Ten Ways to Simplify Your Life
Copyright 2005 Vivian Banta
So many people embark on projects to make changes in their
lives, only to get detoured or bogged down in the numerous other
things that are in their lives. These can be physical blocks,
such as a cluttered living room or kitchen but they can also be
emotional issues, mental clarity or personal relationships. Here
is a 10-point guide to simplifying your life of the obstacles
that stand between you and fulfillment of your vision.
1. Empty Your Brain If you're feeling overwhelmed and stressed
out, it can be liberating to empty your brain of your internal
"to-do" list and emotional baggage. Hire a coach to verbalize
all the things you have to do, haven't done, and the feelings
that go along with all of that.
You can also lighten your mental load by writing down or
journaling the stuff that is taking up mindspace. At this point,
you don't have to take any action on it. The objective is to
clear it from your head. It frees up your brain so you can then
start planning and taking action with more clarity and less
negativity.
2. Get Rid of the Human Vampires Eliminate relationships that
are sucking the energy out of you. Even if they are family
members that you cannot avoid altogether, take steps to limit
your time with them and set boundaries around what activities
you allow them to engage you in.
Be honest in your evaluation. Who is helping you and who is
dragging you down? Who is eating up your time and giving nothing
back? Who makes you feel good, supported and energized? Anyone
who adds value to your life stays in and everybody else goes
away.
3. Lighten Your Heart Getting closure on the past and
relationships can unburden you of emotional baggage that is
weighing down your heart and spirit. Forgive and forget. Let it
go. Call that person up or write them a letter you never send,
but get over it. Work with a mental health professional if
necessary but you can't move on if you're stuck in yesterday.
Why continue to rob yourself of tomorrow by living in the past?
4. Clean House A big part of simplifying is to declutter your
physical landscape. Start with one small area like the kitchen
counter or junk drawer and finish it in one shot. Focus your
energy on this one space; don't think about the messy garage or
bedroom closet.
You can even invest extras into your small project such as
putting in a drawer liner or organizing tray. This may encourage
you to protect it from future clutter. It's important to come up
with a system as you organize and also to take steps to prevent
clutter from even coming into your home. You can contact catalog
companies and ask to be removed from their mailing lists, enroll
in online billing and take other proactive steps to keep the
clutter inflow to a minimum.
5. Get a Healthy Body While you are getting rid of the junk
around your house, examine your eating and health habits and
start eliminating the junk there, too. Along with limiting
caffeine, sugar and alcohol, look at eliminating junk food,
tobacco and any other thing that ages, erodes, clogs up or adds
weight to your body and puts your health at risk.
It's also good to update your personal appearance. Are you still
sporting an '80s haircut or wearing clothes you bought five or
ten years ago? It's time to upgrade!
6. Clear Out Your Debt Stop impulse buying and start paying off
your credit cards. Establish a budget and start living within
your means. Can you imagine all of the free time you'll gain
when you are not worrying about money? No more shopping around
for credit and transfer balance deals. No more writing out
checks or purchasing money orders. No more avoiding phone calls
from creditors and lawyers. No more feeling guilty. Talk about
freedom!
7. Simplify Your Language Try to speak honestly and directly
with courtesy and kindness. Don't use whiny and apologetic
language to ask for what you want. ("I wonder if I could
possibly persuade you to...") Quit overusing jargon and slang
such as "put that baby to bed", "let's throw it on the wall and
see what sticks", "out of the loop", and "lock and load."
Eliminate euphemisms and toss out denials ("Just because he is
sleeping with another woman doesn't mean he doesn't love me.").
Get rid of the swear words, hostile comments, and the idea that
you must voice your opinion about everything. Throw your
judgment of others to the wayside.
8. Learn to say NO It was probably one of the first words you
ever learned so why are you having so much difficulty using it
now? Use it! It's your life, your time, your resources and you
have the absolute right to use it as you see fit. Don't feel you
have to explain, excuse or justify saying "no" to office
observers, gossips or nosy individuals.
9. Limit Tradition Tradition is wonderful so long as it doesn't
run your life. If a tradition has lost its meaning or purpose
and is just a timewaster, then get rid of it. When anyone says
"but we've always done it this way", figure out why. If it no
longer makes sense, then feel free to walk away or change it.
10. Make Time for You Time is tight for most of us. Make a
decision that you will set aside time that is just for you.
Start with 15 minutes a day if that's all you can find. Lock
your door, turn off the phone, or whatever it takes, but it's
important to create a space where you can focus on only you.
Meditate, pray, write in a journal or eat an apple. Whatever you
want to do with your time, do it.