“Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.” —Thomas à Kempis
Simplifying your life will bring balance, freedom, and joy. When we begin to live simply and experience these benefits, we begin to ask the next question, “Where else in my life can I remove distraction and simplify life to focus on the essentials?”
Once we’re able to answer that, we will understand what is important in our own lives.
How to Simplify Your Life
Based on our personal journey, our conversations, and our observations, here is a list of the 10 most important things to simplify in your life today to begin living a more balanced, joyful lifestyle:
1. Your Possessions
Too many material possessions complicate our lives to a greater degree than we ever give them credit. They drain our bank account, our energy, and our attention. They keep us from the ones we love and from living a life based on our values.
If you will invest the time to declutter the non-essential possessions from your life, you will never regret it. For more help, check out my book, The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life.
2. Your Time Commitments
Most of us have filled our days full from beginning to end with time commitments: work, home, kid’s activities, community events, religious endeavors, hobbies… the list goes on. When possible, release yourself from the time commitments that are not in line with your greatest values.
3. Your Goals
Reduce the number of goals you are striving for in your life to one or two. By reducing the number of goals that you are striving to accomplish, you will improve your focus and your success rate.
Make a list of the things that you want to accomplish in your life and choose the three most important. Focus there.
4. Your Negative Thoughts
Most negative emotions are completely useless. Resentment, bitterness, hate, and jealousy have never improved the quality of life for a single human being. Forgive past hurts and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
5. Your Debt
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6. Your Words
Use fewer words. Keep your speech plain and honest. Mean what you say. Avoid gossip.
7. Your Artificial Ingredients
Avoid trans fats, refined grain (white bread), high-fructose corn syrup, and too much sodium. Minimizing these ingredients will improve your energy level in the short-term and your health in the long-term.
Also, as much as possible, reduce your consumption of over-the-counter medicine. Allow your body to heal itself naturally as opposed to building a dependency on substances.
8. Your Screen Time
Focusing your attention on television, movies, video games, and social media affects your life more than you think. Media rearranges your values. It begins to dominate your life. And it has a profound impact on your attitude and outlook.
Unfortunately, when you live in that world on a consistent basis, you don’t even notice how it is impacting you. The only way to fully appreciate its influence in your life is to turn them off.
9. Your Connections to the World
Relationships with others are good, but constant streams of distraction are bad. Learn when to power off the phone, log off social media, or not read a text. Focus on the important, not the urgent.
A steady flow of distractions from other people may make us feel important, needed, or wanted, but feeling important and accomplishing importance are completely different things.
10. Your Multi-Tasking
Research indicates that multi-tasking increases stress and lowers productivity. While single-tasking is becoming a lost art, learn it. Handle one task at a time. Do it well. And when it is complete, move to the next.
As Henry David Thoreau once said, “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify!”
I am just beginning so this is new to me but would love to reduce my spending. Especially on clothing as my closet is so full I have to stack clothing o the side of my bed. Some of it is 20 yrs old but I still wear most of it. I would love to get into a frame of mind to have a very nice but minimal wardrobe. Is that even possible?
Yes, there are articles on essential wardrobe items. (Purchase a few excellent quality items that you can mix and match.) Use accessories for a change in look. (Be careful here too with accessory purchases so as not to over indulge/over spend. Purchase accessories in the same minimalist mix and match mindset). Research this topic and make a plan. You may already have items in your current wardrobe to meet such criteria/plan so you can thin your current clothing items. (Hope this is true to save money.)
Speaking from experience: if you wear it, keep it. It is frustrating to eliminate things you will actually wear when the few items you chose to keep wear out and need to be replaced.
I propose an alternate option: stop buying more items. If you do buy, eliminate an item or two for each you purchase. Don’t replace when you wear things out until you reach the bottom level of clothing items you want to own.
I’m doing that this time around and it is a far more pleasant experience. It’s easier on the environment and your wallet as well.
Unfortunately, it requires patience. It can take quite a while to wear out the clothes you have, especially if you own a lot.
Screen time was the kicker for me. Going paperless made me a blue light addict, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Thanks for sharing this great information!
Everyone wants to multi-task, to me that means doing 2 things half assed. You may be able to do more than one thing but I don’t think you work to full potential on both. Just my thoughts.
Only if you know the tragic consequences of a person being exposed to such TOXIC thing for a LONG TIME- memory problems, depression, anxiety to name a few.
It isn’t just the transfats that are a major problem. Dr. Chris Knobbe shows how industrial seed oils are at the root cause of most diseases of modern civilization. At the beginning of the last century, only two out of onehundredthousand Americans were diabetic. Today it is thirteenthousand out of onehundredthousand. At the beginning of the last century, there were only four worldwide accounts of heart attacks. Today it is the leading cause of death. Watch his YT vid “Dr. Chris Knobbe – ‘Diseases of Civilization: Are Seed Oil Excesses the Unifying Mechanism?’
Another good one is toxic oil by Ian Gillespie
Where did you source your statistics? Heart attacks and diabetes have existed for hundreds of years.
Thanks for sharing this great information!
Awesome. Thank you for your article.
Wow! “feeling important and accomplishing importance are completely different things.” I haven’t heard it stated that way, quite the insight!
I thank you for this post. I’ve implemented nearly all of these already, but addressing the feeling above and training myself to focus tightly on 1-2 areas/goals stand out for me. What a great day (8-8) for me to change in these areas!
Along with steps 2, 3, & 9, a lot of these issues also have to do with boundaries. I came upon a great book from the library titled
“Boundary Boss, The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen,
and (Finally) Live Free.” by Terri Cole MSW LCSW.
A lot of us (including myself) do not know or understand from an early age that we have the right to know about & set healthy boundaries. The book is a real eye opener about internal and external boundaries, and I highly recommend it.
Thanks for the book suggestion.
#1, #4 and #8 are soo true. If my personal experience taught me anything, it’s that these three grip you absolutely tight. It’s difficult to get freedom, but it’s quiet an experience if you manage to do so.
Thank you, your remarks are exactly what I needed to have you share. Like a prayer,
“Reduce the number of goals you are striving for in your life to one or two.”
This is an important point for me. We get entangled in the pursuit of getting more and not a single goal gets fulfilled.
Good advices. Although I think I fulfill some of them, with points 2, 8 and 10 I have a problem. Too many connections to be able to discard in a very radical way. Another objective for 2022…
All of these suggestions are great, except for reducing medications. That’s a very irresponsible thing to suggest given that you have no medical background and your education is in theology not any sort of medical science or health care practice.
He suggested reducing OTC medications only – most people over-diagnose and over-treat themselves with medications easily purchased without a prescription. He did not suggest reducing prescriptions. And yes, I am a doctor. :)
Please read over what was said about medication; it was never suggested to reduce medication it was simply suggested to reduce “over the counter” medication
Perhaps this comment needs a little bit of #4. Let’s reflect first on our immediate thoughts and try to redirect to more positive ones.
Regarding reducing medications. Some people medicate with alcohol and illegal drugs. Everyone should consult their doctor regarding drug usage.
If you noticed, he only mentioned over-the-counter medications. I agree with what you said, some over the counter medications can be used unnecessarily. We can become over dependent, especially if we use them instead of drinking enough water or eating healthfully, etc.
This is such a good article. Very practical.
Kudos to the writer! I just translated it into my language (Kurdish Central).