QUICK WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE
Simplifying your life doesn’t need to be complicated or overwhelming. There are some easy and quick ways to simplify your life that will make a difference right now. Check out this post for some quick wins to help you see and feel the benefits of decluttering and simplifying your life today!
HOW TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE
Bringing a little simplicity into our lives is not about creating the perfect life but it is about finding ways to make life easier. It could be by decluttering a cluttered home, it could be knocking things off our calendar so we’re less busy, it could be by developing some better habits, looking after ourselves more and learning to say no sometimes.
There are many, many ways that we can simplify our busy lives and the path we choose to help us do this will look different to all of us. Whether you’re a student juggling studying with part-time work, a parent juggling kids and career or retired and finding you have too much time on your hands and maybe too much clutter accumulated over the years, simplicity looks and feels different to all of us.
One thing I do know is that when you’re looking to make changes, big or small, it helps to have some quick wins. These are things that we can tick off quickly and easily when we’ve done them. We can feel proud of getting them done, motivated to carry on and encouraged by the progress and the benefits we can see and feel.
Quick wins are good for giving us a boost. Life is complicated enough sometimes so I’m all for things that give us joy and oomph and that’s what I’d like to share with you today – quick ways to simplify your life and help you feel better, the simple way!
QUICK WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE
Here are some quick ways to simplify your life and help you find more ease and lightness instead of stress and rush.
1. Look through your calendar: Is there anything on there that you can postpone or cancel? Do you need to do everything listed 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?
2. Clear your nightstand: Only have what you need for the night. Read more about how to declutter your bedroom and why it matters.
3. Clear out your purse or wallet: Get rid of expired coupons and vouchers, match receipts against your bank statements and shred or file as appropriate.
4. Check through the apps on your phone: Declutter what you don’t use, re-organise what’s left.
5. Declutter your fridge: Throw out stale food or anything you won’t eat. Clear the front of the fridge.
6. Write a Not-To-Do list: Name 3 things you’re NOT going to do this week.
7. 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.
8. Lay out your clothes for tomorrow: 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!
9. Go through your make-up: Discard anything that’s past its best and make a list to buy replacements when you can.
10. Look through your contact list or address book: Check your contacts are up-to-date and you have a list of emergency contacts in case you ever need it.
11. Spend 5 minutes sorting through your emails: Delete the junk, flag up the ones to action, create folders for easy searching and archive the rest.
12. Check your outgoings: Look through your bank statements and see if there are any expenses you can get rid of.
13. Clear the rubbish: Empty the bins and put out the recycling.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. Paper clutter: Deal with the pile of paperwork that’s been needing your attention.
18. Clear the rubbish from your car: Make sure you’ve got spare change, baby wipes, notepad and pen, tissues and anything else you might like to keep handy.
19. Start small: Try one of these gentle Simplicity Challenges.
20. Grab a free download: Create some household routines to help making running your home quicker and easier.
21. Start your day right: Try some of these morning routine ideas to help create more ease and less stress in those busy mornings.
22. Declutter every day: Put a box by your front door and aim to put something in it every day this week to declutter or donate. Empty it at the end of the week.
23. 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!
24. 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! Try this 30-day Declutter Challenge.
25. 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.
26. Block out some time for yourself: Make a pact to take your lunch-break, not grab a sandwich at your desk or enjoy a nap whilst the baby naps. If you don’t have time, make time, even if it’s just 10 minutes.
27. Delegate: Get your kids to tidy their room or do some chores around the house, your partner to cook dinner or walk the dog. It’s ok to ask for help.
28. Be mindful of what clutters your life: As you go about your day, be aware of when you feel stressed, tired or busy. What triggers these feelings and what can you do to ease them? Awareness that there’s a problem is the first step to solving that problem.
29. 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!
30. Clear your desk: A cluttered outer environment = a cluttered inward environment. Read the research here.
31. Write out what’s important to you: If you don’t know, or need some guidance, check out this post and the free worksheet.
32. Read this post on why I decided to simplify my life: Why do you want to simplify your life? Make your own list and refer to it often.
QUICK WINS TO LONG-TERM HABITS
Many of the ideas I’ve suggested in this article will give you some quick wins but practice them regularly and they’ll also give you some long-term gain.
Simplifying life isn’t a do-it-once kind of project that you can tick off. Simplicity is, in fact, a lifestyle and mindset shift that one needs to practice every day.
That practice isn’t always conscious, it becomes second nature after a bit. You just naturally often choose less over more, quality over quantity, mindful over mindless.
That’s not to say you won’t ever do things on a whim, because they’re frivolous or fun – a simple life isn’t dull, bland or about never spending money or making decisions and then u-turning on them. But, a simpler life is one that’s more full of the things that lift us up than hold us back.
And those quick wins which can turn into long-term life choices can give us space, time and freedom to make the most of that life.
You might like this article on daily habits for a clutter-free home or this article on the benefits of simplifying life for some more ideas.
FURTHER RESOURCES ON SIMPLIFYING LIFE
Here are some other posts and resources on decluttering and simplifying life which you might find helpful:
- 20 ways to declutter your home
- 20 things that waste time in the day
- Minimalism and motherhood
- 3 mindsets to help you get more out of life
- 20 ways to be happier
GRAB YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD
If you’d like to declutter and simplify your life, I invite you to get your copy of my free Declutter Starter Kit.
It’s packed with projects, tips and advice to help you clear clutter from your home, schedule, heart and mind and keep it away!
Pop your details in the box to get started today…