Tips for Trying Emily Ley’s Simplicity Challenge

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s 2020, and I’m so excited about all the possibilities of a brand new year! I especially love getting new planners, setting new goals, and trying out different routines. But, this year, I decided to try something new, and it’s all thanks to my Simplified Planner. Which, by the way, as of this post, there are still some planners available at EmilyLey.com, and they are running a 20% off sale. Once they sell out, they’re gone, so check them out if you’re interested in using what I think is the best daily planner on the market! First-time customers may be able to knock an additional $10 off of your purchase by using my referral code.

The Simplicity Challenge

This is my second year using a Simplified Planner by Emily Ley. As I mentioned in a previous post, my weekdays are usually pretty crazy, which means that I need a lot of space to time block my schedule and write out my to do list. After researching a number of daily planners, I settled on the Simplified Planner, not just because it is beautiful (which it is), but because I had read one of Emily Ley’s books, “Grace, Not Perfection,” and loved her simplified philosophy. But, if I’m being honest, I have to admit that I did not come to the realization that I needed a daily planner until after the new year. So, I got my first Simplified Planner in February of 2019, which meant I was a little late to the prep work section at the beginning of the planner and did not notice until a few months later that in each planner there is a Simplicity Challenge. That said, after leafing through the planner’s beautiful Mohawk paper pages, I stumbled across the challenge and immediately became intrigued.

(I now own all of Emily Ley’s books. Her first one is “A Simplified Life: Tactical Tools for Intentional Living.” (#Ad))

(But, the first one I read was one I received as a Mother’s Day gift from a dear friend. This is “Grace, Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy” and I’ve chosen my word of the year, Grace, based in part on this book: (#Ad))

By time time I found this wonderful list of daily tasks that are designed to help you create a more simplified life and home, I didn’t feel the time was right to get started. It seemed daunting to try to do a task every single day for a month when I was already feeling overwhelmed by all I had to do each day. But, I found the courage to get started after trying another month-long challenge: 30 Days of Gratitude. As I noted in another post, I wanted to be intentional about my gratitude during the month of November 2019, so I decided to use social media as a way to hold myself accountable and remain consistent with my gratitude postings. After doing my daily gratitude challenge, I felt confident I could tackle Emily Ley’s list.

So, on November 30th, I reached out to the Simplified Sisterhood, a private FaceBook group, to see if anyone would be interested in doing this in December with me. Why December? Well, a few reasons. First, I really wanted to try the Simplicity Challenge before the year ended. It became a last-minute bucket list item. Second, I wanted to start the upcoming year on good footing, and after reviewing some of the challenge tasks, it seemed like a good way to prepare my home and my mind for the New Year. And, finally, I teach a night class at a law school during the spring semester. I knew I would be too overwhelmed by gearing up for another semester of teaching to add a daily challenge to my list.

The Simplified Sisterhood group was very supportive. Since Emily Ley starts the official challenge in January, they recommended I post my challenge tasks and updates on Instagram. So, I created an Instagram design on Canva’s website to announce each challenge, and a few of the ladies from the Simplified Sisterhood group starting following my Instagram Page: @planonthesunrise.

(By the way, I create all of my infographics and designs on Canva, which is an online graphic design tool and has lots of free templates. Here is a referral code if you want to try it out for yourself.)

How the Challenge Went

As you see from the graphic I created to start the challenge, I called it the 31-Day Simplicity Challenge, as I had done some internet research and found a prior challenge that lasted 31 days. I figured there are 31 days in both December and January, so that must be how long the challenge lasts. But, when I compared the challenge in my planner to the one online, I saw that there were only 30 tasks in the planner version and some were different from the ones on the internet. I gave myself a little grace and decided I would call it the 31-Day Challenge, use the tasks in the planner (since most folks had that version), and just create a bonus task for the last day. Since I added a day, and it happened to be New Year’s Eve, I decided to make the bonus task completing the prep work pages in our Simplified Planners, which was the perfect way to end both the Challenge and the year!

All told, I am really glad that I tried this challenge, and that I did so in December. With company coming, it was such a help to do things like clean out the fridge, restock bathroom, pantry, and household essentials, and write out a morning routine and weekly prep list. Moreover, Emily Ley encourages you to do things I had not give much thought to such as setting a recurring alarm for the weekdays, buying a few birthday cards to keep on hand for unexpected events, and updating the photo on my phone’s lock screen. Also, many of the tasks aligned with goal-setting, which is something I tend to do in December.

I used my Amazon Echo Dot to set a recurring alarm for the weekdays. (#Ad).

Truth be told, some of the tasks were a challenge, but I think that was just me. For example, I was not sure how to use the directmail.com website to remove my address from mailing lists (as I’m kinda paranoid and worried that I might be adding my address to lists where it wasn’t previously stored.) I also could not clear off my home desk, because I share it with my husband, and we’ve had to compromise on what stays on it. But, I found work arounds for most obstacles and feel like a did a good job keeping up with the tasks.

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Some Tips for Anyone Wishing to Try the Challenge

• Look Ahead. Since I had promised not just myself, but others following my Instagram page, to post both the task of the day and an update with my completed mission, it was really helpful to see what was coming on the days ahead. I used the monthly spread in my Happy Planner, which I use in part for household chore planning (see post here), to briefly summarize each task. (I use the monthly layout in my Simplified Planner just for work scheduling). For me, it was helpful to mentally prepare myself for what I had to do, such as getting donation boxes or trash bags ready. This was especially true on weekdays when I was doing these tasks after a full day of work.

• Use a Timer. I wish I had done this more often. I’m the kind of person who can become totally engrossed in a clean-up or decluttering task and make it take way longer than it needs to. In the planner, Emily Ley says that each task should take about 15 minutes. Set a timer and stop after 15 minutes to make the tasks more manageable.
• Find some accountability. I don’t think I would have stuck with this challenge without the accountability I had by posting each morning and night to social media. It led me to write things out on my calendar, create one graphic per day with a description of the task, and I definitely felt the pressure to get each task done since I knew folks were following what I posted. Even if you don’t want to go the social media route, buddy up with a friend and do the challenge together so you can cheer each other on and make sure you stick with it.
• Think progress, not perfection. I could have gotten frustrated when I got the number of days wrong for the challenge. Or the times that I didn’t complete a task perfectly, I might have been tempted to give up. But, I think that the creator of this challenge, Ms. Emily Ley herself, would have been saddened to learn that I had taken something that’s meant to bring joy and turned into a stressor. I did what I could with what I had, and I celebrated my progress.

Would I do this challenge again?

I would absolutely do this challenge again, and I think I may go back to the Simplicity Challenge tasks in my planner every so often to redo some of the challenge items throughout the year. Cleaning out the fridge is definitely more than a one-time-a-year chore, as is regularly decluttering. I highly recommend everyone try this challenge, and the best part is, it’s never too late to start! For those who own a Simplified Planner, the challenge is going on all through January- just start where you are! If you want daily updates, follow @emilyley on Instagram or on FaceBook.

Do you own a Simplified Planner? Have you tried the Simplicity Challenge? Leave a comment below!

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