Your Life, Easier
Wouldn’t you love to simplify your life?
Imagine how much easier it would be, with less to worry about, less to do.
It sounds like a fantasy, doesn’t it?
There’s a lot in the news, magazines, on Pinterest, and online lately about simplifying your life.
It’s big these days.
But some of it goes too far.
Each person in your house gets two towels; get rid of the rest (and hope you never have overnight guests).
Only have enough clothes to get you through until laundry day.
Don’t you get to decide when laundry day is? And who has that kind of life where things are written in stone like that? If it’s Wednesday, it must be laundry day.
Most of us need a little stretch in our days and weeks.
So let’s try and simplify your life and make it easier without making it unreasonable, OK?
5 Ways to Simplify Your Life
I’ve put together a list of 5 ways to make your life simpler, and hopefully easier to manage. I’ve also tried to make them broad, so that you can take the general idea and apply it to other areas of your life.
You might also be interested in this article on basic organizing skills.
I promise I won’t ask you to throw away everything you have.
Turn Your Phone on Silent
Yes, that’s what I said.
My phone is on silent probably 99% of the time. Not only that, it’s often laying face down on a table somewhere.
I also have most notifications turned off. I don’t need to be distracted by Gmail letting me know I have a new email, or Facebook telling me someone just posted something.
Before you give up on me with this one, you should know that my iPhone allows me to choose people who can override the Do Not Disturb setting. So if you have someone – kids, your spouse, an elderly parent – and you want to be sure to get their calls, you can, while avoiding all the rest until you’re ready.
See, that’s the key.
When you put your phone on silent, and don’t constantly check it, you take back control of your time. You get to decide when to call them back, and simplify your life too.
The same for notifications and texts.
They interrupt your day, on their time, with often unimportant – or at least not urgent – messages. They can wait.
Consider a Uniform
Not a real one, unless you have to wear one to work.
No, the uniform I’m talking about is one that you can adopt to any lifestyle.
When my son Andy was little, he was a fan of “all the colors”.
Anything he painted was with all the colors, usually resulting in mud.
And his clothing choices were just as wonderful.
My favorite was the gecko printed baggy pants (were they called skids?), with a dress shirt printed with the Hamburglar from McDonalds on it, and checked shoes.
So I started buying him lots of solid colors, especially in pants. Everything in his wardrobe went with everything else.
That’s not a bad wardrobe to have, and it’s a pretty way to simplify things.
Think about it: you could reach into your closet in the dark and grab a top, a bottom, and a jacket or cardigan, and they would all go together. Add any pair of shoes and you still match. A few scarves and some jewelry could be your pretty accents to perk things up.
And it’s not that hard to do.
A base of one or two neutrals, a couple of colors that go well with each other.
Search Pinterest or my Capsule Wardrobe board for ideas.
And you don’t have to do this every day if you don’t want to, but it’s nice to have when you need it.
Taco Tuesday
There’s nothing wrong with Taco Tuesday, or Meatless Monday, or any other day you choose.
Sometimes getting dinner on the table is hard. Hey, sometimes thinking of what to put on the table can be hard.
So why not do whatever you can to make it simpler?
When I was a kid, every Sunday was roast day. Sometimes it was chicken, sometimes beef or pork.
And you can bet that Tuesday was leftover day. My mom didn’t do tacos, but leftover chicken, beef, or pork all make quick, easy, delicious tacos.
And roasts aren’t that big of a deal, either. Throw it in the oven, add a few potatoes, and dinner is practically done with very little hands on time.
The next time you’re in the store, start taking a look at all of the available options out there for a quick dinner.
My local supermarket sells pre-made dinners from the deli you just pop in the oven or microwave.
And pre-cooked frozen chicken breasts? You’re almost to dinner already.
Spaghetti is always easy and usually a family pleaser, plus it’s easy to keep the ingredients on hand for when you haven’t been to the store.
So put some theme nights together, check out the options in the frozen section at the store, and while you’re at it, don’t forget good old Pinterest!
Just Three
Probably like you, I am guilty of the never ending to do list.
I write everything down – so I don’t forget – and then it becomes one more thing that I have to do.
And again, probably like you – I do one of two things when I begin to tackle the list:
- I start with the first thing on the list or
- I pick one or two “quick” things so I can cross them off right away and feel as though I have accomplished something.
Wrong and wrong.
You get three – just three – things to cross off your list each day. These are the most important ones, the ones that will help you accomplish what you need to do. This is also vital to simplifying your life.
What’s important? Not urgent, but important. If it’s both urgent and important, it goes to the top of the list.
After, and only after, those three things are done, you can look at something else you could get out of the way. Again, look at where it will get you, what it will do for you.
Don’t be afraid to cross things off the list entirely, to give them to someone else, or to just do them without doing them perfectly. Done is better than perfect.
Clean and Organize Your Purse
I carry a pretty big bag most of the time. Right now, it’s a backpack.
That doesn’t mean that I have to fill it up, or that I can’t find what I need.
Right now, it has 3 zippered bags in it:
- The cards I need, like debit, drivers license, and health.
- Less used bank cards and deposit slips. Actually, this one could stay home 90% of the time.
- Pens. A small assortment of colored pens. I really only need one or two, and they really don’t need their own bag, now that I think of it.
I have zippered compartments in my purse that hold lip balm and tissues, glasses, and my keys. Oh and my phone.
Everything has it’s own place. I’ve never wanted to be the woman digging through her purse looking for whatever it is that she needs.
What can you clean out of your purse? How can you simplify things?
And do you have a way to organize it?
Something to think about.
If you’ve got a way that you simplify your life, we would all love to hear it! Leave a comment below.
