Life doesn’t have to be hard and complicated yet we make it so. Our life is a result of all the choices we’ve made. Sorry, not sorry. Today I want to show you how to simplify life in 25 ways.
So many people are so stressed out these days and completely overwhelmed with life and things and work and, and, and…oy!
It doesn’t have to be that way. You deserve to life a happy life, not a complicated stressed out one!
But first things first. We need to understand what it means to simplify your life.
So what does it mean to simplify your life?
First of all, it’s important to understand why your life is so complicated and how it got that way. Was it always chaos or is this something that’s been increasing year after year?
To simplify your life means to reduce or eliminate things (yes even people) that are no longer needed, probably never were needed, and don’t serve a useful purpose in your life.
Living simply means to be happy with what you have, not cluttering your life with ‘things’ (aka stop trying to buy happiness), and not trying to keep up with the Joneses.’
Let’s face it, we have too much stuff and too much going on all the damn time. People think that if they stay busy and get involved in clubs and organizations and all other kinds of eventful things, they are being productive and helpful.
Well, you kinda are, and you kinda aren’t. How many times do you find yourself, at the end of the day, thinking, “damn, where did the day go”?. And then you flop into bed exhausted and realize you didn’t do anything for YOU!
Your time ran out.
Why? Because you were too busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to do everything for everyone and ‘keeping busy’ when, in fact, all you did was exhaust yourself and stress yourself out.
Sorry, not sorry, but that’s a hard truth. So many of us do that. It’s time to stop doing all that and start working on ways to simplify your life so you can be happier.
Let’s do this!
(this post contains affiliate links so if you make a purchase I make a small commission-affiliate disclosure)
How to Simplify Your life and be happy
We spend so much time and money on things and people that we think are going to make us happy and fill our lives, but all it does is ‘fill our lives’ with things we really don’t need, nor do they make us happy.
What’s the point?
The way to happiness is through minimalism (though this isn’t a minimalism blog) and really just keeping life simple. The more things we have and the more things we have to do doesn’t usually bring us much joy or happiness.
Amirite?
I found this really cool video on YouTube that I thought you might enjoy. I like the way he explains things in an easy to comprehend manner.
Will this make my life easier or better?
Before you buy anything or do anything, you need to ask yourself this one simple yet profound question: will this simplify your life?
If not, guess what? Don’t do/buy it.
You need to really stop and answer that question honestly. We’ve been so accustomed to doing and buying things to make us happy, but all that does is give us temporary happiness and complicate our lives.
We don’t want to do that anymore. That’s kinda why you’re here, right? 🙂
So let’s get right to the 25 things you can start doing now to make your life simpler, with less stress, so you can be happier! And then I’m gonna share a 30-day simplify your life challenge. Ooh!!
25 Ways to Simplify Your Life
In no order of particular importance (because they’re all important!!), I’m going to share some steps to simplify your life.
1 Make a list of the things that are truly necessary that you absolutely must do each day in order to function and survive properly. What I mean by that is that things like eating, showering, working, meal prep, etc., are necessary things. Your day-to-day commitments.
2 Stick to those things, and when someone calls and asks you to help with something, it’s ok to say no to them and yes to you. People pleasers stop saying yes to everything. You don’t have to. Let someone else help once in a while.
3 Go through your house room by room and start making “sell/donate/garbage piles” of things you really don’t need or use anymore. You could be sitting on lots of money! Find out how to declutter your life here in one of my recent posts.
4 Detox from social media and all the drama going on over there. You could read one post and waste an hour reading comments or arguing. Stop doing that.
5 Have you thought about selling your car lately? Oh, the insurance cost, the maintenance, the gas consumption, the repairs, ugh. Can you take a bus or walk? Might be time to get rid of your vehicle.
6 Delegate errands and chores. Can someone else in the family take on some chores or responsibilities so you aren’t doing everything yourself? You’re not superhuman. Delegate delegate delegate!!!
Pin7 Clean up messes/dishes/etc, immediately. Don’t let things like that pile up because before you know it, you’ll have one helluva mess on your hands. Knock ’em out right away.
8 Do a closet check. You may have shoes, purses, dresses (need I go on?) that you never use anymore or haven’t touched in forever. So, do you really need them? Donate them. There are many women in shelters for domestic violence who need to start over, and they have nothing.
9 Don’t shop without a list, ever, and don’t stray off that list when you go shopping, either. Buy what you need, and leave the rest on the shelf.
10 Use the Pomodoro technique for time management. I do 90 minutes on and 15 minutes off. The off time is your time to relax and recharge, get a snack, and do little things. This is great for people who work from home. Thank me later.
11 Do things you love to do, not what everyone else loves. Take time for yourself, and only do things that make your heart sing. Leave the kids, hubby, whatever. Just go do you, Felicia!!
12 Practice patience and start doing things slowly. Don’t always be in such a hurry for things. Slow down, take deep breaths, you know that whole ‘be here now’ stuff. Accidents happen when we’re in a hurry and not paying attention. Chill out!
13 For peeps who work from home, “CLEAN OFF YOUR DESK”! Ugh. Such clutter. For real. Take a day or two and go through your desk and office and get rid of junk. Cleaning up really old files and things is also really good Feng Shui!
14 Make a weekly meal plan or prepare meals in advance if you can. When we have things planned out for us with all the necessary ingredients on hand, your meal life will be so much simpler! Yay!
15 Put things in their place. Everything has its place, and if it doesn’t, then find one. Make sure you put things where they belong or give them their own home.
Pin16 Don’t worry about the time so much. Does it matter what time it is every hour of the day (unless you work from home and are practicing the Pomodoro technique)? Like, who cares? Nap if you’re tired, eat if you’re hungry, go out when you want. Period.
17 Unplug from everything! You know, no cell phone or TV. Just you and some chill music, maybe a journal and a pen. Take at least 15 minutes, longer if you can, a day, and just forget about everything.
18 Make a list of your goals. And instead of stressing out over them, why not set short-term and long-term goals but make them realistic and achievable? Otherwise, you’re just causing chaos in your life. Trello or a whiteboard might be your best friend here.
19 Cancel email subscriptions. You already know you have to do this. Do you really need to be subscribed to 25 How to be happy blogs or 14 cooking/recipe sites? I think not. Start saying bye-bye and keep the ones you love.
20 Clean out your purse! Please, clean it out. How much is necessary, how much is junk, and how often do you have to dig through your purse looking for things only to shriek in anger because you can’t find them? You can empty it. It’s ok. You’ll get through this.
21 Are you ready to downsize? You know, a smaller house or apartment, maybe a smaller car? Less stress, less bills, less maintenance…just sayin’.
22 Can you simplify your banking life? How many accounts do you have, and seriously, how many do you need? Can you join assets or transfer them all to one bank? Look into that for me, will ya?
23 Close out some tabs on your computer. How many have you got open right now? Girl. Are you using all 35 right now? Click that little x. Go on. I’ll wait.
24 Prepare tomorrow, tonight. Make a list of things you know you need to do (the necessary things) so you already know what tomorrow will bring and you don’t wake up a frazzled mess.
25 Carry a water bottle and healthy snacks with you at all times so you are always hydrated and won’t make poor food choices. Like stopping at the drive-thru coffee place and ordering a dozen donuts.
PinSo that was pretty painless, yes?
I really need you to take a good, hard look at your life and all the chaos, stress, and drama you have going on now and get rid of it. Like right now.
You do want to be happier, don’t you??
Do you have any super cool ways how to simplify your life that I didn’t mention here? Drop them down below for the rest of us!
mad love
xo iva xo
