10 QUICK WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE

1. Look through your calendar – Is there anything on there that you can postpone or cancel? Do you need to do everything on there for the next week or month or could you find a way to say ‘no’ and, equally, find a way to be ok with that? Saying ‘yes’ to everything means we can’t give 100% to everything. Saying ‘yes’ to one thing means saying ‘no’ to something else.
2. Plan your meals for tomorrow – That includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Make sure you’ve got the ingredients and prepare what you can in advance. Look forward to eating your meals without the prior stress of deciding what to eat, how to cook it and whether you’ve got everything you need.
3. Lay out your clothes for tomorrow – This includes your kids’ clothes too! Check the weather forecast so you know whether it’s shorts or thermals! Lay things out from top to bottom, underwear to outerwear, socks to hair bands. Eliminate decisions first thing in the morning when you’ve got enough to do and, usually, not enough time to do it in!
4. Make a To Do list for tomorrow – List just 3 things that you need to get done tomorrow. Add more if you want but these are just a luxury only if you get those 3 most important things done. Your To Do list should inspire and motivate you, not bring you down for being unrealistic! Check out this post on how to write a simple, strategic To Do list for more help with this.
5. Clear your kitchen worktop – Flat surfaces around your home are a notorious clutter-hotspot. Take a moment to tackle just one of these surfaces in the kitchen. Re-home anything that normally lives on the worktop and put it in a cupboard or drawer for now. Enjoy having a clearer surface that’s easier to clean, looks more spacious and is easier to prepare food on.
6. Start a shopping list on your phone – Keep an ongoing shopping list handy for next time you hit the shops. Include anything that’s running low and refer to it next time you go shopping. You’re much less likely to run out of things so you also won’t need to run to the shops for a last-minute errand.
7. Put a laundry load on – Change a bed or swap some towels if you need to bump up the load. Plan 10 minutes’ worth of housework tomorrow and the next so you do a little bit often. No need to let it build up and sap your time and energy when you could be doing other things!
8. Experiment with decluttering – Pick a room, say the living room, bathroom or bedroom. Clear the surfaces and remove everything except the necessary and the truly loved. Put the rest in a box for now and deal with these later after your experiment is over. See how easy it is to look after that room and how it feels to be in it!
9. Brain dump onto paper – Spend 5 minutes brainstorming the biggest stressors in your life onto paper. Write them all down, thrash out why they’re stressing you out and see if you can find ways to overcome them. 5 minutes of your time now could save you loads of stress for the future.
10. Sit still for 5 minutes – I warn you, it’s not as easy as it sounds! Use those five minutes to think what you’re grateful for, what makes you get up in the morning, what makes you laugh, what makes you happy. Make a pledge to yourself to do more of these things every day if possible!