30 Ways You Can Simplify Your Life Today

Inside: 30 Ways You Can Simplify Your Life Today.

Life in today’s society can be so overwhelming. I know that there are days when I feel so bogged down by routines, deadlines and outside forces that I feel like I can’t breathe. Being a mum of 3 certainly adds pressure too. It all get’s a bit much sometimes, doesn’t it?

Life can be overwhelming due to commitments and external pressures. By simplifying things such as your daily routines, your meal planning, your belongings (by decluttering each room of your house), and even your digital life, you can help reduce the load and focus on the important things.

I have compiled a list of 30 easy ways that you can simplify various aspects of your life to reduce your overwhelm each day.

Ways to simplify your life

1. Write must do lists

You’ll have heard of to-do lists of course, but have you tried must-do lists? The difference being, you choose 3 things from your main to-do list that absolutely must get completed that day. It focuses your attention and minimises the pressure felt by only having 3 things on your list at any time.

2. Have a morning routine

How you start your day has an effect on the rest of your day. So, by starting it off in the right way you will set yourself up for success. What is your intention for the day? Make your bed, sit and have your cup of coffee in peace, put a load of washing on. Decide on the best way to help you feel in control and repeat it each and every morning.

3. Declutter your home

When you are surrounded by clutter it has a negative impact on your wellbeing. We spend so much time tidying that we don’t have time to enjoy the fun things.

By reducing the volume of items in your home you will reduce your stress levels and everything that remains will have a home – making life easier when you need to find something. Less stuff = less stress.

4. Meal plan each week

Do you get to meal times each day and wonder what you are going to cook? Take that stress away by planning ahead of time. By planning for the week you will know exactly what to cook and when but you will also save food and money by only buying what you need from the store each week.

5. Reduce your social media consumption

It’s no secret that social media has a negative impact on our mental wellbeing. But why? Our screens cause us sensory overload, the posts themselves make us feel like we are missing out or that we are not good enough. By reducing the time spent consuming those posts, you remove that negativity from your life.

My best advice would be to move your social media apps away from your home screen. That way, you won’t be tempted to open them when you see the red notifications!

6. Say no

How often do you find yourself agreeing to something and regretting it afterwards? We take on too much and end up feeling overloaded. Saying no doesn’t make you a bad person, it means you are taking care of yourself and that is ok.

I spent a long time being a yes person and honestly it made me miserable. Now I only say yes if I really want to do something. Otherwise I politely decline. It’s liberating!

7. Have a cleaning routine

By having a routine for your home, you are able to keep on top of the chores and stop them building up. Little and often is key. Getting organized and decluttering will help massively here. Ditch anything that makes your cleaning like harder.

And that might mean ditching things like your curtains for Half Price Blinds & Shutters. They’re simpler, easier to clean, and they make your home more energy efficient. Little swaps like this will go a long way to make your little and often cleaning schedule go smoother.

8. Get up earlier

Ok hear me out before you scroll on past. By getting up even half an hour earlier than normal, you allow yourself time to set the intention for the day. In that time, you can eat your breakfast in peace, you can put on some makeup, you can get some chores done. Whatever you do, you’ll feel ahead of the game and set yourself up for success.

9. Set yourself alarms

Find yourself worrying about whether you’ll lose track of time and forget to go get the kids? Or have something you need to do but worry you’ll miss the day? Set yourself reminders and alarms to take the pressure off and allow you to get on with your day.

The alarm will sound to alert you, allowing you to spend less time clock watching so you are free to do whatever else you need to do.

10. Create a capsule wardrobe

Did you know we only wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time? The remaining clothes take up valuable space and leave us overwhelmed when we open up our wardrobes and drawers. By having a capsule wardrobe, you know that everything in your closet is something that makes us feel good and goes well with everything else we own.

Not sure where to start? Try the 10×10 challenge!

11. Unsubscribe from emails

How many emails do you get each day? Emails from clothing stores? Newsletters you’ve signed up to? Notifications from social media? Instead of mindlessly deleting them each day, take the time to go through and unsubscribe to each email that no longer serves you. It feels so good!

12. Use a finance app

Do you know what you spend month to month? I’ve been using Monzo for a year or so now and it has made me more aware of my spending habits and encouraged me to spend less. Harder to ignore your spending when you get alerts to your phone each time you buy anything. You will get monthly summaries of your spending so you can see where you might want to reduce those spends.

13. Use a slow cooker

Take the pressure off having to cook at the end of the day by using a slow cooker to cook delicious meals while you are busy doing other things. There are so many meals you can try! Our favourite is a slow cooker lasagne – good simple food!

14. Use time blocking

Multi-tasking is a myth. Stop trying to do it. Focus on one thing at a time and do each thing well. Do this by making use of time blocking. Block out your day, breaking it down into each task and activity that needs to be done. You will find your are more efficient and you can make time for the fun things too.

15. Take time for you

How often do you make time to do things that you enjoy? To nurture a creative outlet? A long soak in the bath, a walk in the countryside, making time to paint your nails? By choosing to live a simple life you can make more time for these precious moments. Life is there to be enjoyed, so make the time for the little things.

16. Go paperless

Paper clutter is so unnecessary now. We can store and access almost everything online now and that reduces the piles of paper that come into our homes. Keep an eye on what paper enters the home and make the effort to make it paperless moving forwards.

17. Use natural products to clean

If you walk down the cleaning aisle in the store you are met with hundreds of cleaning products. There is just no need for so many different things! We don’t have space in our lives or in our homes so there needs to be another option. Thankfully, there is. Using simple products such as white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice, you can clean everything in your home.

I can recommend this good book from The Queen of Clean to get you started.

18. Pre-pack your bags

Save yourself time and energy by pre-packing your bags before you go out. A lifesaver when it comes to things like nappy bags but also handy having your handbag, school bags and lunchbags ready ahead of time so you are good to go at any given moment.

19. Be more mindful

Have you ever done an audit of how you spend your time? Over the next 24 hours, keep a diary of everything you do. You’ll most likely find that you waste time doing mindless activities like watching tv and scrolling your phone. These activities stress out our brains and actually make us more stressed.

Instead, do something mindful such as doing a puzzle, reading a book, playing board games or doing some colouring. You’ll feel so much better.

20. Watch less TV

This deserves a section to itself purely because we literally waste hours and hours watching rubbish. And yet we all say that we have no time to do anything. Be honest, how much tv do you watch each evening? 2 hours? 3? More? Reduce it down by one hour minimum and see what you can achieve instead.

I spend the time I would have otherwise spent in front of the tv to get the house reset before I go to bed. It is a simple evening routine of putting on the dishwasher and tidying away a few toys here and there but it has made a huge difference to my mornings waking up to a tidy house.

21. Set goals

Goal setting is so important. Whether it is your goal for the day (must-do lists), a goal to be able to run 5k without stopping, or to set up your own business, setting the goal means you are 5x more likely to achieve them.

By saying them aloud (or better still, writing them down) you have somewhere to aim. Otherwise your internal GPS is wandering mindlessly through life without a destination. So set your GPS to that goal and start living intentionally.

22. Ask for experiences

We are so used to material gifts but let’s remember, we are trying to declutter our homes and our lives to reclaim a little space.

Instead of gifts for Christmas, birthdays and other occasions, why not request experiences instead. Experiences are what make our lives richer and give us happy memories for years to come and end up being the best things we could have ever received.

23. Let go of negativity

It’s easy to hold onto negativity, isn’t it? But who are these negative thoughts serving? That person who you hold resentment towards doesn’t give you a second thought. Is that negativity helping you? Feeling road rage when someone cuts you up? Does it affect them or just ruin your journey? Let it go. Let it all go.

Focus on living a positive life and accept that other people and their lives aren’t your concern.

24. Journal

Journaling is a great way to express yourself but also a place to write down inner thoughts, work through issues and make a note of goals you want to achieve. Writing down your goals and dreams really helps you to focus on what is most important in life.

A great place to keep it is beside your bed – that way you can spend time either first thing in the morning or last thing at night recording your precious thoughts.

25. Reduce gifting expectations

Something I introduced to my family a few years back has led to a simpler life and a simpler Christmas. For years I’d been overwhelmed when it came to gift buying and my children had been overwhelmed by the gifts they received. As a result their expectations grew and I could see them becoming more and more spoiled.

It means each child knows what to expect and I have a much more enjoyable time when it comes to sourcing the things to get each year.

26. Automate as much as possible

Automating the mundane is a great way to simplify. Pay your bills by direct debit if you can, set up subscriptions for things like toilet rolls and dog food (buying in bulk costs less too).

Create email templates for emails you find yourself repeating over and over again. Little things that add up to saving you a heap of time. Create a master grocery list to refer to week on week that you can either use manually or on your online grocery app. I went as far as wandering around the grocery store and making a note of everything I buy and the aisles they are in so I can now whizz round at record speed.

Another thing to automate that you may not consider is your daily routine. Little things like wiping down the sink while you clean your teeth. Taking a load of washing downstairs with you in the morning. Wiping the surfaces while you wait for your morning coffee. Little things that you can fit in and make automatic as part of your day.

27. Keep a notepad for ideas

Addressing mental clutter is important too. Sometimes emptying your mind of everything can help you to relax and unwind. But when do you have most of your ideas? …. In bed! It’s always the way isn’t it?

Have a notepad and pencil by the side of your bed so you can make a note immediately and stop it buzzing round your brain all night.

28. Set boundaries and prioritise

Everyone has a busy schedule these days. But is it all necessary? Sure we have certain time commitments such as school and work that we have to abide by, but what about everything else? If you find yourself doing something that you don’t enjoy, that doesn’t benefit you or serve you in any way – stop it. Just say no.

It is important to set healthy boundaries and allow yourself permission to get off the hamster wheel.

29. Let go of bad relationships

There are certain people in this world that put a drain on our energy. They may be friends, family members or colleagues. It is up to us who we choose to allow in our lives and sometimes we just need to be brave enough to say “I’ve wasted enough time on you” to the toxic people and walk away.

Sometimes it isn’t possible to remove people entirely. So instead you must minimise contact. Say no to meeting up, set boundaries as to when and where you meet. Put your needs first.

Your time is precious, save it for those people that truly matter; the best friends and close family members that you cherish.

30. Be more present

When was the last time you really enjoyed something? Sat back, looked around and absorbed what was going on. We spend so long jumping from one activity to the next, constantly rushing around that we miss so much.

Take a deep breath and truly notice what is happening. Eat slowly, smell the flowers, listen to the sound of laughter. Embrace the now. simple living enough time

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I hope this has been useful and has given you some ideas to get started. Now go make those big and small changes and live life!