10 simple and effective ways to simplify your life and find happiness!
Have you ever wished your life was simpler? Do you dream of finding happiness? It’s possible! Follow these simple tips and you will learn how to simplify your life and be healthier and happier.
‘Simplify your life’ means having fewer things to worry about.
A calmer pace and an unclouded mind are the true real luxuries that you should crave.
If you feel tired of trying to make it all work, these hacks come with the promise of more time and energy – yours at hand with a few easy changes!
1. Get home ‘intentional’
My Butter Rule – how convenient to always know where it is. Imagine what would happen if you didn’t put it back, in its usual place, every time you used it.
Fact – everything else should be as easy to find and put back in its place – as butter.
Creating a sleek layout for your home that is easy to maintain also means having a place for everything (that is put away when you’ve finished with it). Stick to my butter rule for everything in your home.
The fewer goods you possess, the neater your house will be and the quicker and easier it’ll be to clean and tidy – it’s time to let some things go.
Check out How to declutter your home in 5 simple steps to know more about it.
2. The importance of a morning routine
It doesn’t matter if you’re a night owl or an early bird – we all have to deal with mornings as part of our lives, so best to nail it!
Your morning routine starts the night before – choose your clothes and lay them out ready to wear, pack your bag and lastly decide what you are going to eat for breakfast.
There’s no need for procrastinating first thing in the morning, trying to make all those decisions. Make your life easier and go to bed with that satisfying feeling that you are ready for tomorrow. When you rise from your slumber, put on your favorite track and use the time you saved to start the day doing something that you love!
Have also a look at 5 simple tips for your perfect morning routine.
3. A weekly schedule
It doesn’t matter how arduous new habits are to stick to, having no structure is far more draining mentally and physically.
Creating a weekly schedule means having a time and a place for everything and doing everything at the right time and place.
Initially a weekly schedule may look time-consuming in itself but it’s a lot better than emerging from daily deadline chaos everyday.
Your planned, daily routines and ‘to do’ list are weapons against an oversaturated and chaotic calendar.
Break your biggest task into smaller ones and give them a time frame. For example, every day I schedule about 30 minutes for housework. That half-hour is divided into my quick clean-around and then my tidy-up (a different area of the house each day).
Like this, my house is always clean, neat, and tidy.
Needless to say, it’s possible to carry out because I always put back items where they belong, as soon as I’ve finished with it.
When it comes to writing that schedule, it’s crucial to first note your expectations. You don’t need to account for each minute of your day. It should simply help you to understand how your week pans out, what are your priorities and where time can be saved, to fit in your passions and time with your loved ones.
4. Technology – a time saver
Since we live in the grips of the digital age, it would be senseless not to take advantage of the ways technology can simplify our lives.
Why keep your ‘to do’ list, scrawled in a notebook or all in your head, when there are hundreds of apps out there that specialise in creating schedules and managing time. Todoist and Trello are just two of the more well known ones in the app world.
Why not instruct Google Calendar to remind your husband of that resident’s meeting?
Automating bill payments and online grocery shopping are excellent examples of how we can effectively save time, money and journeys. Keeping your financial records all in one place is another way. I can recommend the Personal Capital app to keep track of all your expenses and monitoring your finances’ target Money Dashboard if you live in the UK.
5. Technology – a time waster
Yes, a contradiction I know. Let me begin with a question, how many times have you scrolled through your social media today? It was probably in the top five things that you’ve done since waking right? Touché!
It’s become so deep-rooted, part of our everyday lives and customs. For too many it’s an unconscious anecdote to boredom and lack of focus. Quite tragic indeed.
We complain about not having enough time and too much to do, when the truth is, we waste literally hours looking down at a screen.
Abandon the fear of missing out on things. You don’t have to read and like every single post, tweet, and photo that your contacts’ upload. You don’t have to catch up with older posts if you didn’t check them earlier. Also, ignore the urge of sharing an image of that pizza that’s just arrived, topped with ricotta and spinach.
It’s a lot healthier to quit the online rat-race documenting your life on socials.
6. IT spring clean
Even if you can’t see it, it’s there. What am I referring to? The huge amount of data that’s accumulated on your digital devices over the years. Move onto decluttering your virtual space.
There are many reasons why you should go through your digital junk:
- important files can be backed up and stored for prosperity (some cherished memories)
- you’ll be more secure against identity theft and loss of sensitive data
- you’ll save time and money by unsubscribing to many e-mail shots, stopping the clog up of your spam inbox too.
SET UP A KEEPSAKE SOLUTION
A good digital clean up should start with gathering up all your old devices. You know, the ones at the back of a drawer somewhere. What are on your USB sticks and CDRoms?
Technology is being updated so fast these days that there’s a real risk of losing photos and important documents forever. It can be hard to keep up.
Of all the times you’ve updated your phone and laptops over the last 10 years, have you always been so diligent, as to carefully back-up and even catalog all of your contents?
With sorrow I remember my friend’s bitter lesson and the sobering message to me, the day she lost all of her son’s baby photos, after her computer crashed – beyond repair. Implement a back-up strategy that will keep all your cyber valuables accessible in the next five, 10 and even 100 years.
STAY E-SAFE
Start by boosting your security system by enabling the strongest authentication options available, such as a two-factor identification on everything that allows it.
Use unique passwords when possible and be aware of doxing (essentially, revealing personal information on someone) and phishing ( a fraud where the scammer sends email messages that appear to be from financial institutions or credit card companies that try to trick recipients into giving private information such as username, password, account number, etc.).
Cancel your old email accounts that you no longer use.
Did you ever create accounts for those early social offerings such as MNS, Yahoo, AOL, Skype or ICQ?
Avoid unnecessary risks and de-activate those accounts, now.
Carry out a quick scan of your mobile and tablet. All those apps, no longer in use – just cancel and delete them: Sugar Crush, Angry Birds, that water-drink-tracker app as well as the calorie counting one.
Other interesting tools are https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords/ and https://haveibeenpwned.com/ which can uncover if your passwords and email address have been compromised.
NO THANKS, I DON’T SUBSCRIBE
Let’s strike the control center of your technological hub – your email inbox and let’s do it Marie Kondo style (Japanese Organising Consultant, who introduced the Konmari method to the world, which involves getting rid of physical items that do not bring joy into your life). Your email inbox also happens to be an Aladdin’s cave for hackers and scammers all around the WWW.
Your email is so important that at no cost should you make it vulnerable.
Luckily the answer comes in the shape of software.
To unsubscribe from unwanted subscriptions, the most popular one is probably Unroll.me but I wouldn’t personally recommend it, as they register your email and eventually it gets sold to third party companies. Instead, a good alternative I found was Google Unsubscribe.
You can always add an extra layer of protection to your email by installing a specific spam block software such as https://www.spamihilator.com/en/ for Windows and https://c-command.com/spamsieve/ for macOS.
7. Kick down debt’s door
Mortgages, student loans, medical bills. All of us have had to deal with some sort of debt in our lives. Borrowing money is never a good thing, but in certain cases, like those mentioned, they can bring us benefits.
A mortgage can be a better choice than renting especially in certain house markets, as it represents capital and a future fund, in particular when later sold with profit. A student loan can be an investment for a future career and the last bill from your dentist was probably as painful as was the work carried out.
However, there is a more destructive form of debt that is spreading its tentacles – credit cards and fast track loans.
The only way to deal with those bad boys is to face them, head-on.
It is an unenvied position, to be dealing with debts.
The only way to avoid it, is to stay out of financial trouble.
If you are using credit cards to buy luxuries such as holidays that you don’t have the money to pay for – stop now.
This is an awful habit, because the reality is that you’re spending money you don’t have and (are probably being charged over the odds in interest rates back.)
Focus on repaying your loans as quickly as you can:
- Avoid the temptation of building upon your debts by destroying all your credit cards.
- Come up with a repayment plan. For example, you could arrange automated payments on payday that will go directly to the credit card account. It’s easier this way, to not spend the money on other things.
- Track and budget the money you spend every month and eliminate unnecessary expenses.
It is not about the money you make but the money you keep.
You’ll surprise yourself when you see how much money you can save just by getting rid of unnoticeable costs.
With a budget plan, you will be able to eliminate your debts and even save to buy those items on that personal wish list.
Check also 7 deadly sins of every shopaholic and why investing in a timeless wardrobe will save you money.
8. Join the meal prep squad
The pursuit of a healthy lifestyle is challenging when navigating that ship that is your busy life. Cooking your own meal from scratch may sound an impossible feat after a long day. With the tantalizing horde of restaurants and fast food delivery services that surround you, let’s face it, the quick and easy option is hard to resist.
The truth is, comfort doesn’t come from the food itself but in the opportunity of a handy solution; a quick fix that will save you from the burden of cooking when you are not in the mood for it. It’s a legitimate feeling.
This is what gets in the way between you and the following goals – eating healthy, achieving your fitness goals, saving time and money.
Luckily there is a smart answer to the problem, meal prep.
Planning, but also preparing your meals in advance for the coming week will ensure you stick to your intention of healthy eating and even portion control.
It saves time in the kitchen, reducing stress and giving you the pleasure of an authentic meal. In addition, you’ll spend less money on food shopping.
After all, what’s not to love about leaving your work desk knowing there is a luscious, warm meal waiting for you at home?
Ready to meal prep? Check also meal prep: 10 benefits that will change your life.
9. Create a capsule wardrobe
A capsule wardrobe is your stylish answer to a clutter-free and simplified life. But what exactly is a capsule wardrobe? Simple. It’s having a collection of clothes that you love wearing, with many combinations being able to alter your outfits for any occasion.
Simplifying your wardrobe will lead to many benefits:
- Choosing your clothes is easier.
Trying on different clothes and changing your mind at the last minute will be an exercise of the past. Why? Because you’ll only have things that feel and look great on you! - Hassle-free decision making, in less time.
A capsule wardrobe transforms your closet from something that can be stressful and mentally tiresome into something perfectly tailored to suit you. - It saves money.
Once you have a fine, small collection of outfits you’ll stop buying things on a whim just because they are on sale. You’ll be satisfied and content with your choices rather than focusing on what to buy next.
My advice is to have a timeless core wardrobe combined with some seasonal pieces that you rotate throughout the year.
Creating a capsule wardrobe goes beyond de-cluttering and getting rid of your old clothes. It involves the conscious choice to make way for your new simpler life.
Want to know how to create a sleek capsule wardrobe? How to create the perfect capsule wardrobe in 5 steps
10. Stop multitasking. Start smart- tasking
There is a reason why we’re not allowed to use our phone while driving and that’s because there’s no such thing as multi-tasking.
An honest interpretation of our working lives would be, rapidly switching between two or more tasks. However, shifting your attention between a number of tasks is not efficient because we waste time to re-focusing.
Rather than wasting time and energy trying to accomplish several things at once, it would be far more efficient, learning how to prioritize and concentrate on what’s really important.
However, there are a few ways of making good use of your time while accomplishing something else.
For instance, if you have to deal with long commutes on public transport, it would be a shame not to make the most of that time by listening to a podcast, reading a book, writing your shopping list or learning a new language!
If you pass by the fruit and veg shop on your way home why not stop to get your breakfast bananas rather than make an extra journey. Going out for any reason? Take the trash out. You will be surprised by how many times you can play the ‘use the journey to save the journey’ game in a week.
Final note
Deciding to make my life simpler was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. I wish the same for you. You will be amazed at how small changes will give you freedom and peace of mind. Life instantly tastes sweeter and is gentler. Devote some time to do what you love each day and you’ll be back on track to happiness.
If you enjoyed reading this article check also How to start living intentionally in 7 essential steps.
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