Learn how you can simplify your life, ditch the rat race of modern society, and live more intentionally with these 10 easy steps towards living simpler.
In the last few years, I have really felt a an inclination to simplify our lives and do more with less. Do you feel the same? Do you feel like everything is a little too much in our modern society?
It seems like do more, buy more, and be more are pressured on us everywhere we look. I guess I just love the old fashioned way of living, and the simple, country lifestyle.
I love the romance of fresh, homemade food, kids playing in the fields, and evenings at home by a fire. Simple living doesn’t have to just be a romantic idea, its completely attainable!
When you look back at how people used to live, everything was so much different. Everything was smaller, homes were smaller, closets, even the everyday coffee cup. Now we have coffee cups that are jumbo size and walk-in closets to fit our massive wardrobes.
Is it all really necessary though and is it making us any happier? I don’t think so! Practicing a more simple lifestyle can help us to be happier, healthier, and more content.
What is Simple Living?
Of course simple living will mean different things to different people, and everyone can embrace it to their own degree. For us, living more simply means having less things, being less of a consumer, and enjoying the simple pleasures.
Simple living can have a number of different benefits. One of the biggest in my opinion is more TIME. More time to spend with your family, more time to enjoy the things that you love, and more time to invest in a happy and healthy lifestyle.
Living more simply can also save you a lot of money. If you choose to accumulate less things you’ll naturally be spending less money.
If you’re no where near the simple living lifestyle right now, don’t worry. Take your time and slowly incorporate the steps below until you are at a place that you’re happy with.
PSA: Did you know I have a FREE eBook on my 5 Secrets to SIMPLE, SEASONAL, OLD-FASHIONED, Homemaking?! Its an actionable guide that will help you to embrace this vintage lifestyle in your own home. I think you’d love it! Sign up for my email list HERE to get access to yours today!
10 Steps Towards Simple Living
Read along for my 10 actionable steps you can take now to attain the simple life you’ve always dreamt of.
1) Know What Your Priorities Are
Before you can dive into simple living, its very important that you have a good understanding of what the priorities are in your life. Write them down!
A few examples of priorities might be quality time with your family, time dedicated to your religion, attaining optimal health, etc.
Once you have a few clear priorities written down, you can know when to say no to things that come about in your life demanding your attention, if they don’t contribute to your priorities.
Your priorities are the things you make time for no matter what and no matter how simple you make your life, time and energy dedicated to them will never go away.
2) Clear Out The Clutter
Less, less, less. Clear out the clutter in every area of your life that you can.
I read on a home decor blog recently that her favorite advice shes ever received for decorating well, is to edit more and get rid of the unnecessary things. Of all of the decorating advice someone could give, she chose to tell people to have less things and only decorate with items you truly love. I thought that was so interesting!
For a few different reasons, it seems to be really hard for us to keep from collecting things even when we don’t love them or need them. I am always working on this, because I know I tend to accumulate unnecessary stuff too often!
Clutter in our homes, wardrobes, social media, and every other area of our lives can cause a lot of unnecessary stress and doesn’t move us any closer to the simplified life we’re shooting towards. In addition, when you have less things in your home, its less to clean and work around, which gives you more time!
Here are a few different areas that you can start to de-clutter, for a less stressful and more simplified life.
Home:
Clean out your fridge and pantry more often. Make sure you are using the food that you are buying/producing and not letting things go to waste. Simplify your counter space. Try a more minimalist approach to decorating. Go through your home often to make sure you are not accumulating things you don’t want or need.
Keep your home and spaces CLEAN and clutter-free!
Wardrobe:
Learn to shop your closet. Clear out anything that doesn’t fit and that you’re not completely in love with. And be okay with wearing your favorite outfits more often! You don’t need a new outfit every day. Use what you have and wear what you love.
Social Media:
Social media may not be something you’ve ever considered de-cluttering, but it is such a huge part of our lives these days and it can be overwhelming if we’re not careful. Follow less people! Cut down on your social media hours. Only look at and follow things that you know are good for you.
3) Have Routines
Creating a few solid routines will help you to feel less stressed and more in control of you life and help you to simplify your days. You can have a morning routine, evening routine, and even simple, cleaning routines.
Routines can also help you to keep your priorities straight. If you keep a few good routines, you can make sure that you are setting aside enough time for the most important things in your life and you won’t be overwhelmed with any unnecessary extras.
4) Use a Budget
Having an effective budget can help you to spend less and subsequently accumulate less. Take a look back at your priorities lists and consider making a separate priority list for your grocery and miscellaneous budget.
One of my favorite bloggers for budgeting tips is Tiffany at Don’t Waste the Crumbs. She has awesome advice for doing more with a smaller budget, enjoying delicious and frugal meals, and not being wasteful.
5) Be a Producer More And a Consumer Less
Simplify your life by being a producer more and a consumer less. This can mean a lot of different things. Instead of grabbing a pre-made cake from the grocery store, spend the day at home baking and decorating a homemade cake with your kiddos. Cooking from scratch more is a great way to simplify your life, just like the good old days!
Grow a garden! Gardening can be therapeutic and relaxing, it can save you a ton of money, its healthier, and its an all around awesome way to live more simply. Make a goal to grow a few fruits and vegetables of your own this year. As you learn more you can start to expand and produce more.
Instead of Black Friday shopping and cramming everything you can into your cart for Christmas gifts, make a few simple and meaningful handmade gifts. Plan ahead and spend the few months before Christmas knitting hats, or baking goodies.
6) Reduce Your Technology
It seems that technology is everywhere we look these days. Phones, iPads, TVs, social media, etc. If we’re not careful they can start to consume our lives.
You’ll be so surprised by how much simpler your life can be when you’re choose to take a step back from your technology. Consider only pulling your TV out for a family movie night a few times a month. Limit your phone time. Encourage your kids to head outside and play instead of having screen-time.
7) Do More Leisurely Activites
Take a walk! Hang out outside on a blanket. Spend a few HOURS chatting with your spouse. Garden. Read a Book.
Don’t feel like you have to always be going, going, going, to feel satisfied. You can get just as much satisfaction and contentment from incorporating a few leisurely activities into your lifestyle. Enjoy the simple pleasures of life!
8) Simplify Your Social Life
I think there is a lot of pressure nowadays to be involved in as many activities as we can and to know and be engaged with everyone we can.
Simplify your social life by investing your time and energy into just a few solid relationships, and not worrying too much about keeping up with everyone else.
Be particular about who you let into your life and who you choose to be close with and put energy and time towards. Better yet, invest your time and energy into your family!
You can also choose to say no to all of the extra curricular activities you might feel pressured to be involved in.
9) Get Your Family On Board
You’ll feel like you’re taking one step forward and two steps back if your family is not on the same page as you. Let them know your new goal of working towards simple living, and kindly ask them work towards it with you.
If your family is on board you can all be working towards living more simply and helping each other out along the way.
10) Be Patient And Take Your Time
Achieving the simple lifestyle you’ve always dreamt of is something that will take time. It’ll likely be a work in progress for the rest of you life! Just know this and be patient with your progress.
Try a new step each week or each month, and enjoy it as you go. Also know that sometimes your life will get busy and you may stray away, but you can always come back to it.
Now tell me, how are you taking steps towards simple living? Do you have any other tips? Let me know in the comments below!
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