dance in the rain. How often do you see people getting upset and running for cover when it starts to pour? Next time it rains, have a little fun, get wet and do a little dance. Engage all your senses and enjoy the moment. Even sing if you want to. You will be surprised how refreshing and rejuvenating it is. For those of you who live in colder climates, try dancing in the snow or making snow angels.

7. Enjoy a staycation. Instead of travelling somewhere on a holiday, stay at home and enjoy a local vacation. To make it an adventure, get a map of some nearby hiking trails and plan some day hikes. If youre in a colder climate consider cross-country skiing or snow-shoeing. Try a new activity such as outdoor photography. Visit some local cafes that sounds interesting and that youve never been to before. If you need a break from your kids, recruit a friend or relative to baby-sit. Have fun and get to know your area.

As we get caught up in the moment of being busy sometimes we just need to step back, let go of what we are doing and pursue new little passions that dissolve tension and creates stress free, happy experiences. I sincerely hope you give one or some of these a try and remember to have fun, be in the present moment and watch your anxieties melt away.

7 WAYS … TO RELEASE TENSION by Jai Kai, via Zen Habits.

Jai Kai is a Success Coach, Yoga Instructor and Blogger for SharingSuccess.tv. He enjoys teaching people the art of perusing passion. You can subscribe to his feed here.

Photo courtesy of Private Island Retreat

“Do what you love.” Weve all heard this before. Its great advice, though not many people truly take it to heart. But sometimes doing what you love isnt enough to keep you going. Inspiration, passion, and motivation are difficult things to hold on to. They always seem to slip away right when you need them most.

You know that feeling. Where youre that close to finishing a project, or achieving a goal, or crossing a task off your to-do list … but you just cant muster the energy. Youve lost interest. Youre exhausted. Drained. And you dont know why.

Thats burnout. Its something many of us are all too familiar with. Id like to share with you a few ways that I fight burnout – or prevent it from catching me in the first place.

1. Achieve in increments. When you only focus on a big goal someday, its easy to get burned out by the daily grind. Its like driving toward a mountain in the distance. You can drive for hours, but the mountain doesnt seem to get any closer. And spinning your wheels gets real tiring real fast.

The solution is to give yourself a way to measure and record every little step forward you take. Heres how:

Get a journal, notebook, or calendar. Writing things down is important. Identify milestones on the road towards your goal.If youre writing a book, you could treat each chapter as one milestone. Or, even better, treat each 500 words or 1000 words as a milestone.

If milestones arent obvious, create them. For example, if youre training for a marathon, hold yourself to a progression of distance. If you start out running at your maximum distance, youll plateau very quickly. Instead, start at a shorter distance – even if its very easy for you – then work your way up slowly.

Track milestones in a simple, visual format. Think of the progress bar on a download. One glance tells you exactly how much progress has been made. The format you choose doesnt need to be detailed or comprehensive. It just needs to show that youre moving forward day by day.

Learn to appreciate the little accomplishments. Let yourself enjoy the feeling of getting things done.

2. Train your muse. One of the biggest myths about inspiration that its random. One day youre inspired and motivated, the next day youre burned out – and theres no way around it. Or so they say.

In fact, inspiration is just like any other skill. It may start out as unreliable, but it can be trained and developed into something you can rely on.

So how do you train your muse? The best way Ive found is immersion. Surround yourself with things that inspire you and reflect your goals. Great composers listen to music. Great authors read voraciously. Great marketers attend seminars. Great productivity-ists subscribe to Zen Habits. And so on. Immersion trains your mind to work efficiently in the ways you need it to.

The more that your inspiration becomes a part of your life, the less likely it is to run out when you need it most. With that in mind, be creative. What ways can you connect with your inspiration on a daily basis?

3. Work less. Cut down on the amount of energy and time you spend working. If you have sick days or vacation days left, take advantage of them. Or, if youre self-employed, force yourself to work fewer hours each day – even if that means turning down new projects.

Working less doesnt mean you have to slack off or get less done. It does mean that you:

Eliminate unnecessary tasks.
Take strategic breaks.
Stop multi-tasking.
Seek help from other people.

4. Define success realistically. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with having big dreams and big ambitions. But if youre constantly frustrated by a lack of progress, it might be time to take a step back and examine your goals. Are they achievable? Are you holding yourself to a reasonable timeline?

Heres a good way to do this. Get a piece of paper and write down your big, ambitious goal. Then write down at least 10 specific, concrete steps that will allow you to achieve that goal. Be as detailed as possible. If you cant come up with a series of down-to-earth steps to get you from here to your dream, thats a sign that you need to either redefine your goals or rethink the way youre pursuing those goals.

5. Get more sleep. Youve heard this before, I know. So have I. But that didnt stop me from going against my better judgment and tiring myself out by staying up late to work. Getting enough sleep takes a conscious decision – and, just like any good habit, takes time to develop.

One of the biggest barriers for me in this area is procrastination. I have a tendency to put things off throughout the day, then stay up later as a result. Whats keeping you from getting the rest you need?

6. Take it slow(er). The world tells us to rush things: “Get there faster. Make money quicker. Retire sooner.” And while these things arent necessarily bad, they can easily get us in over our heads. If youre feeling burned out and overwhelmed, its time to slow down.

A few ways to take yourself out of 24/7 high gear:

Spend at least 10 minutes a day in a quiet place, away from distractions. Breathe.
Put together a playlist of slow, relaxing music. Listen to it whenever you start feeling frazzled.
Take a butcher knife to your to-do list. Set a limit to the number of tasks you take on each day and stick to it.
Extend your deadlines. Do you absolutely, positively have to get this done now? Just remember – this isnt an excuse to procrastinate.

7. Get a second opinion. Its hard to spot burnout from the inside. Your close friends and family are likely to identify the signs of burnout long before you do. So listen to what theyre saying. The next time your spouse, parent, or best friend tells you youre working too hard, take it seriously.

7 WAYS … TO STAY MOTIVATED by Jeffrey Tang, via Zen Habits. Get more inspiration from Jeffrey Tang at his blog, The Art of Great Things, or subscribe to his feed.

There are two challenges that people face when choosing to live a more simpler life: owning little and wanting little. Yet people fuse these challenges together into a larger “live simply” goal. Unfortunately, theyre two different beasts that need to be tamed in their own ways.

Owning little requires a practical approach – systematically decluttering your life and eliminating the unnecessary. Wanting little on the other hand is focused on the way in which we think, a far more blurred aspect of simplicity.

Sincerely wanting little is difficult. It goes against our firmly rooted desire for certainty, for ownership. To cut through this psychological attachment requires more than step-by-step processes or following a list of tactics, it requires a shift in your thinking, a shift in the way you approach your day to day life and how you make decisions.

1. Have a vision for your life. Goals are somewhat useful tools to get from point A to B, but they often lack depth, emotion and meaning, and without those three things theres a deficiency of purpose and drive.

Think about the lifestyle you want as a whole instead of simply focusing on your desire to want very little. What do you want to own? How will you spend your time? Where will you be? Be specific.

This outline acts as a funnel. Desires for more may attempt to flood your life, but because youve clearly defined what matters to you, only the things conducive to your aims will make their way through this funnel. It becomes much easier to say “No” to something when youre certain its not apart of the bigger picture.

2. Find your motivation. What is your why? Why do you want little? Because its trendy is unfortunately not enough to quench your lust for stuff. Personally, I want little because I have dreams of traveling the world for months on end, and stocking up on gadgets and gizmos doesnt exactly gel well with that.

Here are some other common reason whys:

Saving money – for retirement, travel, charity etc.
Eliminating stress.
Freeing up time from the offset of being able to work less, clean less, and maintain less.
Dont be meaninglessly minimalist. Be purposeful and deliberate in your quest to want little.

3. Experience the benefits. No matter how many times you hear the benefits of wanting little, or visualize your motivation with all the intensity in the world, experiencing an uncluttered lifestyle will always be the best way to switch from a “want more” to a “want little” mindset.

Aside from simply throwing out everything you own, there are a few ways to go about this:

Plan a short vacation where you take as little as possible, including no technology or fashion accessories. Only pack the essentials.

Pick one room in your house or apartment that you want to transform into a no-stuff zone. Dump as much as you can from that room into a spare room or garage. Notice the difference in tranquility as you walk between your regular rooms and the no-stuff zone.

Visit locations that are inherently uncluttered. Buddhist temples spring to mind as being places with the bare minimal.

4. Be noncommittal. Decisions become scary when theyre set in stone. In other areas of life a little fear could indeed be a good thing, but its unnecessary and undesirable when striving to eliminate the desire for more – the challenge is difficult enough without adding further resistance.

Theres no line to cross with attachment to stuff, no mountain you must overcome. Its a lifestyle you can back out of anytime, a mindset that in no way restricts your ability to choose. Wade through the shallows before diving in the deep end.

5. Understand the psychology of influence. Marketing and sales are apart of this world and itd be silly to chastise those sectors because in reality were all marketers and salespeople – all livelihoods are fuelled by being heard and mutual exchanges. But that doesnt mean you need to fall into the trap of cheap psychological tricks.

Start by reading about how marketing weasels will try to manipulate you and for more depth pick up a copy of Robert Cialdinis classic, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

Other books on the topic that Im yet to read, but you may want to check out include:

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely
Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, Martin Lindstrom

6. Grow into it. Start with small victories. Be mindful of all your purchases and desires and regularly ask yourself “Does this fit into my vision?” You will stumble, its the nature of the beast. The world wants you to want more, and the world is a mighty challenger.

Be persistent with your quest for less and surround yourself with positive influences – classical works of literature like the Tao Te Ching and Walden; Or, Life in the Woods, plus like-minded individuals who want to cut themselves free from the leash of things.

7. Lose yourself. Purchasing is a process we lose ourselves in. First something catches our eye, then theres the inner conflict (should we buy it?). If we convince ourselves that we should part with our money, theres that little buzz you get of claiming ownership. You take the product home. And then you use it.

Its an exciting sequence of events – full of uncertainty and possibility – that we get swept up in. But the problem is, it mostly ends with buyers remorse, a dented bank account and all the other costs of owning stuff.

What you need to do is learn to get lost in activities rather than acquisition. Instead of being strung along by the latest gizmo, learn to transplant that process into an outlet such as writing, music or drawing. Focus on doing interesting things rather than buying interesting things.

7 WAYS … TO WANT VERY LITTLE by David Turnbull. Read more from David at his blog, Adventures of a Barefoot Geek, or subscribe to his feed.

We all make excuses. But the successful ones are those who can kill them and move on toward their goals.

“Im too tired. I dont have the time. I dont feel motivated. Id rather do nothing. I dont have the money, equipment, space. I cant because” …

Weve all made the excuses. Heres how to kill them…

1. See the positive. Excuses are usually made because we dont feel like doing something – were accentuating the negative. Instead, see the fun in something, the joy in it. And maintain a positive attitude, or youll never beat the excuses.
2. Take responsibility. Excuses are ways to get out of owning up to something. If we dont have the time, money, equipment, etc., then its not our fault, right? Wrong. Take responsibility, and own the solution.
3. Find a solution. Just about every problem has a solution. Dont have time? Start with just 5-10 minutes. Make the time. Wake earlier. Do it during lunch. Dont have a gym membership? Workout at home or in the office. Dont have the energy? Do it when you have higher levels of energy. Youre smart. Figure out the solution.
4. See your goal. This is your motivation – your reason for doing it. Sure, you could just lay on the couch, but if you think about why you really want to pursue a goal, youll be motivated. Visualize that goal and just get started.
5. Be accountable. Have a workout partner, a project partner, a team, someone to report to. If you have to meet a coach or partner, youre more likely to do something.
6. Go ahead and make your excuses. Then do it anyway.
7. Watch this. Then go an do it.

Photo: Focus on the enjoyable and the positive

7 Ways to Kill Your Excuses by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. Follow him on Twitter.

By Rhonda Lee

As a passionate raw foodist, I often teach workhops on this lifestyle that I love so much. One of these workshops is titled “Demystifying the Green Smoothie.” I love this one for many reasons. It’s fun and easy for people to realize how simple it is to incorporate healthy foods into their lifestyle with simple tools and techniques and very fast results!

1. You need a blender to make green smoothies. You dont have to go out and purchase a high dollar Vita-Mix or a Blendtec to get started. A basic blender will do. However, you can also use a personal blender, such as a Magic Bullet as well. These are really great if you travel a lot and want something small to take with you so that you can continue enjoying green smoothies wherever you are.

2. You need to have some type of liquid in your blend to start the blending process and keep your smoothie from being too thick. This can be anything from filtered/distilled water to juice to tea. Whatever you would like that you think would blend well. I typically used my own Roxtract filtered water, but will sometimes use juice depending on the kind of smoothie I want to make. I typically put about a cup of liquid in the blender first. Of course you can adapt this for a smaller or larger blender.

3. Assuming you will be making a sweet smoothie, you will need to have fruit of some sort for your smoothie. This can range anywhere from fresh organic apples to frozen organic fruits. I try to always make mine as organic as possible. I recommend using organic bananas for what I refer to as the “basic” green smoothie. Bananas just have the amazing ability to cancel out the taste of the greens if you are getting started so I strongly suggest using them for your first green smoothie. You want to use about two or three bananas. I always make the “basic” smoothie first in my classes just so individuals can experience a smoothie that is easy and tastes delicious. I am often told by my workshops participants that they would have never even tried the smoothie on their own once they knew they would be drinking kale or spinach. They cant believe that it tastes so good!

4. The most important part of the green smoothie is the GREEN! This is a great time to explore various types of fresh organic leafy greens. There are a variety of lettuces as well as kale, spinach, Swiss chard, parsley as well as collard greens and other hearty greens. Sticking with the basic smoothie recipe, I would recommend kale for its nutritional content as well as its ability to marry so well with banana. These two are just perfect together when starting out with green smoothies. Wash and place four or five kale leaves in your blender. Make sure that you de-stem them for a regular or personal blender as they are too fibrous for them to blend smoothly.

Did you know that moving house can be one of the most stressful times in your life? Its right up there with losing your job, divorce or the death of a loved one, as one of the biggest causes of stress.

Ive been there. In 2007 my husband and I sold our house along with most of our belongings and moved from New Zealand to Panama with our three young kids. We ended up spending 18 months in Central America and lived in Costa Rica for over a year during which time we moved house three times.

Moving house was easier in Costa Rica, because by then wed got rid of most of our possessions and had less to cart around with us. We got good at giving things away, selling them or just chucking out all that rubbish that clutters up our lives.

Moving out of our home in New Zealand was the big one. I certainly felt the stress could come but managed to change that pressure into a buzz so I could enjoy the excitement of change and new beginnings. In the end moving house and countries was a fun way to declutter our lives.

Tips for a stress free move:

1. Get organized in advance. If you leave everything until the last minute it will be stressful. We sold our house five months before we left and then rented it back from the new owner. That way we could relax with the cash in our bank account and not worry about how we were going to finance the move.

2. Start selling non-essential items three months before you leave. Clutter and things you dont use much build up in any house, especially if you have kids. Youll find that there are plenty of things you can off-load two or three months before your move. Stuff like toys, tools, kitchen equipment, many clothes and everything thats broken, or that you never use but have been saving for a rainy day.

3. Organize your personal belongings and paperwork. Get a concertina folder for essential documents like passports, birth certificates, and other certificates and keep them all together. Sort out your personal photos – put them in albums and chuck out all the blurred and boring ones. Give all the kids a memory box – a shoe box will be about the right size for them to keep all their school reports, photos, pictures and keep sakes in. Keep the box small – they will fill it!

4. Maximize this opportunity to minimalize. Theres no point in keeping too much stuff if youre making a big move. Sending it overseas may cost more than replacing it and this is the ideal time to become more minimalist and get rid of all the possessions that are compromising your freedom. Make a list of everything you want to sell but need to keep until you leave: furniture and big electrical items such as the fridge, washing machine, stereo and dryer.

Write an email with title, description and price. Just sell everything for half what you bought it for. Remember, you want to get rid of it. Now email this to all friends and colleagues who live nearby. I predict a feeding frenzy. Print out the email, ask people to commit to buying something and add their name by the item. Ask them to swing by on moving day and pick it up. Simple yet effective and your friends will be delighted.

5. Have a huge garage sale for smaller items. Think of it as being paid to clean out your house and declutter your life. Again, remember to sell everything for a low price because your main aim is to get rid of stuff. If youre not comfortable making money from selling your old clothes, toys, crockery and books then mention in the garage sale ad that all proceeds will go to a worthy cause, like Guampedia or your favourite charity.

By now your house, cupboards and garage should be looking nice and empty which will make cleaning easier. Dont pack or store any breakables unless they have sentimental value or are not replaceable. Things like crockery and glasses can be picked up when you get there.

6. Packing. You can start packing up things youre taking early too. Buy a big roll of bubble wrap, masking tape, cardboard corners for pictures and some tea-chests from removal company then pack a few things each night or blitz the lot in one day.

Give the kids one small box each for toys they want to keep. This will focus them on not over-packing and on getting rid of everything they dont need any more. Tell them youll use some of the proceeds from selling their old stuff to fund a great family outing from your new home.

7. Moving day. When your friends come round to collect all the stuff they bought offer them all the crockery and glasses you needed until the last moment. If they dont want it ask them to drop it off at a charity shop for you. Theyll be so pleased with the great deals they got from you theyll be happy to oblige. Finally have a good clean up or use some of your garage sale money to hire a cleaner.

Boom! Youre out of there.

With less clutter tying you down, the world is your oyster. Just imagine if you were really good and got rid of it all, youd be free as a bird.

If youre like me youll enjoy the process of clearing out and moving house. Plus, its great knowing that your friends will think of you every time they open that beautiful old trunk you spent weeks restoring.

So you thought moving would be stressful? No way. Just adopt these zen habits before making a move and debunk the myth that moving house is stressful forever.

By Annabel Candy of Get In the Hot Spot. Read more from Annabel Candy at her blog, Get In the Hot Spot, a virtual treasure trove of inspiration, information and idiosyncrasies for people who want to live their dream. Or make her day and keep yourself updated on the latest articles, by subscribing to the free RSS feed.