Inside: A guide to simple living: Tips for a simpler life as a family.
In a world filled with constant hustle and the pursuit of more, simple living offers a refreshing alternative. This lifestyle encourages individuals to declutter their lives, prioritise what truly matters, and find joy in simple pleasures in everyday life.
Simple living is not the same as minimalism, although they do share many similarities. Simple living is about discovering what truly matters in your own life and letting go of all that prevents you from enjoying those things.
In this blog post, we will explore the principles and benefits of simple living and offer practical tips to help you embrace this meaningful life.
What Is Simple Living?
At its core, simple living is making a conscious effort to reduce complexity in your life and focus on what’s essential. And as much as you might find various apps or programs that claim to help you simplify your life, they are actually a part of the problem – the ever strong force pulling us in a multitude of directions. TV programs, phones, games consoles, latest gadgets, social media… all with one aim – to get us to buy as much as possible.
The TV program telling you to declutter your home will also tell you to buy some new storage baskets. The social media profiles you follow are cleverly inspiring you to buy the latest fashion while they claim to have a capsule wardrobe. There is only one person that can help you simplify your life – you.
Simple living really is simple: 1. decide what is important to you and then 2. remove anything in your life that gets in the way of those things.
Of course, we all have different values and priorities and so there is no one-size-fits-all guide. Plus, not everything in life is so easy to simplify as we will discuss further. But hopefully this post will help you to align with your values and decide on the right course of action for you and your family as you navigate modern life in today’s world.
How to live a simpler life
As I mentioned, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all but here is what I did to find my own path towards simple living.
Define your values
The first thing you must do is to decide what matters most to you and the values you want to live by. This may come easily to you or you may need to sit and have a think about it – either way, grab a pen and paper and make a list of everything that springs to mind.
For me, my list looks like this:
I want to:
Spend time with my children
Spend time with my husband
Have a garden filled with flowers
Grow my own fruit and vegetables
Feel good in my body
Live in alignment with the moon
Read more books
Feel calm and relaxed
Reduce the waste we produce
Reduce our energy consumption
Spend time in nature
These are just a few that come to mind. They are things that are important to me and that deserve all of my energy. Have a think about the different things that are important to you and things that you’d like to include more of in your life. You could even turn your list into a vision board to help inspire you as you embark on this journey.
Determine your barriers
The next thing you need to do is to take an honest look at your life and recognise the barriers that are stopping you from giving your energy to your priority list.
My list looks like this:
My priorities are neglected because of:
Constant tidying & cleaning
Busy schedules – after school clubs
Commitments to work & school
Social media rabbit holes
This may look like a short list but when you actually break down each point further you realise how complicated life is – which is the complete opposite of where we want to be. Tidying is a small word but we all know that there are about a billion jobs that fall under that category.
Write down your list and then have a look at what changes you might be able to make to remove or lessen the impact of those barriers.
Mine would look like this:
Constant tidying & clean = I need to declutter my home further and create a cleaning schedule that all family members contribute to.
Busy schedules = is there anything I can remove from our schedule?
Commitments = are you taking on anything extra that isn’t part of the job?
Social media rabbit holes = reduce usage by having detox days and deleting apps.
You get the idea. right? We choose how we live our lives, we just need to take stock of where we are wasting our time and energy right now so we can take the first step towards a simple living lifestyle.
How to embrace a simple lifestyle
The best way to start is to just start. Today. So take a look through the following points and start making changes straight away. Simple things can make a huge difference in taking that step towards an intentional life.
Put down your phone
Easier said than done, I know (and at least get to the end of this post before you do!) but honestly you will feel so much better if you do. Our lives are busy enough without relentless notifications drawing us into apps every minute of the day. And of course once you are in the apps themselves you are quickly drawn in and before you know it you’ve wasted half an hour scrolling mindless nonsense.
Top tips:
– Turn off notifications for social apps
– Mute watsapp group chats
Your time is precious, don’t waste it looking at other people’s lives.
Look at your daily routine
How do you spend your day? Do you run around like a headless chicken, always feeling like you’re chasing your tail? What exactly are you doing and does it add value to your life in any way?
If one of your priorities is to have more free time to enjoy the little things, you need to eliminate anything that takes up your time unnecessarily. Do the kids need to do so many clubs? Could they choose their favourite and let the others go? Do you need to go shopping in person or could you have your groceries delivered? How much time do you spend on household chores? Could you delegate?
By analysing your daily routine and habits you can begin to understand where the time-sucks are and what you can do to make life a little easier.
Declutter your home
This is a big one and not something you can do quickly, but it will be the single best thing you can do for yourself and your family.
If you feel like you have a lot of stuff, decluttering your home will bring so many benefits, including:
– less time tidying. Quite simply put: the less stuff you have, the less stuff you have to tidy.
– reduced stress. A clutter-free environment can lead to reduced stress and anxiety.
– enhanced focus. Less clutter allows you to concentrate better on your to-do list.
– improved physical health. Clutter can trap dust and allergens, and decluttering can lead to better air quality, reducing the risk of allergies or respiratory issues.
– more space. Removing clutter creates more physical space in your home, making it feel more open and inviting.
– better time management. Organised spaces can help you save time by making it easier to find what you need, when you need it.
All of these aid you in being able to focus more on your priorities in life but a life-changer for many is the time that is created by not having so much stuff to tidy all of the time. For many, housework is completely overwhelming so by reducing the amount you have in your house you will reduce the amount you need to contend with on a daily basis.
Let go of materialism
How many things have you bought because ‘you had to have them’, only to have them buried in the back of a cupboard months later? We’ve all done it. We get suckered in by the ads on TV, the influencers on social media and the glossy photos on websites. We are told that these things will change our lives, will make us more beautiful, feel wonderful, give us the best home ever. But the reality is, it’s just stuff. It doesn’t make us happy – in fact it just suffocates us and makes us feel worse in the end.
Break the cycle, don’t buy into the hype, realise you already have everything you need. Once you do, it is absolutely liberating.
Go back to basics
We live in a world where we can get everything we want at the click of a button. Need a gift by tomorrow? Next day delivery has you sorted. Missed your favourite program? No problem – you can pause, rewind and catch-up on everything. Can’t be bothered to cook? Get it delivered. You don’t need to wait, you don’t need to miss out.
Before we had everything available 24/7, we had to wait. It taught us how to be patient, how to plan ahead, how to do without, how to savour the moment when it finally arrived. All of that has been lost. But you can bring it back!
Cancel your Amazon Prime membership, watch TV live as it happens, plan your month ahead so you know what you might need to buy. Meal plan for the week so you have simple recipes planned out and all of the ingredients ready to prepare.
Live more sustainably.
If you are sick of the throw-away culture we live in then this will be an easy mindset shift. We have been sold this idea that we always need the latest gadget, the latest fashion items etc… but we don’t. We’ve also been made to always take the easy path – choose a squeezy plastic bottle instead of the annoying glass one – you get the idea.
Sometimes, making sustainable choices means spending a little more (but not always!) but if you are buying something that is good quality and that won’t go out of fashion by next month then it will be an investment worth spending money on. Sometimes the sustainable choice might not be as convenient but good things come to those who are patient.
We adjusted to a fast lifestyle, we can adjust to a slower one.
Live in the moment
This is easier said than done sometimes. When we have jobs to do, kids to pick up from school, dinner to plan out and 101 jobs that we can’t eliminate from our lives, it is hard to live in the present moment. It takes practice, you need to actively take a mental step back and consider the task at hand.
Let’s say you are picking the kids up from school. The old you might rush along, thinking about how you need to get back as quickly as possible because you need to get dinner in the oven before you head out to their clubs. But the new you takes a mental step back and decides to walk along holding hands with your little one, asking them about their day and laughing at the silly game they played with their friends at lunchtime. You have already put dinner in the slow cooker and you’ve packed a bag with snacks to take along to the club. No rushing, just enjoying the moment right there.
Even something as dull as washing the dishes can be turned into a moment of gratitude at having 5 minutes to yourself. Enjoy the solitude, listen to some music while you do the job. Learn to enjoy each moment and they will add up to a grateful life.
The Benefits of Simple Living
Embracing a simple life offers a range of benefits that can significantly improve your overall well-being. You will feel better, your family will feel better, and you will enjoy your life more and more each day.
Reduced Stress
By simplifying your life, you reduce the stress associated with clutter, busyness, and constant striving. Less stress will mean more room for joy and contentment for the most important things.
Improved Mental Health
Simplifying your life can lead to improved mental health as you make room for self-care, mindfulness, and emotional well-being. Our modern world is setting us all up for increased stress levels and burnout – it is time we take back control and embrace the old ways over slower living.
Increased Financial Stability
If you aren’t constantly buying the latest fads and trying to keep up with everyone else then you will find your monthly spend goes down. Buying only what you need and making wise choices about quality will become second nature and will give you a sense of freedom from the chains of material possessions.
Environmental Impact
Adopting the concept of simple living often leads to more sustainable choices, reducing your environmental footprint and contributing to a healthier planet. And as young children watch us and learn from us, they too will carry on a simpler lifestyle as they become adults.
Stronger Relationships
Prioritising quality time and meaningful connections with your family will build stronger relationships. Taking time out of each day to sit down and discuss the days events with each family member, play a board game as a family, have a dance in the living room, all go towards building strong bonds. Doing this on a regular basis is what forms happy memories and traditions that will be remembered for a lifetime.
Enhanced Creativity
A simpler, less cluttered lifestyle can open the door to enhanced creativity, as you have more mental and physical space to think and create.
Simple living is not about deprivation or sacrifice but about focusing on what truly matters in life. By simplifying your life, you can reduce stress, improve your well-being, and find contentment in the simple pleasures. It’s an ongoing journey that invites you to reflect on your values and priorities, making intentional choices and little changes that lead to a richer, more fulfilling life.