“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 inspiration, consider Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and 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. Take responsibility for your mind. Forgive past hurts and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
5. Your Debt – If
Find the help that you need and learn how to get out of debt. Sacrifice luxury today to enjoy freedom tomorrow.
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 technology addiction 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.
Simplifying your life is a core aspect of minimalism. To learn more about this lifestyle, visit this primer on minimalism.
Jesse Rowan says
Thanks for this article pulling together so many great ideas to work on to help gain clarity and purpose.
I agree on multi-tasking -it is impossible – but splitting up tasks can be helpful to give you a break: – eg:
– hang out the washing after an hour of sitting in front of a screen
– check out FB only at the end of a hard slog of focussed work, not when you hear a ping
– try to tackle tasks you hate (doing the tax!) but are most important first and then move on to another priority, building in small or big rewards for when you finish.
Dmytro Voytko says
Good tips for this turbulent time.
Thank you!
Pritpal says
Being a Man of few words, the one who avoids gossip and talks relevant, makes a huge difference in simplifying one’s life.
Beside this, avoiding negative thoughts, reducing life goals to 1 or 2 and logging off from social media platforms, are some of my key take aways from this awesome article.
Thanks for this priceless post.
Ishan Thapar says
Your time and your goals are the most important check points. Always evaluate and change the distractions.
Ryan C Werner says
This was very well written and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would in all honesty. There were two in your list that I feel like you’d written specifically for me.
1. Sacrifice luxury today to enjoy freedom tomorrow.
People ask me why I am torturing myself as I am getting out of debt. Now, I have an answer for that. Thank you!
2. Speak less… I don’t exactly gossip, but I sure do talk a lot. Especially in moments of awkward silence… I am usually the first to break the silence…….
Thank you!
Ellen says
Agree! Those two are amazing. I know I should talk less. Instead I am always chatting my gfs out of my life. But they hardly share anything, and I can not stand silence. Unless I am alone.
The other one is golden. I always think about this every time we go out to eat, and grocery shop. Food is so expensive.
Before I was very stinchy with myself, and bought very little normal expensive food.
Now after my son died I know life is not Long, and it is important for me and my other sons to eat well. Not that we did not before, but we eat out a bit more and buy alot more at the grocery store.
I still find it difficult to buy myself a Coffee in Town by myself though. They are silly expensive, and so not Worth it!
Instead of saving on food we sell of alot of our stuff that we are done with. And I am carefull in other areas.
Most importantly my remaining Kids are healthy, happy and good. ?.
Emily says
Very Inspiring, I like the line” Sacrifice luxury today to enjoy freedom tomorrow.”
Barathi Venthan M says
Nice vision
Cara says
“6. Your Words – Use fewer words. Keep your speech plain and honest. Mean what you say. Avoid gossip.” – this one is for me.
I can be a talker one day and a total mute another day. The 2 extremes : (
Millie says
This is a great, inspiring article. I especially like that you address not just the material clutter, but the clutter in our lives and minds. Thank you.
Tripti Singh says
Sir really im very impressed with it and sir i have got a must inspiration from it sir . Thanks a lot sir……