Our life can be incredibly hectic and between advancing our career, reaching our dreams, maintaining great relationships and managing all our commitments and chores, it can difficult to keep up with everything that’s going on.
Finding time for ourselves seems impossible and it comes at no surprise that some of us feel overwhelmed and completely stressed out. This is why it is important to learn how to simplify our life and bring balance, joy and freedom back into it.
Simplifying our life doesn’t mean that we have to give up anything that’s important to us, it simply means that we start to remove distractions in order to find the time to take a breather. While a major overhaul to our lifestyle promises to restore balance and vitality, even small changes that you can easily implement today will help you to feel more relaxed and sane.
Here are our TOP 10 tips to simplify your life.
#1 Slow Down
We’ve all been guilty of running through life too quickly without ever stopping to actually enjoy it. Slow down and take your foot off the gas every now and then and you’ll be surprised how much more you get done. It is impossible to be in constant motion and still be your best all the time. If you slow down, you’ll be able to enjoy life more and actually do things correctly rather than when you are rushing through things without paying any attention.
#2 Simplify Your Email
If you’re anything like us, your email situation can easily get out of hand. How many accounts do you have and what exactly are you using these accounts for? Consolidate your email accounts as much as possible, unsubscribe from email newsletters that you don’t even read and most importantly establish a schedule for when you check your emails. There is no need to instantly respond to every email as soon as it pops up. Commit yourself to a schedule and only check your emails once or twice a day and promise yourself that you won’t open your email server outside the allocated times.
#3 Declutter Unused and Unnecessary Possessions
Most people accumulate some ‘stuff’ that they don’t use or that they don’t need and that ‘stuff’ is taking up important space and clutters our lives. Take the time to go through your material possessions and get rid off everything you no longer need or want. It doesn’t just organize your apartment or office, it also gets rid off the emotional attachment that is often times unhealthy. Go through your things and determine if you use it or if it provides any value to you and if it doesn’t, trash it. Most importantly, if you do use it, but it doesn’t provide any value and only wastes your time, get rid off it immediately. Only keep the essentials and you will simplify your life in unimaginable ways.
#4 Stop Multitasking
We’ve talked about multitasking before… It is a myth that makes you less productive and more scattered and it most definitely reduces the quality of your work. Multitasking causes anxiety and stress and we fool ourselves if we believe we can do several things at the same time. Fact is that we are at our best and most effective when we focus on one task at a time and give it 100%. No matter how productive you think you are when you attempt to juggle several things at once, you are not. You are only complicating your life and hurting yourself.
#5 Learn to Say ‘No’
If we say yes to everything that is presented to us, we can easily overextend ourselves and complicate our lives. Learn to say ‘No’ when you don’t want to do something or when you don’t have the time and energy to do something. Whenever someone comes to you with a new task or even with a social event, pause for a moment and consider your options. Will this opportunity enhance your life and do something good for you or is it something that is going to waste your time and energy on something that you don’t want or need. Have enough self-respect to learn how to say no and with that you have more time to do what you actually love.
#6 Spend Less Time Online
Between Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube, the average person spends hours on social media, wasting precious time and energy. We are plugged in most of the time and get obsessive about checking our social media feed, emails, text messages and tweets that we let time pass us by while clicking away online. As amazing and powerful as the internet is, we need to regularly disconnect to improve our lives, health and happiness.
#7 Simplify Your Thoughts
Being negative wastes your time that you could be spending on something that enhances your life and moves you forward towards achieving your dreams. Don’t dwell on regrets or mistakes, don’t complain and don’t engage in gossip. Being positive will simplify your life, increase your personal power and make you happier and healthier.
#8 Pre-Plan Your Meals
Whether you are single or have a family, figuring out dinner can be a headache. We live in a time where we are presented with so many options that even the simple act of deciding what to eat can become overwhelming. Do yourself a favor and plan your meals. Make a list of various foods and dishes you like and plan out your week. This will not only take the guesswork out of the daily question ‘What’s for dinner?’, it will also simplify your grocery shopping and safe you a lot of time and energy.
#9 Schedule ‘Me’ Time Every Day
While it may seem self-indulgent, making time for yourself every single day is detrimental to your health and happiness. Just think about it. When the battery of your phone dies, it doesn’t work anymore and the same goes for your own personal battery. Determine what refills your batteries, whether that’s a daily workout, a walk in the park, taking a yoga class, playing the piano or sitting in a bubble bath with a glass of wine, make sure that you incorporate ‘me’ time into your daily routine.
#10 Fill Your Life with People You Love
If someone is draining your energy and bringing you down, eliminate this toxic relationship from your life and detach yourself from the relationships that aren’t working for you. This way you free up precious time to actually have the time and space to fill your life with the people you love and care about and can invest your time and energy into more loving, meaningful relationships that lift you up and move you forward.
Once you start the process of simplifying your life and realize what amazing benefits come with it, you will continue to look for more areas of your life where you can remove distractions and focus on what’s truly important. Simplifying your life will give you back control of your life while making you happier and enjoying life a little bit more.
START SIMPLIFYING TODAY AND GET RID OFF ALL THAT EXTRA NOISE
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked