What does it mean to simplify your life?
Our life has also gotten complicated in this fast-paced world, where everything is moving rapidly!
Everyone is working crazy to become successful in a short time, and reach high never-ending desires that end them feeling burnt out!
here are only ways to simplify your life
- REMOVING ALL THE NON ESSENTIAL’S
- ADDING ALL THE ESSENTIALS
Hence, in today’s post, I will be sharing with you 25 ways to simplify your life to make it less clustered!
1. Declutter to simplify your home
The best way to begin simple living is to minimize our surroundings!
The number of unnecessary things we have in our life especially at home!
Getting rid of items, you no longer need, Items that no longer add any meaning to your life is important to get rid of!
2-3 years back I watched two documentaries on Netflix
1. Minimalism: a Documentary About the Important Things
They both talked about how owning fewer things brings more value to our life
Less is more!
2. Cut off Toxic People From Life
I know it may sound hard, but it is one of the most important things in your life!
If you ever sit and notice, you will find most of the issues and problems we get are from toxic people around us!
Their opinions and talks consume our life and end up draining our energy!
If you find yourself around people who constantly judge you or gossip all the time, just cut them off!
Life is too short to be around people who drain your energy
But sometimes, those toxic people can be someone you cannot entirely get rid of (family or friend)
Then, what you can do is try to distance yourself from them! Spending lesser time and forming healthy boundaries
I recently read the book Think Like a Monk in which, the author jay Shetty shares a great exercise to deal with toxic people you cannot get rid of!
In the book, he says that toxicity is extremely powerful, hence to neutralize we need to spend time with around 5 positive people for every 1 negative person!
3. Minimize your social media apps
Today, we have at least 20 social media platforms in the world!
As much as I love the digital space, it is extremely time-consuming!
The more social media platforms you are on, the more you will be stuck to your phone doing nothing productive!
Having maximum 3 social media platforms is enough to interact, know about the world and learn!
So, delete and deactivate accounts that you do not require for work, that you may find as more “negative or waste of time” space
4. Unfollow and unsubscribe people that does not resonate with you
Following up with minimizing our no of apps, it is also important to take note of what and how much of it you are consuming!
At the beginning of 2020, I was in very negative mind space, it was then I decided to unfollow and unsubscribe people from social media
To kid you not but it was only after that, that I realized,
How much better my mental health had gotten!
I never thought the people I was following were having a negative impact on my mental health
Please do note that all those people/accounts, just because they affect our mental space doesn’t mean they are negative or toxic
Most of the time, it is that looking at some people’s lives can naturally make us feel bad even if we do not realize it
It does not mean that they are bad examples or they should be sharing their life out there
It has nothing to do with them but for us!
Since, I spend more time on YouTubers in terms of consumption, I decided to unsubscribe 90% of the accounts and only kept the ones that bring meaning and positivity to my life
The same goes with Instagram, I like to do the same every now and then!
5. Eliminate Negative Self-talk
One of the most fruitful things you can do for yourself will be to eliminate negative self-talk,
If your mind is cluttered with negative beliefs and mindset about yourself, it will reflect in your life and the decisions you make
By adding positive self-talk, your will be a lot simple and at peace!
6. Eliminate Overthinking
Just like negative self-talk, Overthinking also adds up unwanted tension in life
Although even I am not perfect when it comes to this, I struggle with overthinking as well
What has helped me be at peace is only focusing on the solution of a problem that is you now!
Did you know 90% of the overthinking is either about our past or future and hardly 10% of our worry is about our present state
Hence, I like to focus on what I can do at present to solve my problem which helps me feel at peace and more organizer
7. Stop Watching the News
It may sound weird but watching the news or reading the newspaper has a really negative impact on the mind!
Especially for people, you like to read the newspaper as soon as they wake up!
When you wake up in the morning it is essential to start your day with a positive thought, instead if you wake up and read 100 bad things that are going the around world,
subconsciously it affects our brain which leads us unknowingly feeling anxious and stressed the whole day
Many bad things happen in the world both at a micro and macro level and we do not need to know about each thing
Apart from that, news channels and papers tend to twist the headlines towards negative sentiment, even if in reality it is not!
I have completely stopped watching the news and reading newspapers and if you are wondering how do I know what is going around the world
On social media, through other people’s stories, I tend to automatically know about the major incidents that should be known
At least it is essential to limit the consumption if not quitting altogether!
Quitting watching and reading the news will lighten your mind with fewer negative thoughts
8. Build A Routine
Did you know our body loves routine?!
Our body tends to function a lot more productively when we have a routine to follow every day!
Even though it is okay to change things up in your routine from time to time but mostly following a certain routine helps it function a lot better
Our body knows what to do when it automatically gets used to and gets ready!
Having either set of daily routines or dividing them into
Morning Routine, evening routine is a great way to start!
9. Implement Slow Living
Act of slow living is the best way to live a simple life! Life is not meant to be rushed rather live and enjoy each moment!
If you are constantly rushing over life, in the end, you will yourself with no memories of truly enjoying your life!
Take things slow and live each moment!
10. Focus On the Present
The book The Power of Now beautifully describes the importance of focusing on the present. Focusing on the present is also an act of slow living, it helps us live in the moment and remove our unwanted worries. Check out the book here
I obviously love thinking and working towards the future but it is quite important to not let us get caught up in that cycle!
11. Implement Mindful Eating
Our body is where we live, yet we take it for granted the most!
I started implementing mindful eating habits since few years and it truly helps me nourish it and feel guilt-free!
Slowly start to focus on what you are eating and constantly ask questions
is it good for my body?
Is my body asking for hydration? So, what will help in hydration? Water or soda?
Most of the time we start drinking all sorts of carbonated drinks when we feel thirsty! It only makes us more dehydrated
Simply giving our body what it needs will help in an overall healthy lifestyle!
12. Start Reading
Reading is a great way to learn! I like to read both fiction and nonfiction books!
Nonfiction books – self-help books help me learn about various things in life!
It’s a great way to know about someone’s years of life lessons merged into a book!
Fiction books are good once in a while to help us feel entertained and also have lessons and meaning behind the story!
Here are some book recommendations me!
- Atomic Habits
- The Four Agreements
- 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
- The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery
13. Listen to your Heart
Our lives have gotten complicated, in trying to listen to society, family, our minds, or our heart! It makes life a lot harder trying to please it all!
As much value as it is to think and do things using our mind, it is our heart that truly knows what is best for us!
It is directly connected to our inner self and intuition that society has told us to ignore!
Listening more to what your heart desires will help simplify your life
14. Give Back
Giving back to the world and people not only brings inner joy but also abundance!
Selfless service is helping someone in need who cannot help us in return!
What it means is, Most of the time people around them with the intention that person will help too, they can also get something in return in the future
Which makes it more like a give and take deal rather than a helpful service!
But if we help people who are in need when we know the person cannot do any favor in return with the only intention to help, we feel more full than empty!
15. Build meaningful Relationships
I do emphasize spending alone time and being with your own company but at the same, it is important to have people around you
And not just anyone but people you trust and want the best for you!
People you can share your both worst and best with!
16. Quality Over Quantity
Similar to the point above, when you start valuing the quality of things and people rather than their quantity
You will be able to make better choices and live mindfully!
You can befriend 10 people whom you do not vibe, who don’t want the best for you
You will still struggle!
Or you could be around a maximum of 3-5 people who understand and want the best for you
You will grow
It is important to have support and people who can push you and be with you at times!
If you ever notice, you will find that it is people who create more problems in our life than we do!
17. Walk More
A habit I started when I got out of school was to walk more!
It is the best physical activity for our body!
Since my work requires me to be on a laptop all the time, I hardly get any physical activity done
Walking is great for overall health and the best way to stay in shape
My goal is usually to reach 5000-10000 steps a day!
18. Take Rest
While you are constantly working, take some time off and have a rest as well!
It is ok to procrastinate and has time off when you are not feeling yourself!
Constantly feeling guilty about resting and overworking yourself will eventually burn your out
Whereas time to time taking rest will keep you mentally at peace and increase your productivity!
19. Build A Hobby
Even if you love what you do, work will eventually stress you out as it comes with many responsibilities and deadlines
Hence, building a hobby for yourself to relax and destress is a must!
20. Deep Clean
Repeating all the steps mentioned above every month will truly simplify your life! Decluttering all the excess stuff and junk every once in a while is deep cleaning!
21. Meditate
Meditation has been the most life-changing experience for many people that have helped them live their life more intentionally and purposeful!
Meditation helps you connect your body to its soul and give clarity about life!
It is so far the best way to simplify and live a meaningful life!
Starting with even 1-minute of mediation is a great habit!
22. Make To-Do Lists
There are so many tasks that we need to get done and it is easier to forget them when they are only in your mind!
By making a to-do list every day you can get your task done a lot easier!
I like to keep a small notebook and write my daily tasks in them so I do not forget!
23. Track your Life
I did an activity about a year ago where I had to rate my financial, physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental health out of 10
That was a great way for me to track where all aspects of my life are heading, which needs more work and time!
24. Start Journaling
Journaling has been really helpful for me to take things out of my mind when I am stressed or overthinking!
Sometimes we cannot share what we are going through with people around us and getting therapy can be expensive for some people
Starting a journal where you can write down your feelings is the best way to release emotions!
25. Be Grateful
I know I share this in almost every post, but being thankful is highly important!
When you live your life being grateful you will be able to value things more!
Things you are blessed with, people in your life, opportunities, and all other smallest things!
