13 Jul 12 ways to simplify your life to be happy
When it comes to enrich your life, simplicity is the key. Leading a simple lifestyle will help you to find the happiness and wellbeing by eliminating harmful and unnecessary stressors. But how exactly do you SIMPLIFY your life?
Simplicity is all about focusing on the essentials. By focusing on the elements in your life that contributes to you health, wellness and happiness, you can achieve a more balanced everyday life. Living simplistically allows you to eliminate any non-essential things, commitments and relationships that are weighing you down, helping you to spend time doing what’s most important to you.
Here are some tips to help you simplify your life for less stress and improved wellbeing:
1. Identify the essentials. Establish what is important to you. It will be the very important first step. Start by asking yourself: “What is the most important to me?” Whatever is left out is non-essential to your wellbeing. Then, ask yourself: “What distracts me from doing what I love?” and “How do my everyday activities contribute to my life goals?” After answering these questions, you can pinpoint what things, commitments and relationships to focus on.
2. Declutter. Many of us are pressed by material possessions. They can cause financial stress, worries and even take away your attention from family and friends. Sort by your belongings and only keep essential material possessions. Donate those that you do not need.
3. Evaluate your commitments. To simplify your life involves taking control of your time. Have you committed to certain parties or events that are taking up time that could be used on what you really want to be doing? Decide what commitments bring you joy and contribute to your wellbeing. Eliminate the rest!
4. Focus on positive relationships. Make time for family and friends, those who encourage and support you and don’t be afraid to distance yourself from any toxic relationships. When it comes to friends, quality is more important than quantity.
5. Say “no”. If this word is not in your vocabulary, start using it. Saying constantly “yes”, at any project, you’ll have the most of your time busy, maybe more tha you can handle, leading to stress.
6. Limit social media. Despite what many of us might think, social media is not a daily essential. Spending too much time on social media can attribute to feelings of loneliness or anxiety. Try using amount of social media platforms for no more than a total of 30 minutes a day.
7. Unplug. How many hours of the day do you spend in front of a screen? You might not realize it, but media has a powerful influence on you. Put down your phone, turn off the TV and step away from the laptop. Spend more time outdoors and fill it with your favorite hobbies.
8. Leave your work… at work. Your home life and work life should be two separate lives that rarely intertwine. Bringing your work home causes stress and keeps you from spending some time with family and friends, as well as dimishing any valuable alone time that you need.
9. Meditate each day. Use meditation each day to find inner simplicity. If meditation is not for you, try yoga, phisical exercise or other thought-clearing, stress-relieving activities.â
10. Plan your meals. Simplifying your life involves the some of the smallest things. Planning and perparing meals in advance is a great way to minimize your time spent at the store or cooking. As a bonus, meal planning can help you eat healthily, too!
11. Take control over your finances. Financial stress cand weigh you down and take control over your life. Try simplifying your finances by creating a personal savings plan or set up a meeting with a financial advisor.
12. Organize your closet. Closets are usually the place for all the things unneeded an unused. Pick a weekend morning to deep clean and to organize your closet. Donate any clothes or shoes that no longer fit you or don’t wear. You will be able to be more organized in the morning, when you want to get dressed.
All these tips may seem, at first sight, simple. But remember that all you have to do to simplify your life is to understand what is important to you and eliminate the rest. Focus on what brings you joy and peace. This way you can improve your holistic “wellbeing”.
