I’m a minimalist. Well, that’s actually not true, but I intend to be.

Somewhere in the southeastern suburbs, my mother is laughing at me right now:

“MY DAUGHTER? A MINIMALIST? Have you SEEN her room? Her CAR? HA!

No seriously, have you?”

I dabbled in what was deemed Project: Simplify all year, getting rid of clothes here and there, selling a few DVDs I haven’t touched in years, cleaning out a drawer or two, but I haven’t really simplified. At least not where it counts.

We’ve all been there. Suffering from information overload, multi-tasking work and life all at once, and a thousand more ideas for things we want to accomplish. I am pretty much the queen of that.

And guess what?

Everything is getting tackled in tiny little increments, never really completed. Then I find more to do, more to read, more to think about.

And where has that gotten me?

Half-way through everything I suppose, never really accomplishing anything.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve stumbled across a lot of different sources of information with essentially what’s been the same message. I feel like I’m being told in every direction to SIMPLIFY! MINIMALIZE! ZENIFY!

Yes, I just made up the word zenify. I think. (Don’t tell me if I didn’t)

I wasn’t looking for this kind of instruction, but it’s what I seem to be finding myself paying attention to as I searched for the slightest bit of order in an increasingly BUSY life.

It’s likely that the start of my Yoga Teacher Training program in just TWO WEEKS has something to do with this. Maybe I’m subconsciously seeking out all of these things, or maybe they’re really just finally on my radar because they’re relevant ideas right now when I’ve been feeling overwhelmed a lot lately and about to start a program that embraces these ideals.

Whatever it is, I’m embracing it, and because this is Social Media, I’m sharing it!

In the last couple of weeks, I have found a lot of inspiration and amazingly awesome writers in these places:
Blogs

• Gwen Bell – all-around KICKASS 20-something blogger, social media guru, yoga instructor, world traveler. I think it goes without saying that she’s pretty much my HERO right about now.
• Maggie Mason - MightyGirl.com – She made her Life List and is now living it and blogging about it, and who doesn’t daydream about doing that?
• Leo Babauta - Zen Habits and mnmlist.com
• Chris Guillebeau - The Art of Nonconformity

Books

• Less, Marc Lesser
• The 4-Hour Work Week - Nicole actually brought me this audiobook back in May, swearing that I just had to read it. I finally popped the first CD in my car stereo this morning on my way to work, and so far? Interesting stuff. Best line so far (on running away from it all to try to figure it all out):

“I took a vacation to Italy where I basically spent 10 hours a day in internet cafes FREAKING OUT. Shitballs.”

(Hearing that on audio book made it even better.)

I’m trying to absorb everything and find a way to personalize these ideas about being more productive, effective, and accomplished, but with more focus and energy committed to doing everything I do – work, write, relationships, read, run, live, car-dance, learn, LOVE – more completely.

This summer was really strongly focused on community. This fall? Looks like it may be a little more introspective. And homebodied. I’m ready for some serious weekend re-bonding with my beautifully fabulous city.

Any other recommendations, readers and friends? If I want to FOCUS ON LESS but do it BETTER, and simplify my life, and facilitate a minimalist and happy-place lifestyle, what should I read? What should I practice?

What do YOU do?