Can you breathe? Really breathe? Hear the silence? Do nothing?

For how long? In just a moment, are you panic stricken that you’re not doing something somehow somewhere? Must you at least be reading a book, surfing the Internet, listening to music or something?

Your prescription … simplify. Please. Now. For your health. Yes, people actually have simplified and finally found relief from ongoing symptoms, even disease. Simplicity in its purest, isn’t it? Just think – people have struck out far and wide for answers to their health issues, then decided to simply simplify, and, in that action, found what they were looking for – and spending a lot of money on.

Simplifying isn’t just about cleaning your closet. It’s about paring down your to do list. Stepping away from technology for periods of time. Learning to delegate. Learning to say, “No.” Re-training yourself to enjoy a moment, an hour, a day, a week without rush, rush, rush and the constant dinging of your phone, computer and more.

It’s tough; I know. It’s so easy to fall into the habit. My first question about being invited to a single girls’ long weekend away at a house near a beach almost was: “Is there wi-fi there?” But, whew, I caught myself. I realized that not only would the long weekend away to relax, walk/run the beach, read, ponder, enjoy girl talk (okay, okay, woman talk) be good for me but so would stepping away from email, etc.

Where can you start? What speaks to you the most? To make some space in your office or home? To knock things off that to do list so you have breathing room? To give yourself a tech break? To allow yourself to say, “No” once in a while, and stop trying to be all things for all people?

Start with one, not all. Start with one decision to do one part. Make notes about how you’re feeling before you initiate any changes. Then, observe the results. See what changes in how you feel, health-wise. Jot down the differences. Before/after isn’t just for weight loss. Noting the changes will encourage you. Otherwise, they can too easily be discounted, go unnoticed. That doesn’t give you motivation and encouragement to continue on. Why would you do it if it didn’t present any reward?

So reward yourself by making sure you notice the evidence. And, hey, if you want to reward yourself some other way as well, please, be my guest! Just don’t do it by adding more stuff.