Many people dream of having a lot of things in life. A big house with a lot of furniture, a car, gadgets, appliances, designer clothes and bags, and more. That’s why they work hard, and some even take on a lot of jobs to achieve these goals. But there are also those who want to live a simple life. Those who are looking for balance, freedom, and joy that can only be achieved by living simply. This is what minimalism promotes, living a simple life without too many possessions.
But aside from reducing the number of physical things that you have, simplifying your life is more focused on clearing space for those things that matter most in your life. There are times when we are looking for ways on how we can slow down and become more intentional. It’s because most of our lives are lived fast. It’s like hours and days go by without us realizing it, and busyness has become a norm in the present time. But we, people, are not made to be totally exhausted and stressed out all the time.
If you are looking for ways on how you can simplify your life, then you’ve come to the right place. Today, we are going to give you some core principles, which are what you might need to live a simple life.
Do Some Decluttering
The first thing you need to do to simplify your life is to clear out physical clutter. It does not mean that you need to remove everything you own. You just need to get rid of the unnecessary things that prevent you from living a simple life. When you finish clearing the clutter, you will be able to create time and space to live your best life, because it comes with lots of benefits.
One benefit you can get from decluttering is improving your finances. When you own a lot of things, most of the time, you don’t realize what you have or where they are. And when you can’t find something, you sometimes opt to just go out and buy another one, which makes you spend more.
Decluttering can also improve your mental well-being because clutter can overload your senses and make you feel stressed. Aside from improving your mental well-being, it can also improve your ability to accomplish goals. It’s because when you have many things, you spend extra time caring for them, which limits your time to work on your goals. And lastly, decluttering will improve your home’s atmosphere. When your home is free from excess clutter, it will feel more relaxing and inviting.
Identify the Important
Another core principle to simplify life is by identifying what is important in your life. It’s because if you do not know what is important to you, you won’t be able to properly prioritize your life. Therefore, you must identify what is important to you, and not what you are told to want. When you know your priorities, it will be easier for you to make decisions for what fits in your life and what does not.
One of the best ways to start setting out your priorities is by looking at your calendar or schedule. See if there’s anything you could remove to make your life simpler. It does not mean you need to become antisocial. Simplifying your life means you need to learn to say “no” to unnecessary requests so that you can say “yes” to the things that really matter to you. It is about setting and honoring your boundaries.
Reduce the Number of Clothing Items You Have
If you can’t declutter your entire home at once, then you can start with purging your closet, as this can also go a long way towards simplifying your life. When you reduce the number of clothes you have, you will also reduce the number of decisions you need to make each day about what to wear when going to work, to the mall, or to a party. You will no longer experience staring at your overstuffed closet and think that you don’t have to wear.
Changing your mindset about your clothes will be reflected in your life. Try to remove the clothes that you don’t love and don’t wear. Tell yourself that you deserve to feel wonderful in everything you wear. You can try taking all your clothes out then divide them into categories. Create a pile for donations, a pile for things to throw out, and a pile for the ones you would keep. This would make it easy for you to see how much clothes you keep but no longer want or wear.
Avoid Buying Things You Don’t Need
While it’s true that retail therapy can be effective in reducing stress, but it only has its effect for a very short moment. And eventually, it leads to more stress and guilt. That’s why another core principle to simplify life is by analyzing your motivations behind spending money. This will help you spend less, but at the same time, it will ensure that when you spend money, it will be on things you truly need or love.
Since you’ve worked hard on decluttering your space, you don’t want to clutter it up again with useless things that you don’t need. What you need to do is think through your purchases before making them. Ask yourself if you really need or make actual use of the item, or will it just be stuck somewhere collecting dust.
We are not saying that you should not buy something that you want, but you need to consider your purchases carefully. Make sure that they are not complicating your life rather than simplifying it.
Stop Multitasking
It’s pretty common for most people to be doing a lot of things at once. And for some, multitasking has been a virtue. However, the truth is, multitasking violates all the core principles of simplifying life.
If you want to simplify your life, you need to be purposeful with the things you are doing, and as well as with the things you are eliminating. Our brains are not designed to focus on different tasks at once. And when we multitask, we are actually switching between tasks as fast as we could. Therefore, instead of multitasking, why not try monotasking? Finish tasks one by one, and you’ll be surprised by how much you can accomplish in much less time.
Create Routines
Creating routines in your life will allow you to put things on autopilot. For example, if you have a solid evening routine, it will enable you to start the following day on a positive foot. You will no longer have the morning rush madness because you are ready for all that needs to be accomplished ahead of time.
You can also continue your routine in the morning by creating a series of things to be done. This will allow you to start your day more relaxed. Another example is by creating a simple cleaning routine. This way, it will be easy for you to keep up with all the household chores.
Creating routines can eliminate unnecessary things or situations naturally. You can create a routine for most of the things that you normally do every day. This can help in simplifying your life because you create step-by-step processes to get things done, giving you more time to focus on more important things.
Eat Healthy Foods
Another core principle to simplify your life is to eat healthy foods. Why? Because most of the packaged foods you see on grocery stores are filled with processed garbage. And these are unnecessary and harmful to your health.
This does not mean you should stop eating treats or junk foods. But you need to eat them in moderation. Always remind yourself that your primary diet should be made of fresh whole foods. Remember that there is little that complicated life more quickly than not feeling well. Therefore, take care of yourself by eating healthy. Eat what makes you happy in moderation and focus on healthy foods. You will realize how much simpler life can be without unnecessary foods from your diet.
Make Everything You Do Worthwhile
This is probably the best core principle to simplify your life. Whatever you do in your life, make it worthwhile. More often, people go through the motions of doing what’s expected, instead of enjoying the moment they are in. This leads to missing precious moments that they can never get a second chance.
Therefore, you need to be purposeful in all that you do if you want to simplify your life. For example, when it comes to connecting with people, spend time with your friends for the sake of socializing. See each other over a cup of coffee instead of sending a text or making a call. And when you have conversations, make sure that they are meaningful.
You can also try new things or discover new places, and take a lot of pictures while you’re at it. And at the end of the day, try to reflect on what you’ve accomplished for the day and see what you can improve. Remember that we only have one life, so you better make each day count.
These are some of the core principles that you can follow if you want to simplify your life. Remember that you are not a slave to unrealistic and impractical beauty trends, to social status, to your family’s expectations, and to your peer’s career pursuits. People are made to live free. And if you find that simplifying your life will make you happier, then it’s the right choice for you.