Last Updated on March 1, 2023 by Lori Geurin
Are you feeling overwhelmed with life? Stress running rampant and making your days feel like a never-ending marathon? It’s time to simplify. If you are ready to make some changes that will leave you more energized, less stressed, and able to focus on the things that really matter in life, then this article is for you. We’ll be looking at 10 simple ways you can simplify your life today!
Don’t worry about what you’re giving up. Instead, focus on what you’re gaining by simplifying your life:
- Improved health
- Better relationships with family and friends
- More money
- Less stress
- More fulfillment in life
- Increased happiness
- More peace
Simplifying your life can reduce stress, improve happiness and moods, and have a positive impact on your physical health.
A simpler lifestyle will also help the environment. A consumerist lifestyle wastes a lot of resources. Reducing waste will help us leave a smaller footprint on this earth as we move into the future! The less clutter and junk you have in your life, the less time it will take to maintain everything and keep yourself clear of clutter.
Simplifying can help free up more time for ourselves or others – maybe both! It’s important to remember that not everyone has a lot of spare time on their plate. If we want to be there for others, simplifying our lives can help us do that in the best way possible.
In order to simplify your life and reap all the benefits, take a moment today to look at these ten easy steps!
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How To Simplify Your Life In 10 Easy Steps
1. Work Outs
This can be as simple as going for a walk, trying a few yoga poses, or even just gardening. Keep it fun and relaxed and you’ll stick with your fitness routine.
Plan your workouts with a workout tracker because it will make you feel better and more energized throughout the day.
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More Simple Exercise Ideas:
- Walk for 30 minutes three times per week.
- Take the stairs instead of elevators or escalators whenever possible.
- Use a standing desk at work or home! Standing desks are very energy efficient and help reduce
back pain . Plus, they make it much easier to focus by preventing you from getting distracted by your surroundings. I love my standing desk and set an alarm on my phone to remind me to switch between standing and sitting while I’m working. - Ride a bike, even if just for short errands! Bike riding is a great way to get some exercise and have fun at the same time.
- Go swimming. It’s a low-impact workout that gives the whole body a break from stressful workouts! Swimming is also great if you have joint problems or are at risk for cardiovascular disease.
- Just dance because it’s fun!
Related: Simple Ways To Stay Fit With A Healthy Diet And Exercise
Enjoy this video on how to simplify your life.
2. Clothing
Embrace a capsule wardrobe. Having fewer clothes makes getting dressed a breeze. Plus, you feel confident knowing you always look good because you can mix and match multiple outfits.
What is a capsule wardrobe?
The idea behind a capsule wardrobe is that you choose clothing with similar colors, textures, and styles. This allows you to create many different outfits from just a few pieces of clothing!
A great way to get started on building your capsule wardrobe is by picking out your favorite items first. Choose the best things in your closet-the ones you wear the most and feel best in. Next, figure out what your style is!
For example, do you prefer to look chic or sporty? Classic or trendy? Once you know who you are, it will be easier for you to decide which pieces of clothing go into your capsule wardrobe.
Once all these items are chosen, it’s time to put them away! You should only store your favorite items in drawers or on hangers. Your less-used clothing can be stored in a closet or under the bed.
A capsule wardrobe is all about being practical and making the most of what you have. The best part? It saves a ton of time and space!
Related: How To Improve Your Life With A Fall Capsule Wardrobe
3. Meal Prep
A little planning goes a long way when it comes to meals. But breakfast, lunch, and dinner don’t have to be so hard (or time-consuming). Healthy sheet pan meals are easy to make and quick to clean up because everything cooks on a single pan.
Also, if you don’t already own one, buying a crockpot or an Instant Pot is money worth spending. This is the crockpot and Instant Pot I own and they work perfectly. I use them several times a week to help make soups, chili, meat, boiled eggs, baked potatoes, oatmeal, and more.
Make a list of all the meals you eat during the week and rank them with numbers from one to five, starting with your favorite.
Put together lunches for work or school dinners in advance on Sunday night, so they are ready and waiting when Monday morning rolls around.
Try making some batches of breakfast items like protein pancakes, overnight oats, or steel-cut oatmeal on the weekend to eat during your week.
Always keep some snacks in a baggie or container near you for when hunger strikes! This can be anything from walnuts and whole-grain crackers to dried fruit and cheese sticks.
Related: Sweet Potato Chili Recipe To Make Your Heart Happy
4. Social Media
We all know it – social media is a time-waster. So, if you choose to be on social media, take frequent breaks, and think about going on a social media fast or taking a social media detox challenge.
Get our FREE Social Media Detox Challenge + access to our enter entire resource library now!
Turn off your phone or put it on airplane mode for a couple of hours each day. This is especially important if you use social media to escape reality, which can lead to depression and anxiety.
It’s also helpful in cutting back on screen time so that the kids don’t have access when they’re not around – this will make a huge difference in their health and development.
Consider deleting your account for all social media platforms – like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. You may find that you are happier without them! Plus, it’s more difficult to be ‘plugged in’ when they’re gone.
5. People And Relationships
Minimize interactions with difficult, toxic people. Avoid drama at all costs. Learn to set healthy boundaries. Make friends with people who want the same things you do.
How To Be Social…Simply
- Spend more quality time with the people who make your life happy.
- Try to have a date night with your significant other or best friend at least once per month.
- Plan an outing with friends for the weekend! Keep it simple and enjoy each other’s company without distractions from phones, TV, etc.
- Listen more than you talk – this is especially important in difficult conversations.
- Reach out to someone with a kind email or text when you are feeling down and need an uplifting message from another person.https://lorigeurin.com/50-ways-to-be-kind-to-others/
6. Great Outdoors
Get outside as much as possible. Use all of your senses to explore nature and breathe in the fresh air.
Benefits of Being Outside:
- Getting outside in nature is shown to benefit mental health and improve mood. It can also reduce stress, anxiety, and depression – all of which are on the rise these days.
- Nature has been proven to help with insomnia and sleep quality because it helps you regulate your body’s natural circadian rhythm. (Here are some more tips to help you sleep better.)
- Nature provides many benefits that we can’t get from other places. If you struggle with your mental health or want to live a healthier lifestyle, start incorporating nature into your life!
RELATED: Relaxing Sleep Music To Help You Sleep Better Tonight
7. Organize
When it comes to work tasks and household chores and little organization goes a long way. Using free online tools like Trello can help you work more efficiently.
Minimize the number of emails you receive on the daily with unroll.me.
Simple Organization Tips To Bring You Peace
- Create a list of the things you want to get done in your home and start tackling them one by one. You’ll be able to check items off as they are completed which can feel so satisfying!
- Take care of chores that don’t require much time but take up most of your day if not tackled, like taking out the trash or watering the plants.
- Set aside time for yourself and try to find a balance between work, relationships, self-care, and leisure activities with hobbies or your favorite TV show. You deserve a break!
- Create routines for daily tasks that don’t take much time like getting ready in the morning or preparing dinner after coming home from work.
- Use a to-do list for tasks that need to be completed but don’t require an allotted amount of time.
Organizing your schedule and environment can make all the difference in reducing stress and maintaining a balance between life’s different demands. On top of being more efficient with our time, we also feel happier when things are less cluttered and more manageable.
Related: 10 Wellness Habits For A Healthy Life: Self-Care Matters
8. Distractions
Getting rid of distractions can help so much.
- If noise is an issue, get some low-cost noise-canceling headphones.
- You can get focus apps that block distractions and help keep you focused when working on your laptop.
- If you are constantly on the go, get a planner (like our editable planner template) for different occasions like work or traveling. This will help keep important information and deadlines at your fingertips!
- If you have trouble not being distracted by social media, try to set boundaries and/or delete the social media apps from your phone.
There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to distractions. What may work for one person might not work for another, so play around with different options and find what works best for you.
9. Mindfulness
Practice slowing down, deep breathing, and becoming more aware of your self-talk. (I highly recommend this little book for taking control of your self-talk: What To Say When You Talk To Yourself, by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D.) This will help you clear out the mental clutter.
Keeping a gratitude journal can help you focus on all the good in your life.
Learning about mindfulness and incorporating it into your life can help tremendously if you’re wondering how to simplify your life.
How To Practice Mindfulness
- Just like practicing any other habit, you will need to practice mindful moments daily for a couple of weeks before they become part of your routine. It’s important not to get frustrated if it doesn’t come easily or you struggle initially – with time and effort, these concepts will become second nature.
- When you feel overwhelmed or are having difficulty with the new habits, it can be helpful to have a specific time when you focus on practicing mindfulness like for 15 minutes every morning before work or while listening to relaxing music at night before bed. With these short daily practice periods, your brain will eventually associate being mindful with a positive feeling that will motivate you to continue your mindfulness practice.
- Mindfulness is a skill and like any other skill, it takes time to develop. With consistent effort, these skills can transform the way we feel about ourselves.
10. Money
Be in control of your finances, and don’t let them be in charge of you. Set up a monthly budget and establish financial goals. Automate everything you can because it’s just one less thing to deal with. Create an emergency fund.
How To Save Money The Simple Way
You might be surprised at how many ways you can save money without cutting into your spending habits. Here are a few ideas:
- Buy in bulk to get the best deals and avoid paying the supermarket’s higher prices for individual items.
- Shop online with stores that have free shipping to minimize gas costs of driving to the store.
- Join a warehouse club membership to get even better deals on bulk items and save gas by not driving into town for smaller shopping trips.
- Compare prices before you buy anything – it’s worth spending a few extra minutes to find that great deal!
- Try using sites like Groupon or LivingSocial for discounts, or download an app like Ibotta that will pay you back when you shop.
- Eliminate subscriptions to things that don’t really serve a purpose in your life or are costing more than they’re worth, such as cable TV and magazines. You’ll be surprised how much money these unnecessary expenses can add up to over the course of a year.
- Become more frugal with your spending and look for ways to save money on everything you buy – from groceries to clothes, gas, etc.
- Even if it’s just a few dollars on things like coffee every day or lunch out every week, these small expenses can add up over the course of time!
Final Thoughts – How To Simplify Your Life And Live Better With Less
If you are feeling overwhelmed with life, it sounds like simplifying is the next step for your journey to a better quality of living!
We hope you find the 10 steps of simplifying your life helpful and that they inspire you to take on this challenge. Living a simple life can be good for our mental and physical well-being, not to mention how it will help us live more in alignment with what we really want out of life! So why not simplify?
What are some ways you have simplified your lifestyle or habits lately? Share below!
