It's a minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily Episode 2026,

the key to simplifying your journey by Julie Frito with nosidebar.com and I'm Justin Malik.

Happy Monday and welcome to one of the only podcasts in the world where blogs are

narrated to you for free. That's with permission from the authors. And I'll get right to it and

start optimizing your life. The key to simplifying your journey by Julie Frito

with nosidebar.com. Last week I was sitting on my bedroom floor with my toddler and infant

as they played with their toys. I felt on edge, irritated, and annoyed. They weren't the cause

of my angst. Taking care of little ones can be stressful at times but they were behaving and

happy so it wasn't about that. It was about the busyness of my life and neglect of tidying which

caused a catastrophic state of my bedroom. My bed was covered in a pile of unfolded clothes that

hadn't moved since they were dropped there in the morning. My dresser had so many papers, toys,

and other misplaced items scattered across it. I winced when I looked over at the newborn

stroller attachment that was still sitting on the floor. The one that for some reason I continued

to clean around all week instead of making the effort to find a proper place for it.

There were at least eight framed family pictures that were still wrapped in bubble wrap from

our move, laying up against a wall which they were intended to be hung. Several of my previously

super organized drawers were left open and also a total mess. This didn't feel like the simple

life I thought I was living. My space was cluttered and I felt physically and mentally unwell because

of it. I couldn't focus on being present with my kids because I was too worried about all the work

I needed to do and had neglected to do for many days. I was angry. I thought to myself,

I'm an organized person now. I'm supposed to keep my time, my family, my things on track.

What's going on? Have you ever been there before? We have all had days or weeks where everything

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