A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me, it means eliminating all but the essential, eschewing chaos for peace, and spending your time doing what’s important to you. In order to simplify your life, you have to know where your priorities lie.
“Simplicity is
the peak of civilization.” –Jessie Sampter
Simplicity means
getting rid of many of the things you do so you can spend time with people you
love and do the things you love. It means getting rid of the clutter so you are
left with only that which gives you value.
However, getting
to simplicity isn’t always a simple process. It’s a journey, not a destination,
and it can often be a journey of two steps forward, and one backward.
If you’re
interested in simplifying your life, this is a great starter’s guide.
The Short List
For the cynics
who say that the list below is too long, there are really only two steps to
simplifying:
1.
Identify
what’s most important to you.
2.
Eliminate
everything else.
Of course, that’s
not terribly useful unless you can see how to apply that to different areas of
your life, so I present to you the Long List.
The Long List
There can be no
all-inclusive step-by-step guide to simplify your life, but I’ve compiled an
incomplete list of ideas that should help anyone trying to find the simple
life. Not every tip will work for you — choose the ones that appeal and apply
to your life.
One
important note:
this list will be criticized for being too complicated, especially as it
provides a bunch of links. Don’t stress out about all of that. Just choose one
at a time, and focus on that. When you’re done with that, focus on the next
thing.
1. Make a List of Your Top 4-5 Most Important
Things
What’s most
important to you? What do you value most? What 4-5 things do you most want to
do in your life? Simplifying starts with these priorities, as you are trying to
make room in your life so you have more time for these things.
2. Evaluate Your Commitments
Look at
everything you’ve got going on in your life: work, home, kids’ activities,
hobbies, side businesses, personal projects, etc. Think about which of these
really gives you value, which ones you love doing.
Which of these
are in line with the 4-5 most important things you listed above? Drop those
that aren’t in line with those things.
3. Evaluate Your Time
How do you spend
your day? What things do you do, from the time you wake up to the time you go
to sleep?
Make a list, and
evaluate whether they’re in line with your priorities. If not, eliminate the
things that aren’t, and focus on what’s important. Redesign your day.
4. Simplify Work Tasks
Our work day is
made up of an endless list of work tasks. If you simply try to knock off all
the tasks on your to-do list, you’ll never get everything done, and worse yet,
you’ll never get the important stuff done. Focus on the essential tasks and
eliminate the rest.
5. Simplify Home Tasks
In that vein,
think about all the stuff you do at home. Sometimes our home task list is just
as long as our work list, and we’ll never get that done either. Focus on the
most important, and try to find ways to eliminate the other tasks (automate,
eliminate, delegate, or hire help).
6. Learn to Say No
This is actually
one of the key habits for those trying to simplify their lives. If you can’t
say no, you will take on too much.
You can learn how
to say no with this article.
7. Limit Your Communications
Our lives these
days are filled with a vast flow of communications: email, IM, cell phones,
paper mail, Skype, Twitter, forums, and more. It can take up your whole day if
you let it.
Instead, put a
limit on your communications: only do email at certain times of the day, for a
certain number of minutes. Limit phone calls to certain times, too. Set a
schedule and stick to it.
8. Limit Media Consumption
The media in our
lives — TV, radio, Internet, magazines, etc. — can come to dominate everything
else. Don’t let it. Simplify your life and your information consumption by
limiting it.
9. Purge Your Stuff
If you can devote
a weekend to purging the stuff you don’t want, it feels seriously terrific. Get
boxes and trash bags for the stuff you want to donate or toss.
10. Get Rid of the Big Items
There’s tons of little clutter in our lives, but if you start with the big items, you’ll simplify your life quickly and in a big way.
11. Edit Your Rooms
12. Edit Closets and Drawers
Once you’ve gone
through the main parts of your rooms, tackle the closets and drawers, one
drawer or shelf at a time.
13. Simplify Your Wardrobe
Is your closet
bursting full? Are your drawers so stuffed they can’t close. Simplify your
wardrobe by getting rid of anything you don’t actually wear. Try creating a
minimal wardrobe by focusing on simple styles and a few solid colors that all
match each other.
14. Simplify Your Computing Life
If you have
trouble with too many files and too much disorganization, consider online
computing. It can simplify things greatly.
15. Declutter Your Digital Excess
If you are a
digital packrat, and cannot seem to control your digital clutter, there is
still hope for you.
16. Create a Simplicity Statement
What do you want
your simple life to look like? Write it out.
17. Limit Your Buying Habits
If you are a
slave to materialism and consumerism, there are ways to escape it in order to
simplify your life. If you can escape materialism, you can get into the habit
of buying less. And that will mean less stuff, less spending, and less
freneticism.
18. Free up Time
Find ways to free
up time for the important stuff. That means eliminating the stuff you don’t
like, cutting back on time wasters, and making room for what you want to do.
19. Do What You Love
Once you’ve freed
up some time, be sure to spend that extra time doing things you love. Go back
to your list of 4-5 important things. Do those, and nothing else.
20. Spend Time With People You Love
Again, the list
of 4-5 important things probably contains some of the people you love (if not,
you may want to re-evaluate). Whether those people are a spouse, a partner,
children, parents, other family, best friends, or whoever, find time to do
things with them, talk to them, or be intimate with them.
Source: https://bit.ly/2Xp0KmC
The author Leo Babauta is a
professional writer and blogs about goals, habits, productivity, GTD, simplifying
and more
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