Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 4: Get rid of unnecessary junk
• Method 2 of 4: Organize your life
• Method 3 of 4: Simplify your relationships
• Method 4 of 4: Slow down your pace
• Tips

Living simpler doesn't have to be difficult at all. Simplifying your life by creating more peace, space and balance for yourself step by step can do you tremendous good! Get rid of all unnecessary clutter, organize your life, simplify your relationships with others, slow down and learn to appreciate the little things in life. It can make you a lot happier. Get started today!

To step

Method 1 of 4: Get rid of unnecessary junk

1. Get rid of unnecessary junk. Check which items you actually do not need. Living simpler doesn't have to be difficult at all: Decide what things are most important to you and throw everything else away. Imagine having to pack your things in one hour and move to the other side of the world for ten years or for the rest of your life. What would you bring? What would be absolutely necessary? Keep only those things that are absolutely necessary and get rid of everything that really only takes up space.
   • If you tend to keep things for nostalgic or emotional reasons, rethink how attached you really are to those things. Stack up the best things to throw away and take them to the thrift store right away. Old candlesticks where no candles have been burned for years? Get rid of it. A stack Hit newspapers from the early 80's? Can also go.
   • Usually you can assume that if you haven't used something for a year and a half, you probably won't use it again.
2. Have quick cleanups on a regular basis. Walk around the house with a large basket and fill it with everything you no longer need. Put on some nice music, give yourself fifteen minutes and see how much junk you can collect in that time. Get rid of all the junk, collect the dirty clothes you come across and put them in the washing machine. Use your common sense. Everything you no longer need can go into the trash.
   • Pay particular attention to the rooms that are often walked through, such as the living room and kitchen. A pile of dirty dishes in the sink gives a stressed and cluttered feeling, even though the rest of the house looks clean and tidy. If you're short on time, focus on the most important areas.
   • Do not try to remove the dirt from all corners and really "clean" every spot. Concentrate mainly on cleaning up. Put things away, put things straight, make the room look good.
3. Have a big clean-up at the beginning of each season. It's a good idea to give your home more thorough cleaning a few times a year. Get rid of unnecessary clutter, simplify your living space and make your home completely dust and dirt free. Even in the tiniest corners, dog and cat hair, dust and other debris can build up, so you really need to thoroughly clean your home once in a while. Vacuum the rooms, clean the carpet, clean the toilets, scrub the walls and rinse the windows. Get rid of that dirt!
   • Also tidy up desk drawers and sort out folders and piles of paper. Drawers of desks and cabinets are often full of invisible clutter, so tidy them up. You can make your living space a lot simpler by throwing away all unnecessary papers and digitally storing important documents.
4. Tidy up your wardrobe. Collect your favorite, most versatile pieces of clothing and donate the rest. Give away clothes that no longer fit you so that someone else can use them. Even if you have always wanted to wear a certain item of clothing, but there has never been an opportunity for it, get rid of it. From now on, keep your wardrobe simple and organized.
   • If you have a huge closet full of clothes for all weather conditions and occasions, and you are also very attached to your clothes, try to organize your wardrobe in a more orderly way, for example by time of the year. Why should you search between piles of thick sweaters in the middle of summer? Instead, keep the clothes that you only wear in a particular season in separate bins or boxes and store them until it's time to wear them again. Tidy is neat.
   • Organize a so-called "Naked Lady Party" or a swap party with a group of friends. Everyone takes old clothes or clothes that no longer fit. Then you throw all the clothes together so that everyone can try on each other's clothes. Maybe you don't try on those jeans anymore, but they look great on your girlfriend. You donate what's left at the end of the night.
5. Stop buying new items that you don't need. If you're used to having some online store's website open all the time, stop doing that. Just because you happened to find a special offer somewhere, doesn't mean you should buy it right away. Simplify your life by not bringing new junk into your home.
   • Do not buy new books anymore. Go to the library and borrow the books you want to read. When you finish them, bring them back and you will have more space in your bookcase.
   • Do not buy new household appliances. Instead, think about how you can make do with what you have. A pneumatic garlic press? Use a fork anyway. A pie cutter? Just do it like Grandma used to do, with two knives and a little effort. In fact, the only appliance in the kitchen with only one function should be a fire extinguisher.
   • Find out where you can rent things near you. If you're organizing a big event outdoors, you may think you need to buy a new leaf blower for the garage, when you might as well rent one. There are more and more “libraries” where you can rent tools instead of books. You use the devices for as long as you need them and then return them.
6. Live minimalist. In a so-called minimalist house you live comfortably but smaller and with less stuff. You can easily create a minimalist home for yourself. Buy less, but put quality first and put the money you have left in an emergency savings account or for a well-deserved vacation.
   • Like appliances or tools, you can rent your home instead of buying it. Maintenance costs, repairs, wood rot or other damage are then no longer your problem, but someone else's.
   • Buy less stuff, but make sure the stuff you buy is more versatile in use. Items that have two or even three different functions are the most useful. Remember that you will not be really happy if you only work to pay for more and more things; try to think again about what is really important in life.
7. Create blank spaces. Blank or empty spaces in the home or office help you to relax and provide a sense of simplicity. Do not hang the walls with nice things, but create a soothing and elegant emptiness. Put simplicity before decoration.
   • So-called blank spaces do not necessarily have to be "white" in color. If you prefer not to live in a completely sterile, spotlessly clean house, the natural colors of wood or brick, for example, may be more soothing to you. “Blank” space does not have to be literally white in color, but it must be free of clutter. No shelves and no posters or frames on the wall. Clean, empty walls with only simple lines.
8. Make your bed every day. It happened in five minutes and works wonders for your mood. Your bedroom will look much more elegant, simpler and tidier when your bed is made and tidy. Small steps such as making your bed can help reduce stress and make your life seem simpler.
   • If you find it easier to leave your sheets in a pile, then you should. It is about making your daily life easier with small steps. Perhaps instead, you experience a moment of rest every day during the brewing process: grind the beans, boil the water and pour it on. Maybe you start your day cleaning up the kitchen while listening to the radio. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you have some routine.

Method 2 of 4: Organize your life

1. Plan what you can, or accept your inner chaos. Some people do not see the point in starting planning for a weekend, for example, rather than an hour before departure. Why stress about what to bring for three days? Others like to find out in advance exactly which clothes they want to bring with them and prepare their outfits every day, so that they can be sure that they will not forget anything.
   • Are you someone who always does things at the last minute? Don't try to change yourself unless your procrastination makes you less productive or never gets anything done on time. If it works for you, that's ok. If you plan enough time to get things done at the last minute, the pressure of deadlines will probably bring out the best in you. Easy enough.
   • If you often get nervous because you have something to finish, try to do things in advance as much as possible so that you can put them out of your mind. Don't stop packing halfway because you started early - finish it and put it out of your mind. Make it simpler by doing it now, by finishing it, and then resting. Very easy and so quiet.
2. Organize the household. Problems and stress are often caused by a chaotic living space. Finding time to wash your clothes, do the dishes, cook and complete all other important tasks can become a big problem if you don't do it in a simple, organized way. Sit down with the rest of the family or with your roommates and consider how you can distribute households fairly and make work in and around the house easier, in a way that is practical for everyone.
   • Divide the tasks per day. Make sure everyone empties the bin and does their laundry once, but not every day. Let someone do the dirty work for a while, after which he or she can do other chores, so that everyone has a turn. Make a schedule that everyone agrees with and hang it somewhere where everyone can see it, such as in the kitchen.
   • When allocating tasks, take into account everyone's preferences. For example, if you don't like to do laundry and are left with a huge pile of dirty clothes at the end of the month, make a proposal to your housemates - if one of them does the laundry, you cook a delicious meal for everyone three times a week if they come home late from work, for example), or you offer to always do the dishes. Try to find a way that makes life easier for all of you.
3. Streamline your finances. Nothing is more difficult than money. Make your finances as simple as possible by paying off all your debts and by trying to have as few fixed costs as possible every month. Determine your budget based on how much comes in each month, calculate your monthly fixed costs and estimate your variable expenses. Stick to this plan and your expenses will become a lot easier.
   • Program your accounts so that the amounts are automatically debited from your account. If you have calculated everything correctly in advance, you will never again have to worry about bills that you still have to pay. Could it be simpler?
   • Stand aside as much as possible.If you're not sure what you can do to ease your finances, just try to save as much as possible. The less you spend, the less you spend on money.
4. Give everything its own place. Where is the remote control located? Where are the coats hanging? Where should the dog toys be? If you can't answer these questions, it can be tricky to get rid of unnecessary clutter. If everything can be anywhere, the room will always feel cluttered. Giving things a permanent place doesn't have to be complicated - you don't have to find the perfect place for everything, as long as everything has a place.
5. Create a weekly menu for yourself and your family with quick, easy meals. The end of a long working day is probably not the most ideal time to try and serve a homemade coq au vin. Collect recipes that allow you to quickly put something on the table with the ingredients you already have at home. That way you will have more time to enjoy the food with your family, and cooking will be a lot easier.
6. Parenting easier. Stop making bread for the children, wash their dirty clothes and tidy up their toys. Expect your children to start doing things themselves from a certain age. In the long run, it is not easier "to do it yourself" because it teaches your kids that you will always do it and they don't have to. Just tell your kids where they can find the things they need to do the things themselves - do it a few times at first, but then let them do it themselves.
   • Create a task card with rewards for each child. They have to follow and finish this card every week. If you let them help you make the card, they will be more motivated to actually use it.
   • Don't over-schedule your kids' days. Children today have more after-school activities than ever, while they are also allowed to have a few days a week without ballet, ice hockey, scouting or clarinet lessons.

Method 3 of 4: Simplify your relationships

1. Recognize and end negative relationships. Stop wasting time with friends ruining your mood, wasting your time or bored. If you want a simpler social life, break all relationships that complicate your life to begin with. Limit your address book to the good friends you really want to spend time with, and (even if it's not a good idea to cut yourself off from new friendships) don't waste your time on a busy schedule just because you love an interesting, interesting want to have a full agenda.
2. Make more effort to spend time with people you really like. Living simpler doesn't mean you have to do away with everything in your life; it means creating a social machine that is well-oiled and meaningful. Make sure you have a group of close friends who mean a lot to you and make an effort to spend time with them, and then alone. Don't waste your precious time on people just because you think you should be friends with them; only associate with people you really like.
   • You don't have to do this in an unkind way - by posting hateful Facebook statuses about the big cleanup you're doing in your contacts list, for example; just don't go the extra mile. Stop watering and the plant will dry up on its own.
3. Learn to say “no” in a nice way. One way we make our lives unnecessarily difficult is by always wanting to be "nice." We think it helps to keep our lives simple if we let others make the decisions: where to have lunch, what responsibilities to take at work, whether or not you have time to take your girlfriend to the airport, etc. By being a doormat that everyone walks over all the time, you don't make things easier for yourself. It just causes your face to fill up with other people's footprints.
   • If, on the other hand, you tend to be assertive and have no qualms about letting others know how you feel, do so in a calm and collected manner and don't worry unnecessarily.
4. Enjoy being alone. Maintaining relationships, be it love or other relationships, is complicated. If you are always busy with other people's habits and idiosyncrasies, you can focus less on yourself and on what you need. You complicate your own life for others instead of making your life easier for yourself. It is not selfish to want to have time for yourself in which you can work on yourself.
   • Consider going on vacation alone, traveling alone to a place you've always wanted to see. Trust your own abilities to get that done. You could also go on a retreat in a monastery all by yourself. There is no better way to do self-reflection.
   • Love relationships are complicated. The less you have to do with it, the simpler life becomes. If your life is never really balanced because of your relationships, be it love relationships or other relationships, consider taking some time to work on yourself. Do not date or start new relationships until you feel that your life has become simpler and better organized.
5. Spend less time on social networks. Fight your addiction. Clutter doesn't necessarily have to be physical. The psychological burden of statuses, tweets and publications on Instagram can make you quite stressed and even depressed and make your life unnecessarily complicated. You don't have to like everything your friends publish or check for new posts all the time. You'll see if you have time for it, and if not, you probably won't even miss it.
   • If you really want to take a radical approach, consider banishing social networks from your life altogether. Give more importance to real, physical contacts and schedule time to meet up with old friends you haven't seen for a long time or to call them instead of just chasing them on Facebook.

Method 4 of 4: Slow down your pace

1. Put your phone away. Nothing causes so much distraction and gets you out of your concentration like checking your phone every two minutes to see if you have new messages. A text message, e-mail, Facebook status or other short message will be just as interesting in an hour.
   • When you are with friends or family, turn off your phone and put it away. Or even better, leave it in the car or leave it at home. Don't look at it. At your next meeting, set the rule that the first person to check their phone pays the bill. Forget that phone and enjoy a simple evening.
   • More and more people suffer from the Fear of Missing Something (in English this is abbreviated to FOMO, which stands for the Fear Of Missing Out. What if you don't see that new status first? What if someone responds faster than you to that funny chain message? What if the person you like sends you a text message and you can't reply right away? Don't allow that "handy" technology to add stress to your life. so you can enjoy the moment you are experiencing in the real world at that moment.
2. Stop reading self-improvement books, guides, and blogs. Other people's advice on how to live is often just a source of stress and depression. Simplify your life by no longer wanting to be perfect. Have confidence that you are a good partner, a good parent, and a good person. Trust yourself more so that you will get stronger emotionally and do things naturally.
3. Work according to a realistic and manageable “to do” list. Many people find it easier to get through the day with the help of a small manual. Make a realistic and manageable list of everything you need to do and then stick to it as much as possible. What do you hope to have achieved at the end of the day? And at the end of the week?
   • In fact, some people like to make a more comprehensive list of their long-term goals and plans, as a sort of tool to get their priorities sorted out in the right order. Make your career and long-term life goals more transparent by determining what you would like to achieve in your work or where you would like to live in five years. What do you have to do from now on to achieve that?
   • If you don't know exactly what your time is spent on, keep track of exactly what you do in a day. Keeping a diary or agenda can make your daily life easier because you don't have to think so hard to remember everything.
   • Celebrate everything you have accomplished in one day. Completing a "to do" list is much more fun if you also take the time to celebrate what you've done. Did you clean the kitchen, tidy up your room and finish all your work for the day? Then it's time for a glass of wine in your shiny clean kitchen. Treat yourself!
4. No longer keep everything on your computer. Clean up your files! Take a look at what you have stored on your computer and throw away what you no longer need. Start keeping things simple and clean up your files regularly.
   • Set a time limit with an alarm clock on electronic games and websites that often consume your time unnoticed. If you often spend more time than you want on the Internet, install and use an alarm clock. You will be surprised how much you get involved in games and other activities on the Internet. Just by taking mandatory breaks, you will use the technology more efficiently.
   • Try to keep your inbox empty by default. Try to answer, save or throw all your emails as soon as you have read them.
5. Don't do more than one thing at a time. Multitasking, or doing multiple things at once, makes some people more efficient, but it also makes the activities for others pile up. Try to get one thing done at a time and get it off your list. Don't think about what you have to do tomorrow or later today, but instead just try to do your best right now, during this one minute, and do the best work you can.
   • There is a classic Zen story in which an elderly monk punishes a few newbies for talking while working. "When it's time to talk, you just talk," he said. "And when it comes time to work, you do nothing but work." The next day, at lunchtime, the newbies saw the old monk having lunch and reading the newspaper at the same time. They went to him and reminded him of the lesson he had taught them. Why wasn't he just eating, or just reading, as he told them to? "When it's time to have lunch and read the paper, all you do is have lunch and read the paper," he said.
6. Be happy at work. Don't let the problems at work ruin your after-hours life. Don't take work home to finish it later - stay at work until you're done for the day. If you feel stressed after a day at work, do something relaxing as soon as you get home so you don't have to bother your roommates about your work that day. Avoid passing the stress on to others. Make it simpler.
   • Is your work a major source of problems in your life? Then try to work as few hours as you can afford. One of the easiest ways to live more simply is to work less. Less money, less junk.
   • Don't work on weekends anymore. Even though you enjoy your work so much, working on the weekend disrupts the balance in your life. You may not notice it now, but in the end, working overtime at the weekend can lead to a burnout and / or reduced passion. Keep all weekends free of work for the next six months. From now on, you will not spend any time at work on any of those weekends.
7. Meditate. Try to meditate for 15 minutes every day. Fifteen minutes, no longer. That's half an episode of a television series, or half as long as you sometimes stand in line at the grocery store, but it can make a world of difference to your level of stress and your ability to simplify and calm your life. stay. Take that small step and set aside some time for rest, just to sit, in a comfortable place. Concentrate on your breathing. Relax your body and let your mind unwind on its own. Look at your thoughts.

Tips

• When it comes to pets, make wise choices. For example, a dog needs more attention than a cat, because you have to walk a dog every day. On the other hand, walking out is also a form of exercise that can help you relax and connect with the world around you.
• In a difficult situation, ask yourself "what would a sensible person do?" Think about that for a minute. This is an opportunity that can help you deal with a problem in a different way.
• Don't worry too much. You achieve little with worry, but it takes a lot of energy and only makes things more complicated. Rather than worry, make lists of things to do and proactively deal with the things you worry about. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Better light a candle than scold the dark."
• Everyone always says "be yourself". It's not for nothing that you hear this old cliché so often - if you try to deny who you really are by pretending to be someone else, you're wasting energy maintaining a performance. When you are more yourself, you feel much happier inside and life seems less complicated.