Focus on the high-traffic areas, like the living room and the kitchen. If dishes are piled up in the sink, you’ll feel stressed out and messy, even if the rest of the house is clean-looking and tidy. If you’ve only got a little bit of time, focus on the most important spaces. Don’t worry about getting the dirt out of every corner and “cleaning” every surface. Just focus on tidying. Put things away, straighten things up, make the place look right.
Go through desks and clear out the paper archives, too. Clean out drawers to get rid of that hidden clutter. Move toward eliminating paper waste and digitizing important documents. This will simplify your living space. Go paperless.
If you’ve got a big war-chest of clothes that you’re attached to, consider simplifying by season. There’s no reason you should be digging through sweaters in the middle of summer, so pack up all your seasonal clothes in separate tubs and put them away until that season rolls around. Out of sight, out of mind. Throw “Naked Lady” parties or other get-togethers in which you can all throw old or ill-fitting clothes into a pile with a bunch of friends and trade. Maybe that pair of jeans doesn’t work for you anymore but would look great on someone else. Anything that’s left at the end of the night, donate.
Before you buy anything new, ask yourself:[1] X Research source “Do I really need this?” “Is there a sustainable alternative?” “Do I have a family member or friend who already provides this service or product?” Avoid buying new books. If you read a book and will re-read it, by all means buy that book. But most books people read once, and that is it. Instead, go to the library or subscribe to reading services like Kindle Unlimited. You will have more space for things you actually use. Avoid buying new housewares - make do with what you have. If you need a new microwave, that is one thing. But instead of a pastry cutter, simply using two knives you already have will save space. Alton Brown famously promotes that the only “uni-tasker” in the kitchen should be the fire extinguisher. Research rental options in your town. Consider renting a leaf blower that you use only once in fall, rather than buying one. Tool-libraries are increasingly common, allowing you to use what you need for a short time, then return it. The flip side of this is to share what you have with your friends, family, and neighbors. If you start this practice, you may reduce the need to buy, store, and organize so many tools and “conveniences. "
Consider renting rather than buying a home. Then the repairs, taxes, and dry rot are someone else’s problem, not yours. Own fewer items but make sure that what you do own has greater versatility. Objects able to do double or even triple duty are the most desirable. Remember that working to pay for objects is not an ideal approach to living happily; review your priorities.
Place timers on electronic things that suck your time without you noticing. If you can spend more hours than you’d like online, install a timer, and use it. You might be surprised at your level of intensity. Even if you simply add in enforced regular breaks, your use of the technology will instantly simplify. Try to keep your email box empty. Answer, file, or delete emails upon reading.
Place timers on electronic things that suck your time without you noticing. If you can spend more hours than you’d like online, install a timer, and use it. You might be surprised at your level of intensity. Even if you simply add in enforced regular breaks, your use of the technology will instantly simplify. Try to keep your email box empty. Answer, file, or delete emails upon reading.
White space doesn’t need to be “white. " If you don’t like the feeling of a sterile, super-clean living space, then natural wood, exposed brick, or other patterns are perfectly simple and effective at relaxing you. White space doesn’t have to actually be white, just free of clutter. No shelving, movie posters, or hanging frames. Simple lines and clean empty spaces on the walls.
If it’s simpler for you to leave your sheets in a pile, so be it. The point is taking little steps to simplify your experience of the day. Maybe instead you spend meditative time making your coffee every morning, grinding the beans, heating the water, and pouring it into the press pot. Maybe you start the day by tidying the kitchen and listening to the radio. Have a routine.
If you tend toward procrastination, don’t tell yourself you need to change your ways, unless it’s getting in the way of your productivity or your ability to finish things on time. If it works for you, it works. Make sure you schedule enough last-minute time to finish tasks, and you’ll let those deadlines produce your best work. Simple and easy. If you stress about unfinished tasks, do them ahead of time to put them out of your mind. Don’t abandon the packing half-way because you started early–finish it off and call it done. Simplify by doing it now, getting it done, and relaxing. Simple and relaxed.
Separate tasks by day. Make everyone contribute to the litter-box cleaning and the laundry-doing, but not every day. Let someone take the messy jobs for a while and switch over to other jobs for a while on a rolling basis. Write up a schedule everyone agrees on and post it in the kitchen for simple, easy access. Separate tasks by preference. For example, if you just can’t stand doing the laundry and tend to let it pile up, strike a deal with your roommates — if they handle the laundry, you’ll agree to cook a big meal for everyone three nights a week (when they’ve got to work late) or to consistently wash the dishes. Find a way to balance things for your situation.
Set your bills up to debit automatically from your account. If you’ve budgeted accurately, you should never have to worry about paying bills again. What could be simpler? Make saving money your default. If you’re not sure how to approach the task of simplifying your finances, err on the side of saving. The less you spend, the less you’re thinking about money.
It creates calm. If keys go in the key bowl by the doorway, it prevents last-minute panics for finding them. This creates calmness and gives you power in a chaotic world. Your space is more pleasurable. A workbench that has your tools visible, orderly, and organized is more enjoyable and more efficient to work at than one that requires you to search for the correct tool. Your living space brings more joy to others. For instance, couches are for sitting on, not for holding laundry. Disorganized spaces have a way of putting off visitors; laundry on your couch suggests your pants are offered a better seat than your guests. Organized spaces also make it more likely you will invite others over. You enjoy and use what you have. If your pantry is a mess, you may not realize you have five pounds of flour, and end up buying more rather than using what you have. Assigning spaces starts with a single step. Some people can get overwhelmed by the thought of everything being in the absolute perfect spot, and being afraid to be wrong. It is better to just try something rather than do nothing. Besides, there is usually more than one way to organize and simplify. . . do what works for you.
Create a chore chart for all children to follow and complete weekly. Involve them in its creation and they’ll be more ready to buy into using it. Stop over-scheduling. Kids historically have not been shuttled to after-school activities as much as they often are today. It is OK to have days when your children do not have ballet, ice hockey, Girl Scouts, or oboe lessons.
Do not waste time keeping up with friends who bring you down, waste your time, or bore you. Start by cutting out the relationships that do not uplift you. Or at the very least stop investing so much energy. You do not have to be rude or invite drama into this process. For example, you do not have to make ugly Facebook updates about how you are making big cuts from your contact list. Just stop making the extra effort. Take away the water and the plant will shrivel. Make the effort to spend time with people you like. Keep a close group of friends who mean a lot to you and make an effort to spend time with them. It is also OK to have friends and acquaintances that may not be your best friends, but bring you a lot of happiness. The key is to invest your time and energy in people that bring you joy. Relationships are often in flux; honor this. Your co-worker becomes a friend, you have a falling-out with Maria, and maybe you develop a crush on that cute redhead. Aim for simplicity, but understand that emotions, relationships, and all we go through can be confusing.
When you’re with friends or family, put your phone on silent and keep it tucked away somewhere. Better yet, keep it in the car. Don’t look at it. Make a rule at your next get together that the first person to check their phone picks up the tab. Stay focused on your phone and have a simple evening. Increasingly, people are experiencing a phenomenon known as FOMO: the fear of missing out. What if you don’t get that status update before everyone else? What if someone beats you to a witty comment stream message? What if your crush texts and you can’t respond right away? Don’t let “convenient” technology create complicated stress in your life. Be willing to miss out momentarily to enjoy the moment you’re experiencing in the real world.
For some people, it might even be helpful to come up with more substantial lists of long-term goals and plans, to help prioritize accomplishments. Simplify your long-term career and life prospects by outlining where you’d like to be in your job in five years, or where you’d like to be living. What do you need to do now to get there? Record your day if you’re not sure where the hours are disappearing to. Keeping a calendar can also simplify your day because you don’t have to rack your brains to remember everything continuously. Celebrate each accomplishment of the day. Working from a to-do list can be a lot more enjoyable if you take a bit of time to celebrate what you’ve done. Cleaned up the kitchen and straightened your room and done your work for the day? Time for a glass of wine in your sparkling tidy kitchen. Treat yourself. [3] X Research source
Focus on doing the best possible (or “good enough” ) job at this moment. Savor what you are doing, even if it is something mundane. Washing the dishes can be pleasurable, if you reflect on how the soapy water feels, your pleasure from your favorite teacup, and how good it feels to have clean dishes.
Cut down your hours as much as you can afford to, if your job is a significant source of complication in your life. If you want to simplify, cutting back on work is one of the easiest ways to do it. Less money, less clutter. Stop working weekends. Even if you love your work, dragging work into your weekends starts unbalancing in your life and leads to burning out losing passion.
