How To Simplify Life

There seems to be a misconception that to simplify your life you need to make the big changes like: move the country and start homesteading, sell everything and move into a tiny house, or live in an immaculate home that looks like a magazine cover. If it isn’t about the big lifestyle changes then what is it?

Learning how to simplify life is a journey of personal development and small improvements over time. Everyone’s simple life journey is unique. It all starts by sorting through the chaos of your life bit by bit.

Sound simple? (I hear you laughing from here…)

If life is chaotic at times for you then I completely understand the overwhelm you are feeling during those moments. I want to reassure you that dreaming about starting that simple life one day doesn’t have to mean selling everything, picking up the family and moving to the country or into a tiny home.

You don’t have to wait to start your simple life journey. Learning how to simplify life starts with your life today, this very moment.

There is a 5 step cycle that you can follow when learning how to simplify life. These steps are in the Simplify Life Your Way complete with worksheets to help sort through that busy brain of yours.

Self-reflection on your life and how you are feeling
Identify what isn’t working very well
Prioritize what needs to change
Brainstorm ideas for getting there
Make a small improvement & repeat the process to simplify life bit by bit

As a busy working mom of 3 kids, I’ve used this same process to simplify our life bit by bit. We still live in an urban area and enjoy the life we have. Have things changed over the years?

Absolutely! I’ll let you in a little secret. Life is about change. As we go through our life we grow individually and so will others. What might work today, might not work in a year but you will be able to adjust the plan and continue improving.

Ways to Simplify Life

Life can be overwhelming when you let chaos take over and drain your energy. Finding ways to simplify life will help you learn how to simplify life. Start with figuring out what isn’t working in your life now and finding simple solutions to create less stress and more routine in your life.

Relationships: Are your relationships with your spouse and children suffering? Do you have a strong connection with them? If you are struggling with your relationships then it will be hard to create a strong foundation in your life. Everyone needs to feel a connection with others, even introverts. Do you show your loved ones how much you appreciate them? When was the last time you and your spouse had a vacation for two? Need to stop yelling at the kids?

Schedules: How “busy” are you? Is it intentionally moving you towards your goals or are you just filling time? Could you become more productive at work? Are you over-scheduling the family? Finding a FREE family scheduling app that will help you share the planning role. Are you multitasking too much?

Create Routines: One of the best ways to simplify life is to create good habits for doing tasks (routines). When we follow routines we give the brain comfortable pathways to follow that make it easier to function. These pathways are less clutter (chaos) for the brain to sort through.

Scheduling routines (or block scheduling) are the best tips for using time efficiently.
Create a routine for managing the mail, and email.
Create a Family Communication Center to help with important events, school papers, and meal planning.
find a budgeting routine that works
follow a declutter routine
creating a routine for the dreaded fridge clutter
practice the routine of intentional spending
find a meal planning routine that works for your family.
regular family routines that help build connections with one another.

Self-Care: Taking the time to take care of yourself is extremely important. Even cars need routine checkups and fuel! Here are a few ways to take care of you:

prioritize what is necessary and leave the rest for another day if necessary
delegate at home and at work
find a way to take a break (it is different for everyone)
find your people, peeps, A-team
learn to become more mindful to help with family relationships and with feelings of overwhelm
learn to take care of you

Confidence Over Time

Making small changes will not only help sort through the chaos of your life bit by bit, but it will help build your confidence over time. There is a 4 step cycle for building confidence that is directly linked to our personal development and growth mindset. In the article linked above, I talk about how our “failures” can help us improve.

Finding perfect solutions the first time may not happen but if we learn from what isn’t working then we can continue improving and learn how to simplify life.

Simple living isn’t necessarily about the drastic lifestyle changes in your life. Although it might lead to that down the road, your simple life journey needs to start small. Learning how to simplify life doesn’t need to be a huge project. You can start small and work at the little changes that will help you sort through your chaos bit by bit.

Do you want to start your simple life journey but need a bit of help? Sign up for the Reduce Overwhelm & Mindset Renewal 5 Day Challenge. It will help you kickstart your simple life journey today!