10 THINGS TO DO IN FEBRUARY TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE (+ FREE CHECKLIST)

The long month of January is over and February arrives to bring cold temperatures and bracing winds. It’s the month of love with Valentine’s day, half-term holidays for those with kids at school and plenty of time wrapped up indoors to think about how you can declutter your home this Spring. Check out these 10 things to do in February to simplify your life!

HOW TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE THIS MONTH

January is the month that many of us begin to re-look at our homes and our lives. We make resolutions for the New Year, embark on making all sorts of new changes and keep them up with varying degrees of success.

What I’ve found from many failed experiments and goals in the past, is that for any changes I make to be sustainable and effective, they need to be pretty easy to implement and I need some quick-wins. I need to feel good about what I’m doing and see the benefit.

Simplifying my own life was all about making small changes, changes that stuck and really make a difference to my everyday life. Not just in January but for the rest of the year and going forward each year after that.

“If January is the month of change, February is the month of lasting change. January is for dreamers… February is for doers.” (Marc Parent)

In this article, I’m sharing a few suggestions for things to do in February to simplify your life. Pick and choose what’s relevant to you, try them out for size and see how they work!

10 THINGS TO DO IN FEBRUARY TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE

Here are 10 ideas to simplify your life this month. Small steps that will hopefully help to bring a little love, joy and ease to your every day.

1. Time with your partner

It’s Valentine’s Day this month so think about ways you can spend some quality time with your other half. If you can’t arrange childcare, then get creative about ways you can find some special time together. Check out my post on 20 ways to bond with your partner. Try these clutter-free Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

2. Time for you

If you don’t have a partner, then organise some time when you can just spend time looking after yourself! Can you carve out a few minutes for yourself today?

3. Half-term school holiday

School takes a break for a week in February as the kids enjoy their half-term holiday. It’s a welcome break for them as the Spring school term can feel a cold, dark, hard slog. However, if you’re a parent (and specially a working parent) then you’ll need to plan what you’re going to do with your little ones so that you can all enjoy the holiday! If it involves art and craft activities, check out the point below…

4. Sort the arts and crafts supplies

If your kids are anything like mine then it’s easy for the arts and crafts supplies to mount up. I’m not sure where they all come from and despite my best decluttering efforts, we seem to always end up with more pens, pencils, erasers, stickers, colouring books etc than we know what to do with. Of course, there’s also pens that dry out, pencils that have been dropped so often that the lead keeps breaking… I find that if there’s too much stuff, my kids just don’t know which to choose from and simply end up grabbing some plain blank paper and a few pencils anyway! Take some time to sort through what you’d like to keep, what’s just clutter, what doesn’t work anymore and get rid of it! Try these tips for decluttering art and craft supplies.

5. What you say ‘yes’ to

How many times have you found yourself saying ‘yes’ to something when you’d rather have said ‘no’? Is it because you don’t want to let people down, appear as though you don’t care or is it because you just don’t know how to say no? Take a moment to think about those times when you’ve said yes to an invite but then regret it and make yourself miserable because you don’t want to do it. Think about what you could have said instead of ‘yes’ and practice that for next time. Remember that when you say ‘yes’ to one thing, you’re also saying ‘no’ to something else.

6. Enjoy nature

I’m a nature lover and I get excited this month when I can spot little shoots and buds appearing to herald the beginning of Spring. Wrap up warm and take yourself out for a walk and see what you can find!

7. Something nice to look at

As this is the month of love, treat yourself to a bunch of flowers, a pretty candle or a little treat of your choice. Place it somewhere you’ll see it often and make you smile. Some examples could be flowers next to the kitchen sink so you can see them when you wash up or a candle in the bedroom to relax you before bed!

8. Declutter

The word ‘February’ comes from the Roman purification festival of Februa. We might not need to purify but perhaps you could try decluttering your home this month. Grab an empty box, put it by your front door and aim to put one thing in it each day this month. Take the contents for recycling, donating, selling or for the rubbish. For some ideas, try my free 30-day Declutter Challenge and the free printable that comes with it!

9. List 3 things you like to do with your free time

When you’re not used to having free time you sometimes forget what used to make you happy, or you’re just so tired that nothing except hiding in bed watching Netflix sounds appealing. I know the feeling! 

I’ve found that if you make a list of three things that you could do with your free time then you’ll know what to do when you actually get some. It could be reading a book, baking… the choice is yours. This way, next time you get some free time, you can make sure that you’ve got a book ready to read, or the ingredients ready for baking. You won’t be wasting precious free time shopping for these things or pondering on what to do next.

10. Avoid forgetting things

We all forget things sometimes, but if you’re prone to forgetting things regularly then maybe you need a plan! Set up a Notes on your phone specifically for things you need to remember or set up Trello on your computer and phone so you can access your To Do lists whenever you need. Don’t rely on paper that you might not have to hand when you really need it.

Spending time to plan and prepare for the coming month will help you be more organised and avoid forgetting things. Read this article for my own monthly checklist or try my free Monthly Checklist printable to help you plan and prepare for the month ahead.

IN CASE YOU MISSED LAST MONTH’S POST…

Check out my post on things to do in January to simplify your life!

HELPFUL DECLUTTERING RESOURCES

We talked a little bit about decluttering your home this month. If you’d like to learn more about decluttering your home and life and what it could mean for you, here are some resources which you might find helpful:

• How to declutter your home and life – a beginner’s guide to the what, why and how of decluttering.
• 6 tips to help you declutter
• Projects for when you’re stuck indoors if the weather is bad!
• Why simplifying life isn’t easy and how to overcome this
• 20 daily habits for a clutter-free home
• Things to do in January to simplify your home and life
• Declutter Starter Kit – a free guide and workbook with projects, tips and guidance to clear the clutter in your home and life.
• Simplify Your Home – a complete decluttering course in digital downloadable PDF format to help you declutter and streamline your entire home.

DON’T MISS OUT!

I’m Antonia and on this blog I share practical inspiration to simplify your home, time and life. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest! You can also subscribe to Balance Through Simplicity and receive regular simplicity tips straight to your inbox for free. Make sure you never miss an article plus you’ll get a copy of my free Declutter Starter Kit as a welcome gift!