“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.
That’s a very good article! Thanks for writing and sharing it!
Great general guidelines to follow. Thank you!
Great article, time to refocus for the judgetribe.
Love this Joshua! Thank you for all the great writing you do.
What kind of ethics is that: to transfer your crap to others and even making money out of it. To reduce the amount of crap, scrap it instead.
You bought all of your crap in the first place, why not get a little something back for it? If someone wants to buy it let ’em.
why so rude!? ;)
dont comment on something if u dont like it1
!
It is amazing how what one views as crap can be anothers treasure…at an amazing price too.
Is minimalism about aesthetics and/or ethics? The aesthetic aspect seems to deal with the crap in your life and to possess only what is essential. If you think all others should dump their crap the aesthetics of minimalism becomes normative.
But what is the ethics of minimalism? At least one aspect must – it seems to me – be altruism. To make a community work there must be altruism – even reciprocal altruism. Is money important to a minimalist – if not, then give away your crap or even destroy it. It is nothing worth to you and it is unethical to trap others with your crap even if they pay for it.
But maybe I am wrong. Maybe minimalism is anarchic!
the world is a beautiful place if you beliiieevevevev ! but that probs wont happen x
the value come from perception. let’s say my ipod / watch / stereo system is crap for me right now but for another person it may worth something because they need it to improve something in their lives with that thing. Maybe by decluttering your place by selling things you can also get some money to afford a vacation and enjoy their depart with much more pleasure. After all, there are money you spent when they meant something but you should not just toss that away.
Not all clutter is material ;)
To preserve our Earth is not anarchy.
hello i think you are wrong sooorrrry
Seems like you’re not reading the words being written here. He is making it clear the minimalism has to be personalized for each different home. It is supposed to focus on what is important to you. So, if my DVD collection of disney movies is no longer needed because my children are grown, it makes sense to get rid of it. It also makes sense to give or sell it to a family with small children who will enjoy the time they spend together on Friday night movie nights, as we did when ours were little. It’s only “crap” to own things you do not use. If someone else can use it, it is valuable. That’s the whole point.
I take good care of everything and pass it on. The trash is not a wise place for our limited resources.
Great thoughts, suggestions the best part has to be doing them. I don’t just want to read it and feel how good it sounds. I want to practise it and then see how good I feel :-)
yes the life is very beutiful so many things depends in the life
Really liked the article. Thank you.
Totally true. ;)
helelleleoo meeloooooo have a good dY!
yup! :)
Well written.
I guess life was always meant to be simple but this modernisation and the passion to become rich/famous/successful has made this aspect to take a back seat.