One of the things I’ve learned on my anxiety journey is that when I feel overwhelmed, and there is a lot going on in different areas of my life, my anxiety heightens.

When there is less clutter (at home), a more organized system (at work), and my meals are planned out for the week, life is easier and my anxiety drops a significant amount.

My mantra as of late has been simplify, simplify, simplify. So when Aera reached out about promoting their simplicity challenge, the timing couldn’t have been better!

Scroll all the way down for details on how to enter their challenge to simplify your home, relationships, career, and health and to enter to win a giveaway of simplicity goodies valued at over $1,000 (PS Only one week left!)

In the meantime, I hope some of these tips that I’ve put into place in my own life are helpful for you too. And happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Tips to Simplify Your Life

Wardrobe: At this point I feel like I’m beating a dead horse in telling you about how the KonMari method of de-cluttering has changed my life. But I’ll say it again because it’s worth it. Read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and put it into practice.

Take every single thing out of your closet and dresser and only keep the things that spark joy. Get rid of all of those socks with holes in them! Do you really need 14 bras? Maybe those “skinny jeans” aren’t actually motivation if they’ve been hanging for years. Once you do this, going forward fill your wardrobe with pieces of clothing that spark joy and nothing else.

When you don’t have a ton of stuff, it will make you breathe a little better. Your entire home, not only your closet, will feel more peaceful and calm.

Home: I’ve been trying to practice KonMari all over my home and not just in my wardrobe, but I also add certain things to make it feel more serene. Because I work from home, I need to be calm and productive during those precious hours when Amalia is in daycare.

I have Bluetooth speakers play chill music and I like to have my office smell good but not too strong or sweet. I often burn candles but Aera recently sent me their diffuser and I’ve been loving it. The simplicity collection of scents are subtle and smell so so so pretty.

My two favorites so far are lavender with bergamot and woods for when I need a calming vibe, and white tea with jasmine and wild thyme for when I need something a little more upbeat. I haven’t tried the sandalwood yet, but I know I’ll love it because it’s my favorite smell ever.

I love that these scents are clean and fresh and safe for pets and babies too… Obviously!

Career: I’m still figuring out how to work from home as a mom but one thing that’s helped more than anything has been time blocking. I’m still playing around with how to use it so stay tuned for a full post on that but look it up and try it for yourself. It’s insanely helpful and keeps me focused on one task at a time.

And that serene working environment does a lot more than you think. To be my most productive self, my desk has to be completely clutter free!

Health: Health is never a simple thing but with my recent sinus issues, I’ve been thinking about it more and more lately. Every year, schedule a visit with your PCP, dermatologist, gynecologist, and dentist to make sure you’re covered. If you’re like me and have a specific issue, make sure to see that doctor (in my case, an ENT) yearly too.

I could go on for days about how I try to stay healthy but the simple version is: Move my body every single day, eat as cleanly as possible but don’t be crazy about it, take my supplements, and get enough sleep! You can read more about my health philosophy here.

Food: Meal plan, meal plan meal plan. Oh and did I mention meal planning?

Relationships: A good relationship isn’t necessarily easy. Whether it’s a marriage or a friendship or a parent/child relationship, it takes work to stay on track. This is one of my favorite all time posts and it’s about how Anel and I work on our marriage.

Join the Simplicity Challenge

Through May 31st (there’s only a week left!), you can join Aera’s “Simplicity Challenge”, to simplify various areas of your life. Share your progress by tagging @AeraForHome and using the campaign hashtag #AeraSimplicityChallenge.

One participant will be chosen next week to win an Aera diffuser and Simplicity scent capsule plus one lucky participant will win the ultimate giveaway of simplicity products and services – valued at 1K. Enter here.

Use code LEMONSTRIPES20 for 20% off any Aera products through July 3rd, 2018.

Dress / Necklace c/o

Thank you to Aera for sponsoring this post. All opinions, as always, are 100% my own. Photos by Julia D’Agostino.