How To Simplify Your Life: 16 Hacks To Simplify Every Area Of Your Life

In this new article you’ll learn how to simplify your life.

Our lives can get hectic. Lots of commitments, lots of things we want to do and lots to keep up with. It’s no wonder many of us become overwhelmed. Simplifying our lives can help us combat these feelings.

However, living a simpler life in what can be a complex world, takes some effort and commitment. With this in mind, here are some ideas to help you simplify your life!

How To Simplify Your Life:

1. Simplify Your Daily Chores

Daily chores tend to grow until they monopolize all your time. They hang like a black cloud over your head that never goes away. Focus on those that are most important to you and delegate or eliminate the rest. Write a new list out each day and mark off items as they are completed. This will not only give you a sense of accomplishment, but will allow you to understand how long various activities take.

Automation is possible in many daily chores thanks to computers and smart phones. Pay bills online, purchase on the internet, there may be an AP for that. Technology is a wonderful thing and can save a lot of time and simplify many tasks when used properly.

2. Downsize Your Life

Downsizing is the newest trend today, especially for baby boomers. Downsizing in this frame of mind relates to home. A smaller more comfortable home will be less stressful and help you concentrate on what’s important.

A smaller house will also force you to have less stuff. By learning to live with less, you will spend less time taking care of it and have more spare money for a rainy day, vacation or retirement.

Another example of downsizing can include your vehicle. Bigger is not always better and fuel and maintenance are many times far less when you purchase a smaller automobile.

If you are not a baby boomer, then take advantage of what they have learned and put it into practice while you are young and live a longer more simplified life.

3. Simplify Your Financial Life

Taking care of money and all that goes with it never ends. Many people pay too much or too little time to this endeavor. In simple terms, you make money and spend money. How you do these things doesn’t have to be complicated.

Here are some basic guidelines;

Prepare an easy to monitor budget.
Pay cash for everything you can and if you don’t have the money, don’t buy it.
Save 10 percent and give 10 percent to charity/church.
If there’s something you want but can’t afford, put a little aside to buy it.
Think before you buy. Delay purchasing an expensive item to make sure you need or really want it.
Use online banking, investing and other useful sites to manage your money.

These financial tips will help you feel more secure about your money. You will begin to understand how your money flows and will be able to take advantage of savings opportunities.

4. Cut Back On Work Time

Most of us need to work to survive, but the amount of work we do outside of the home needs to be reassessed. Our society has created a 24/7 mentality when it comes to work. We begin to think that the harder we work the better off we will be. This is not always true.

Ask yourself these questions;

If you work more hours than you are paid for, are you really benefiting?
Is loss of time with family and friends worth the extra hours at the office or working at home?
Are promotions and more money worth it?

To truly simplify your life you must simplify your work situation. Try a few of these ideas and see if they help;

Consider part time work and adjust your expenses accordingly.
Leave work at work and relax and enjoy home life.
Don’t work weekends. You need weekends to rejuvenate.

Vacation time is given so that people can take a break from work. These breaks will make you more productive when you return.

No one ever says on their death bed that they wish they would have worked more. Reevaluate you work habits and begin to understand the value of work and play.

5. Simplify Work Tasks

Sometimes we are so busy working we forget to sit back and think about how we are doing certain tasks. Work piles up and all we can think about is getting it done. By taking a few minutes to access what needs to be done and its importance, can result in some time saving ideas.

Many people want to control all aspects of their work and don’t like letting others help. This is a big mistake. Outsourcing of work in most cases benefits you and the project you are working on. New and fresh ideas from others may result in a more successful solution to whatever you are working on. Getting things done on time may also be attributed to letting others help.

Look at automation as an aid. Technology has advanced so much that many tasks are much easier through automation. Just take a few minutes to think about what you are doing and how you can accomplish it more easily. Ask coworkers for ideas also. Whatever it takes to reduce the work load without reducing the quality of work is worth it. Isn’t it?

6. Try Commuting Less

Businesses and their owners have begun to realize workers need flexibility. With the aid of the computer, more and more individuals are able to perform many work related tasks anywhere. The acceptance of work-from-home jobs has resulted in many businesses success.

Think about your job for a minute. Do all the things you do on a daily basis really require you to be at the office? If no is the answer then maybe it’s time to have a talk with your boss. In advance prepare a list of work activities that you perform that could be done at home. When you go in to talk, explain the time you will save in commuting and other positive reasons you should do these at home.

Make sure you have thought this out in a professional manner and present it as such. If your boss is not sure, ask if you can do it on a temporary basis and see if it works out. If he says yes, develop a monitoring process to show progress and success.

Working from home can benefit you and the company you work for, but you must be disciplined and make sure you get your work done.

7. Take Break Times

There’s a reason we had recess at school when we were young. Everyone needs to take a break from whatever they are doing. Break time helps clear the mind and keep your body healthy. Without breaks, you are more prone to sickness and tend to get unhappy very quickly.

Breaks can be as simple as standing up from your desk and stretching to taking a vacation with your family. Some people go to the gym to unwind while others may like to read a good book. Scheduled breaks, as long as they are in alinmate with your work, can become an important aspect of keeping you happy and successful.

Studies show that looking at a computer screen for a long period of time can become unhealthy. Taking your eyes off the screen for just a few minutes and focusing on other things will help greatly. Standing up and taking a quick stretch for a few minutes will get blood flowing again. Going to a designated break room and talking to colleagues will help you socially and you might pick up a few ideas on a project you are working on.

Break time is a win win in many ways. Put break times in your schedule on a daily basis. You’ll be glad you did.

8. Clear Your Desk

A desk is the control center of most people’s daily environment. A cluttered and unorganized desk makes for a hectic and sometimes distressful work situation. Finding things quickly when needed comes from organization. Keeping things organized and neat makes you and your boss happy.

Use drawers, cubby holes, and other desk accessories to keep things at hand. You don’t necessarily have to keep it clean every minute, but maybe plan to clean it up at the end of the day or even at the end of the week.

Knowing where everything is makes you feel more in control. Being more in control will at often times reduce the level of stress in your life. Less stress will make you feel better about your job. Feeling better about your job will make you more productive. Get the idea?

9. Simplify Your Online Life

The internet is a wonderful tool. The world has been ever changed since its introduction many years ago. However, without proper maintenance, your online life can become cluttered with useless items.

Email, Facebook, Twitter, the list goes on and on. We create accounts on sites like these with good intentions. While these sites and others keep us connected and informed they can also quickly become an unhealthy tool of wasted time.

You must simplify your online life. Here are a few ideas to accomplish this;

Unsubscribe to sites which continue to email you and are of no use to you.
Organize, eliminate and group sites bookmarked on your computer.
Accept and reject friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Keep a healthy community of family and friends that’s important to you.
Defragment your computer. Over time your computer will begin to run slower. Defragmentation involves organizing files and folders on a computer. It is automated and free with Windows.

The internet and computers are fantastic tools. Keep them clean an uncluttered and they will be very productive devices in your life.

10. Reduce Media Viewing

With just a few simple clicks we have access to entertainment and news in endless forms. The television, internet, newspaper, magazine and other devices are easily accessible. We can even use them all at the same time to get an overload on media viewing.

How to handle media is a very important step to simplify your life. It may be a good idea just to have a day or time during the day that you turn everything off. I promise, the world won’t come to an end, and if it does, you won’t need a cell phone where you are going.

Media is another wonderful part of our everyday lives as long as we keep it in check. Use it for your benefit and don’t let it take control. Learn how to turn it off.

11. Simplify Communications

Telephones, texting, emails are all ways to communicate instantly. However, everything has it’s time and place, and using these devices is no different. Consider opening, reading, and responding all your communication devices during a set time each day. Most phones record incoming calls so you can conveniently answer and respond to them when you decide.

Texting and emails are another example of communication on your schedule. Pick times when you have a break or when you are free to communicate with these devices. Instant communication is nice, but it can become a form of addiction if you let it.

12. Spend Time with People You Love

We only have so many hours and days on this planet and spending them with the ones we love is without question, important. Whether it is family or friends, our relationships not only define who we are, but also help us cope with the pressures of the world. Getting in touch with the ones we love will help in simplifying our lives. People not things are what really matters.

Reunions with old classmates or catching up with someone over the phone are fun ways to bring us down to earth. Facebooking a long lost love or best friend is exciting. Catching up will always remind you of where you came and who you are.

Spend time with people you love and you will get much more in return than you ever give. Knowing someone has your back or you can always talk to is a comforting feeling. The simple things in life start with relationships.

13. Spend Time Alone

Alone time, quiet time or whatever you want to call it helps you stay grounded. Being alone may be uncomfortable for some, but it will help you realize what is important. It helps you regroup and energize in ways nothing else can. A meeting with yourself can help you set personal goals, reevaluate the path you are on, and understand yourself better.

At times we are so busy with the hustle and bustle of life we don’t take time to listen to our inner voice. The inner voice or your conscience will keep you on track. It will guide you on the path that you truly are meant to follow. Spending time alone is essential for every person.

14. Simplify Your Interactions

Relationships can be tricky and complicated, but they don’t have to be. Communication along with a few simple rules will keep everyone happy. Keeping a grudge or being mad will only result in stress and anxiety which is not good for your health.

Take a look at these simplified guidelines and put them into practice in your own relationships;

Communication, as stated earlier is the key to relationships. Take the guess work out of a situation and be honest and open with the other.
Learning to say no can be a very freeing experience. Always wanting to help is not bad, but you need to learn to discern what is important enough to agree to and say no to the rest.
Some people are givers and others are takers. Giving to people who always take and fail to reciprocate can be exhausting. Don’t please others by neglecting yourself.
Use your instincts or commonsense. Don’t be easily led if you feel it is wrong.
Don’t overcomplicate human relationships. Not everyone will like you, so don’t sweat it. There are plenty who would love to be your friend.

15. Limit Worrying

Don’t Worry; Be Happy is a popular song with a lot of truth. Worrying really doesn’t get you anywhere but back to the same spot you are already in. Most of the time, the things we worry about never evolve or come true. It changes little but uses up an enormous amount of energy.

Instead, be proactive about whatever the problem is. Face it head on and come up with a solution to solve or deal with it. I once had a boss who told me not to come to him with a problem unless I have a solution. Limit worry and you limit stress which is a roadblock in simplifying life.

16. Get up an Hour Earlier

Okay, I understand that proper rest is necessary for our get-up-and-go in the morning. We rush around, shower, groom, dress and grab a bite to eat if we are lucky. Have you ever thought about waking up early? This concept may seem ludicrous, but it may actually help you prepare for the day and simplify many things.

Getting up an hour early may require you do go to bed early. Waking up refreshed with some time on your hands can benefit you in many ways. Do a few of those chores you dread when you come home tired at the end of the day. Check your email, pay some bills, etc. These can all be done before you leave.

Driving to work may be more enjoyable. With the extra time you can reduce your speed and not get caught up in the rat race. Listen to some feel good music and start your morning off right.

This is another experiment to try for a month to see if it helps simplify things.

Conclusion

Living a simplified life is achievable by all if you put just a few of these ideas into practice. Some may be easy while others you may struggle with. Don’t worry, no one’s perfect. Pick and choose what is a best fit for you. You may actually have some that are not on this list that you’ve been thinking about injecting in your lifestyle. The main thing is to just do it.

Simple is as simple does. Don’t overthink things. Step back and look at things before you react.

Examine what you have and reduce or eliminate. Your goal is to simplify life, not add to it.