5 Ways I’ve Simplified My Life

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about simple living (or minimalism, if you prefer) and have made some small changes that have already made a huge impact in my life. Here are 5 things that I’ve done recently in an effort to live more simple:

Changed My State of Mind This is the most important step because all of your decisions will flow from this new state of mind. For me, it’s been life-changing. I literally sat (after reading something about minimalism) and thought to myself, “Hey, I don’t need to feel like I have to keep buying stuff!” It was an Aha moment for me. When you have a similar feeling, when you make that connection or have that realization, then you can make long-lasting changes with your habits. The shift in your thinking will release a domino effect.

Decluttered at Home and At Work This is usually the first step to any type of simple living project. The difference is that, with your new state of mind, you will no longer keep accumulating unnecessary things and go into a cycle of chaotic clutter. You will have an aversion to stuff and this is crucial to living a simpler life. Decluttering should be fun, once you get over the initial anxiety, that is.

Got A Cleaning Lady For months I’d been telling my husband that I wanted some extra help around the house. It wasn’t until I decided to go and do it that I got the help I so desperately needed (ask and you shall receive, right?). Although I still tidy up on a daily basis, my cleaning lady does the heavy lifting, making my cleaning routine a lot lighter and giving me some of my weekends back by spending time doing things I enjoy instead of say, 10 loads of laundry or scrubbing my bathroom.

I Went Paperless For the most, all of my bills are setup to be paperless but those that weren’t, got the paperless upgrade. I shredded all the paper that I was holding onto and held onto the stuff that I really needed. And by held onto I mean that I scanned the document and saved it on my computer. Unless it was something that I absolutely needed, it got shredded. I’m still working on this since I tend to hoard paper. There’s no reason to hold onto paperwork from 2007. None.

Stopped Buying Stuff Seriously, stop buying stuff you don’t need. Think about what it is that you’re buying and more importantly, why you’re buying it. When in doubt, sleep on it. If you’re still thinking about something after a day and you must have it, then go ahead and buy it. Chances are, you’ll be over it and glad you left it behind. You’ll also be glad to see extra money in your budget. This isn’t too difficult for me because I’m not much of a shopper and when I do buy something I usually feel buyer’s remorse. No complaints about that though, I get to save some money.

I’m really enjoying learning about simple living and how to apply the principles to my life. Some people I’ve been following are:

Bloggers Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus at The Minimalists and Brooke McAlary at Slow Your Home. I’ve also been checking out some minimalism videos on YouTube. Currently I’m bingeing on the Minimalist Sparrow, Adam the Minimalist and Light by Coco. These folks will definitely inspire you to live well with less. They make it look so…sexy.

Every Monday for the month of April I’ll be posting a “Simplicity and…” series where I discuss the topic of simple living/minimalism and how it relates to different areas of our life.

Are you interested in living simply? What habits help you live a simpler life?