There is an endless list of things to do to live more simply, be happier, and improve our lives. There is always more we could be doing. Just thinking about all of the things we can do is overwhelming.
I used to go for the do it all or die trying approach, but I usually ended up burning out and not doing anything very well. Once I started to focus on one thing at a time, I had more energy, attention, and commitment to see things through and discover the benefits.
Try one or more of these 22 ways to simplify your life, but only choose one at a time.
One
Project 333. A new season of minimalist fashion challenge Project 333 begins on October 1st. A simple closet is the gateway to a simple life. Once you experience the benefits of simplicity in your wardrobe, you’ll want it everywhere.
Check out the 90 day challenge rules here and check out fun images of capsule wardrobes and Project 333 outfits on Instagram.
Two
Stop shopping for a while. You can’t shop your way out of the pain of the past, or shop your way into a secure future. Instead come back to right now. Do you have everything you need for today?
Three
Hide your stuff. If you have trouble letting go of something, hide it for 30 days first. If you don’t miss it, let it go.
Four
Embrace journaling. I write down at least three pages of thoughts and words a day. It helps me let go of the busyness in my mind.
Five
Change your routine. Experiment with a new routine. If you usually go into the office at 8am, try going in at 8:30 and take a walk before you get started. If you wake up and rush out the door, try waking up earlier to create a morning slow down. If you stay up late watching TV or engaging on social platforms, trade your screen time for a good book and a cup of tea.
Six
Inbox zen. If opening your inbox is more horrifying than opening your closet, take back your email with this 5-step guide to inbox zen.
Seven
Nap. Lay down, close your eyes, and rest for 30 minutes.
Eight
Create space for happiness. If you’ve been holding on to things that make you sad, like jeans that don’t fit, a gift from an x, or artifacts from a past life that don’t lift your heart, let them go. If they offer nothing but sadness, when you let go, you’ll make room for light and joy.
Nine
Trade regret for joy. Use momentum from #8 to live a life with no regrets.
Ten
Start an emergency fund. If you are in debt, financial author Dave Ramsey suggests building an emergency fund of $1000. Once your debt is paid off, aim for a fund of 3-6 months of living expenses.
The emergency fund provides peace of mind knowing you won’t have to turn your life upside down when your car breaks down, you lose your job, or experience another financial set back.
Eleven
Call a timeout. When I call daily timeouts to go for a walk, make a special lunch, or engage in a creative non-work activity, I produce better work, and feel healthier and more energized. Think about where you need timeouts in your life. Timeouts prevent burn out.
Twelve
Declutter. Simplicity is not all about decluttering, but getting rid of what doesn’t matter, helps you to discover what does. Start with these 10 tiny tasks to declutter your home.
Thirteen
Make something. Sometimes the best thing you can do to simplify your day is to make something. Write a poem, start a book, get out the finger paints and a big piece of paper, and express yourself. Make. Create. Enjoy the process with no expectations.
Fourteen
Go paperless. Shuffling stacks of paper is so 2005. Even when I stored paper in a filing cabinet, I never went back to it. Scan the stuff you need and let go of the rest. Try a service like Shoeboxed to organize your receipts.
Fifteen
Clean out your car. Bring two small bags to your car. Fill one with trash and the other with anything that doesn’t belong in the car.
Sixteen
Give. Life gets complicated when we can’t stop thinking about ourselves; our needs, our struggles, our pain. If you are caught up in that, the quickest way to shift out is to give. Think about someone else. Ease their pain.
Seventeen
Nothing. Maybe the one thing you need to do first is nothing. If seeking is overshadowing your seeing, choose nothing today. Sometimes your soul needs time to just hang out with your heart, and your truth.
Eighteen
Want less. Shift your attention from what you want to what you have. Use gratitude and presence to appreciate what is right in front of you. Owning less is great, but wanting less is better.
Nineteen
Go green. Unless I’m traveling, I try to drink a green smoothie every morning. My recipe includes some combination of kale, spinach, avocado, fennel, banana, chia seeds, berries and protein powder. For more inspiration and recipes with exact measurements, try the 30 day simple green smoothie challenge. Greens are essential for good health, and good health makes everything simpler.
Twenty
Get outside. Go for a walk, lay down in the park, or take a hike. I had a chance to walk through the falling Aspen leaves pictured above with my husband this weekend. Getting outside and connecting with nature helps to simplify and renew.
Twenty-one
Change your social environment. Start with your social networks. Who do you follow on Facebook, Instagram and other social streams. Do they share things that lift you up or things that make you feel bad about yourself? Do they share things that make you feel more connected to them or less? Unfriend, unfollow, and curate a social stream of love and support.
In your day-to-day life, surround yourself by people who lift you up, and lift them right back.
Twenty-two
Create a simple year. Make simplicity the focus of an entire year. Try A Simple Year. Each year, we have new topics and contributors so you can dedicate each month to just one area of simplicity.
Next year, the topics will include clutter, busyness, travel, kitchen, digital, work, money, mindfulness, self-care, food, relationships, and gratitude. Sign up here to be notified when registration opens.
Some of these things may need a month of focus or more, and others just a few minutes. Choose the one thing that will best serve you.
Just developing the habit of only choosing one thing at a time will simplify your life. Leo’s rules for single tasking will help too. Use the momentum from completing your one thing to fuel the next. Create a ripple effect of simplicity that turns into waves of space, time, ease, joy, and love.
Linda Stoll says
September 29, 2015 at 12:24 pmIt’s almost 3 months since we moved to our little house near the sea. And even though I purged myself of tons of stuff before we loaded up the big ol’ truck, there’s still boxes yet to be unpacked.
And since I’m not missing one single thing, it probably wouldn’t be such a bad idea to just load the rest of the gear and take it to the nearest resale shop and donate it.
It’s all about traveling lightly, isn’t it, Courtney … and then shedding even more of the unnecessaries again … and again.
;-}
Brigette Viands says
September 29, 2015 at 7:19 pmLinda Stoll sounds like my dream, by what sea are you? How small is your house? That is a goal I have and I love talking to those already living it.
Sandra Pawula says
September 29, 2015 at 1:14 pmNapping! That’s my favorite!
Lesley says
September 29, 2015 at 3:16 pmAnother fantastic post, Courtney! You are such a gift to the Internet. Printing out this one for sure. love love love
Holly says
September 29, 2015 at 4:54 pmGreat tips, thanks! #13 is a good reminder. I feel like I haven’t been really creative in a long time.
Bitsy Longan says
September 29, 2015 at 5:46 pmThank you Courtney! You are my inspiration. Two and eighteen are definitely goals of mine. Please continue to share your ideas.
Heather @ Simply Save says
September 29, 2015 at 8:12 pmGreat list! I feel better even just reading these things, although I already practice several of them.
Ania says
September 30, 2015 at 5:05 amI love the sound of all of these! And the problem is… I’m doing MOST of these. I think I need to refocus. I am actually on day 71 of my Buy Nothing Year (check out my blog), and so far so good. I think this has become such an easy habit that now I can shift my focus to decluttering big time (blogging about this too). But decluttering is a big task and takes a lot of energy. So this week I’ve started changing my morning routine by including a chia pudding breakfast I can throw in my handbag.
Small steps 🙂 I overwhelm and burnout easily, so I agree that focusing on one thing at a time is essential.
Gail says
September 30, 2015 at 6:02 amYour statement re shopping and pain of the past/ future security – I wish a few family members could absorb that truth for their own well being. Excessive shopping is self punishing, bc it is time consuming, $ sucking, and space globbling.
H says
September 30, 2015 at 6:33 amThank you..great inspiration and one of the better blogs I’ve read…lots of great ideas. It is so much easier to “minimize minimizing” … then jumping in head first..getting overwhelmed…and giving up.
Gianni Cara says
September 30, 2015 at 9:30 amHi Courtney,
Another fantastic post with so many great insights. I love the idea of tackling one thing at a time. I used to have the same problem in the past: I either went for world domination or nothing. Din’t work so well as you can imagine.
I am now experimenting with journalling. I usually write down about things that are worrying me, but I’ve heard that other people use it also to think about important business or life decision. I am curious to know what’s your approach with journalling?
Time to let other people know about this great post. Heading off to tweet it now!
Paula says
September 30, 2015 at 2:15 pmI did the no-shopping for the month of August. At first it was hard, but I loved having the extra cash from not mindlessly buying things I didn’t need but thought were pretty. I loved it so much that I barely did any shopping in September. I bought some books and replaced my worn out shoes and too-big-now jeans. 🙂 Loved all these tips!
Berin Kinsman says
October 1, 2015 at 12:46 amI work with the 1-3-5 productivity method — one big thing, three medium things, five small things per day, to balance getting things done with not feeling overwhelmed. This dovetails nicely with that, making one thing a simplifying task tailored to the resources needed. Cleaning out the garage might be a big thing, but you can squeeze in at least one small thing, or break larger things into smaller tasks.
Nathan Atkinson @ Quiet Habits says
October 1, 2015 at 9:30 amI’ve done several of these things this year and I feel like a much better person. Still much work to be done, though! I might snag a few of these ideas of my second round of habit changes for my Year of Change. One thing I’m doing this month is not watching any TV or other video entertainment. Wish me luck!
CMR says
October 1, 2015 at 1:06 pmLove this. Small change really does create the space for big change, doesn’t it? Will be donating a few bags of unworn clothing this week…loving the extra space in my closet already.
Brian Robben says
October 2, 2015 at 4:39 pmIn the process of completing #13 (make something) by writing a book. Great list! Will tackle the other options after I focus on these two. I also think that #10 (emergency fund) would go such a long way for a more peaceful and secure lifestyle.
Mary RC says
October 3, 2015 at 8:17 amWhat a great list, Courtney! Thank you!
Kariane says
October 4, 2015 at 12:52 pmI like this. One thing at a time. And slowly progress is made. Slowly a life transforms.
SusanKC says
October 5, 2015 at 7:43 amMy life has been a rollercoaster of chaos and triumph. I’m raising our ADHD Aspie teen and caring for my husband with MS while I battle RA, scoliosis (lost 4″ back height last 5 years), and just learned that I’m a newly diagnosed 60+ with ADHD.
It’s time for me to get back down to basics, and looking at my closet which still has my HS Hippie dresses squeezed beside clothes I wore training Paramedics 25+ years ago, I believe this is a loong overdue project that will go a long way in rebuilding my self-worth.
Thank you for creating the infrastructure that will facilitate our remembering to focus on one worthwhile thing at a time so that, ultimately, we will learn to live once again enfolded in joy and simplicity like we lived as children.
Respectfully, SusanKC
Carolyn Bostic says
October 5, 2015 at 1:57 pm🙂 Please allow me one joke: never EVER #19!! Love the rest. Going to bookmark this page for a reminder.
I’ve mentioned this on Joshua Becker’s Becoming Minimalist page but not sure I’ve said it here re: I love minimalism blogs so much as I can get an idea from a post or comment, leave the page open, take care of the task that popped into my head, and return to the open page for more inspiration. Thanks so much for your blog!
Tyler says
October 14, 2015 at 6:43 amGreat article, I’m actually working on number five this month. I have been reading a lot about morning routines and how important they are in order to get things done, though to be truthful the thought of getting up earlier in the morning was not something I wanted to think about. I started small getting up 30 minutes earlier than usual, and now I’m getting up 2 hours earlier than I used to get up and am able to get so much things done in those 2 hours I don’t know why I wasn’t doing it sooner.
Tyler
Lori says
December 17, 2015 at 7:09 amWhat an awesome collection of ways to help ourselves. #8 especially hit home for me. Keeping only the things that make you happy is a wonderful mantra. When I read about keeping “jeans that no longer fit ” I was taken aback. You are talking about me! I have many clothes that no longer fit or are not my style anymore or I can’t get rid of them cuz they cost me a small fortune! My mindset is such that these things have meaning for me but I am only keeping them because maybe someday I will need them. SOMEDAY , when is that. Most of the things I don’t really like anyway. I should just dig in and purge cuz they don’t bring me happiness in any form. Thank you for #8.