7 Awe-Inspiring Ways to Simplify Your Life

By Hannah Wilson:

Life can be exhausting. When you think about staying on top of work, bills, and other life-related things, it’s not hard to become stressed out. Simplifying your life can relieve stress; by allowing yourself to live a simple life, you can focus on what really matters. Take a look at these seven ways to be more in control of your life, waste less time, and simply be happier.

Downsize & Declutter

Guess what? You don’t need a massive house with lots of stuff to be happy. Yes, those things can be nice; however, take it from a happy, 23-year-old living in a studio apartment downtown; it’s all I need. It’s all I need. Say it again. Repeat it as many times a day as you need to remind you that needs are different than wants. Most of us are living with a lot of physical and emotional clutter. Living simply means getting rid of this. When you don’t buy things you don’t need, you have less clutter. By getting rid of things that no longer have a purpose in your life and surrounding yourself with only people and things you love, you’ll notice that you’re much happier.

Did you know that the average person spends 12 days per year looking for things they can’t find? Unreal! You might not have realized how much having lots of clutter is wasting your time. Being more organized can not only help you save time looking for things, but also spend more time doing things you enjoy. 55% of consumers stated they would save anywhere from 16 to 60 minutes a day if they were more organized. Something you can do to be more organized is to set aside a day to do things like cleaning and laundry, instead of letting it pile up and then stressing out about finding time to do it (not saying this has happened to me). By downsizing and decluttering, you will be on your way to a happy, healthy life.

Manage Your Finances

Save. Money. Again, take it from a 23-year-old and start investing for your future self. Do one thing today that your future self will thank you for. For example, past Hannah filled out a 401K so that future Hannah can have the money needed to retire. Even though retiring is a long ways away, start organizing your finances and tracking your money today.

Automate what you can to reduce the amount of stress you have when it comes to money; use an app, have your work direct deposit your checks, and set up auto-pay for your bills. 23% of people pay bills late and have to pay late fees because they are unable to find their bills. Use the tools you have to make your life easier. Next, pay off your debt. Trust me; you’ll feel nice paying off the debt from your last-minute trip to New York. Finding free ways to be entertained is another excellent way to both save money and live a good life.

Spend Less Time on Social Media

I want to start this section off with a little story. I was at a concert a couple of weekends ago, and my friends and I had taken a few pictures. One girl asked me to send her the photos, as they were taken on my phone, and I instantly got on it. While I was crafting the text message, another friend said, “Get off your phone!” I sent the photos the next morning instead of at that exact moment, and guess what? The world did not end. Often, we forget how important it is to live in the present. It is SO essential just to slow down and be in the current moment.

It’s a habit we don’t even realize. We wake up, check our phone. Take a break, check our phone. Get off work, check our phone. Go to sleep, check our phone. 57% of interruptions at work resulted from either social media tools or switching among disparate stand-alone applications. This carousel needs to stop, and we need to break this habit. Think of all the time you already spend on social media and do something about it. Reclaim your hours and minutes wasted on social media to spend with your friends and family, enjoy what the outdoors have to offer, and honestly stop paying for cable because you don’t use it that much anyway.

Make Time for Self-Care

I know, I know… your physician already tells you this; your therapist already tells you this, you already have five texts from “Mom <3” reminding you to take your vitamins. Regardless of this, I’m going to repeat it: make time for self-care. If you’re anything like me, you spend most of your time checking in on other people; for once, check-in on yourself as it’s beneficial for your overall health and wellbeing. You don’t even have to spend tons of time doing this, even 10-15 minutes of self-care works. Drink a glass of water, do a face mask, trim your toenails, really ANYTHING that benefits you… do it! We rarely get to sit in silence, but it helps us to. Our society is always on the go, and there is constant noise surrounding us. Relax. Clear your mind and focus on what matters most.

Set Reminders

Setting reminders makes it so you don’t have to keep thinking about what you need to do, and your phone can just remind you. Doctor appointment? Set a reminder. Dentist appointment? Set a reminder. Vet appointment? Set a reminder. To-do list? Set a reminder. Setting reminders work for everything! Instead of having to continually be thinking of all the things you need to do, set a reminder, trust your technology, and clear your mind of it until it’s necessary to think about.

Meal Prep

Meal prepping has its benefits. It cuts down on grocery costs, helps you eat out less, makes it easier to make healthier eating choices, and saves you time and energy. Even if you can’t find the time to meal prep, apps like Mealime and HelloFresh make meal planning easier. Even though the goal of meal prepping is to set aside one day a week to plan all your meals for the week, it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. You can still take it day by day; I’m just sayin’ there are some great apps out there that make your life hella easier, especially when it comes to something as important as food.

Say No (And Yes) More Often

You can’t be there for everything, but you should be there for some things. Say “no” more often and think about the outcome of saying “yes” and if it’s worth it. Don’t waste time doing things that you don’t like doing. Now, don’t be a negative, indoorsy person who says no to everything, but realize that it’s okay to say no. Think about what is most important in your life. What goals do you want to achieve? What dreams do you have? What is holding you back from them? Along with learning to say no, know that it’s also essential to know when to say yes. Say yes to last-minute trips to visit your best friend, say yes to walking your dog with your neighbor, say yes to adventurous things in life because you never know when you’ll get that chance again.

In life, bad things happen, but it’s what you do about them that matters. Instead of spending time thinking about bad things, as it impacts your mood, find ways to move through and past them. When you focus your attention on what’s good in life, you won’t be so exhausted and stressed. Let go of toxic people because they put a heavy and emotional weight on you that you don’t need to carry. Instead, make room for those who encourage and support you. When you’re confident, and you have good people supporting you, you will enjoy life so much more. Be a positive ray to sunshine in your workplace!

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