A few years ago, I was on the brink of a major burn out. There was one day I was so stressed out at work that I spent my lunch hour sitting catatonically in my car staring into space.
And it was winter. In Wisconsin.
I started taking steps right then to simplify my life.
Somethings are still a struggle. I get overwhelmed with work, and I still have that nasty urge to buy things. But I have made some steps forward. Here is what I did.
I think it is a good starting point if you are overwhelmed by life.
I say no a lot.
This one took me some time, but once I started to exercise my no muscle, it became life changing. Let me tell you something that you have heard before but need to hear again:
‘You don’t have to do things you don’t want to do.’
– me
If your family reunion sounds terrible, don’t go. If that girl’s camping weekend is not your cup of tea, just say no. It is ok. Life (and the party) will go on without you. And if your friends and family are kind and love you, they will be alright with your refusal. If not, well, see the last section.
I pared down my wardrobe.
A fashionista, I am not. I am relatively tall, and for years, it was hard to find jeans that were long enough. With that and being pretty long torso-ed also, I have a hard time finding clothes that fit.
For many years I made up for not being able to find clothes that fit well by purchasing lots of clothes that were ill-fitting. But I have found a few brands that fit me well and are made with quality materials and I stick with them. When a shirt or tank gets stretched out and weird it from the drawer into the rag pile.
I started meal planning.
When I get home from one of my 10 hour work days, my decision-making skills are pretty much down to nothing. It is a relief to look at my list and see it is already planned out for me.
Don’t even get me started on how easy it is to get groceries when you have everything all planned out. It is life changing my friends.
I set Goals and plan my days
As a goal setting junky, I set goals on a yearly and quarterly basis. I know this sounds super nerdy, but it really helps me keep moving forward. Some are work goals, some are health goals, and I always have a few home improvement goals sprinkled in.
I sit down each morning with my planner and choose the three things I need to accomplish for the day. This is pretty easy when I have a goal in mind.
I cut out toxic people and made new friends.
This one may seem a little cold, but hear me out.
We all have at least one friend that is somewhere on the toxic scale. They might complain a lot, only talk about themselves and their problems, and bail last minute on your plans.
They could be so bad they steal stuff from you, but I hope that is not the case.
No matter what kind of crappy friend they are, it is probably time you disengage. They are slowly sucking the life out of you. And you end up turning into the average of the people that you spend the most time with. So the crappy-ness is contagious.
Ditch the crappy friends and go out and find your people. It will make you so much happier.
There are many, many things you can do to simplify your life. The four ideas above are the ones that worked for me. I am curious about what you have done to simplify your life.
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