Author: karislsmith

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The Way We Use Technology – Daily Writing Prompt

karislsmith
Daily writing prompt
What would you change about modern society?
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The number one thing I would change in modern society is the way that we use technology. Specifically the way that we use social media. Social media can be a great tool, but also greatly destructive. It’s a wonderful way to stay in contact with other people that live near and far. You can keep up with people’s lives and what is going on in their own little world.

However, this also breeds comparison. When you are keeping up with so many other people and seeing “everything” going on in their life, then you can compare your life to theirs. It’s hard to remember that you are only seeing what they want you to see, and that you have no idea what goes on behind closed doors. Or their life can look so good that you are just sure it must be wonderful all the time. I feel like it’s just human nature to feel this way, not any fault of the individual. Of course there are things you can do to reduce this feeling, but social media definitely makes it difficult.

Not only does social media breed the comparison game, but it also distracts you from your real life. How many hours do you spend mindlessly scrolling? You feel like you constantly need to stay current on everything so you keep on checking and scrolling. It takes away from your time with those around you and more meaningful conversations.

Unfortunately, I don’t know if we are ever going to be able to go back to the way things were before social media. It’s too prominent in the every day world at this point. I just hope that it can become a little less important and a little less time consuming. It’s meant to be a tool, not a way of life.

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Losing Track of Time – Daily Writing Prompt

karislsmith
Daily writing prompt
Which activities make you lose track of time?
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I would definitely say that reading a good book is the best thing that makes me lose track of time. It normally has to be some sort of fantasy fiction book. The story needs to transport me to another time in another world or another version of the world that we currently live in. I want to be able to use my imagination a bit in picturing it. I don’t want it to remind me of mundane day to day life.

A few of my favorite series are Harry Potter, Eragon, and FableHaven/DragonWatch. All of these series take you to a different world where things exist outside of the normal. I have read all of these multiple times, and they just never get old. I enjoy them every time and can get lost in the story. Each time I read them, I always discover something new in the storyline.

Unfortunately though reading a good book isn’t the only thing that makes me lose track of time. I would say scrolling through social media is another big time stealer of mine. I can flip back and forth between different social media apps and lose an hour of time just like that. Breaking this habit is something that I hope to do, but that is a work in progress.

Daily Writing Prompts

What do you listen to while you work? – Daily Writing Prompt

karislsmith
Daily writing prompt
What do you listen to while you work?
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Rarely is there a day that I make it through work without putting my headphones in at one point or another. I actually purchased my AirPods because I got tired of taking my headphones out to walk to the printer. I know a silly reason, right. I honestly think I’m much more productive when I listen to something rather than listen to the jibber-jabber going on or the silence depending on the time of day.

So what do I listen to? I listen mostly to podcasts. There are times where I can’t really listen to something I have to pay attention to, so I’ll throw some music on. Other times I’m in the middle of a good book that I just have to get the audible book for. However, for the most part I’m a podcast girl.

I wouldn’t say that there’s one type of podcast that I listen to either. I listen to a range of things. Sometimes I’ll listen to my favorite reality stars on their podcasts discussing what’s going on in their lives, etc. Sometimes I’ll listen to decluttering and minimalist podcasts to get myself encouraged to improve things around my own home. I also listen to budgeting and money saving podcasts to get some good tips. Overall, I know it’s a wide range of topics, but each is in an area that I’m interested in.

Daily Writing Prompts

Sleep Schedule – Daily Writing Prompt

karislsmith
Daily writing prompt
What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?
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Well I for one am in bed between 9:00 and 9:30. I just can’t seem to stay awake past then, and I am not a night owl by any means. Honestly, I could probably go to be even before that. I’m normally exhausted after my work day and sometimes even dozing on the couch before then.

I wake up between 5:30 and 6:00. Really, I should be waking up at 5:30 everyday, but I struggle big time with the snooze button. It’s just so easy for me to hit that button and tell myself 10 more minutes, but having a nice morning routine is something that I’m currently striving for. Hopefully, with some help from the books Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits, I can make this a reality. I would love to get up and not be rushed in the morning.

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Decluttering and Home Management

karislsmith

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Lately, I’ve taken a big interest in decluttering. I kept finding myself looking around my messy house and trying to figure out how it got that way. We didn’t have that much stuff did we? Why could we not keep it under control? It just didn’t make sense to me.

Let’s start from the beginning. In 2020 we were still living in our first house together, the one that we brought our sweet baby home to back in 2016. It was not a small house by any means at 2,460 square feet with a walkout basement. However, we had a toddler at the time with a bedroom and a playroom. We used up all the space that we had in one form or another. We had accumulated a lot of stuff. It’s not that we wanted something bigger. I don’t want to give that impression, but we wanted something with more land, and if it was a little bigger then so be it. Hence, why we moved in the summer of 2020.

The house that we purchased was quite a bit bigger than our previous house. It was literally my dream house. When we first moved in, there were quite a few empty spaces. However, over the next couple of years that quickly changed. We started to fill every nook and cranny. We didn’t have any more kids, so we can’t blame it on that. There were no long term house guests, or really any reason for us to accumulate more stuff.

I found myself feeling frustrated every day that our house just seemed so cluttered. Stacks of school papers and art projects were sitting in the mudroom area where they had been carelessly thrown out of my daughter’s backpack when she arrived home. Mail, both opened and unopened, littered the kitchen counter. My office/the craft room was a literal disaster area with finished and half finished art projects from my daughter, bins of supplies, playdoh, art kits etc. Random toys were just all over the house including the craft room, living room, my daughter’s bedroom, and the playroom.

Not only did the house feel cluttered, but how in the world was I suppose to keep things clean when there were literally surfaces that couldn’t be reached under papers and floors that couldn’t be reached under toys. It was hard enough to just keep up with the day to day cleaning tasks and laundry. Although, let’s be real, with all of this going on I wasn’t the best at keeping up with getting the laundry actually put away.

Even with all of this going on, I had no idea where to even start. Until one day, I came across an audible book while looking through some sale items. The book: Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White. The title jumped right out at me. Decluttering? Yes that’s what I needed! She goes through step by step processes on how to not only declutter your home, but how to actually keep it decluttered. I didn’t even know decluttering was such a popular and needed topic that there would be books on it. I cannot recommend this book enough. It really opened my eyes to things that I was keeping around that I really didn’t need. I took out countless bags of stuff out of my house everything from clothes to kitchen items. If I couldn’t remember using it or wearing it since we moved over two years ago, then I didn’t need it. I can’t believe the impact that even just that strategy made.

After the decluttering though, how was I suppose to keep it that way? Well guess what, Dana K. White has a book for that too. How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind has so many good processes to follow that keep things from getting out of control again. It walks you through how to do this in your unique situation with your unique personality.

After reading these two books, I also found that Dana has a podcast called “A Slob Comes Clean”. I enjoy listening to it on a weekly basis, and it serves as a reminder to keep moving forward and following my weekly tasks. Of course once I followed the podcast, my Apple Podcasts app suggested other similar podcasts that I began listening to such as the “Clutterbug Podcast” with Cat Aarssen and “The Decluttered Mom Podcast” with Diana Rene. I actually enjoy hearing the stories and tips each week, and they keep me focused and encouraged.

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Who am I?

karislsmith

My name is Karis, and I am oh so many things – a mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, accountant, and writer/blogger – and I’m just trying to balance it all. How do I do that? Well honestly, I don’t. I just focus on one thing at a time that needs my attention and keep trying my best. I struggle some days, and some days I feel like I have it figured out.

I had the thought a while back that it would be fun to actually publish my thoughts instead of just jotting them all down for myself. Everything from my struggles to my triumphs. I’ll write it all in the hopes that other can relate and not feel so isolated and alone. Who knows – maybe we’ll all learn something along the way.