30 Days, 30 Ways to Simplifying Your Life
by Allison Goldberg, Certified Life Coach
When we think about the New Year, our minds go to straight to resolutions. Let’s stop right here. Why? “Research has shown that about half of all adults make New Year’s Resolutions. However, fewer than 10% manage to keep them for more than a few months”. Why set ourselves up that way? For many of us, the holidays and new year are the busiest time of the year, it is a time of excess and accumulation, stress and over commitments. Is it possible to put on the brakes and take back control of our time, energy and happiness? Can you be happier and get more done by actually doing less? It’s not a new idea, but one that more of us can successfully achieve through dedication and partnership.
Let’s simplify our lives, instead. What can we do to give ourselves better quality of life, save time, save money, create calm among many other benefits?
Here are 30 suggestions and explanations of ways we can simplify our lives! We will start with the following words. “I will”.
1. I will set my intention for the day before I get out of bed – this starts the day with a mindset that will stick with you all day.
2. I will unsubscribe to 10 unwanted emails a day- this unclutters our email box/unclutters our mind.
3. I will notice and acknowledge when I am with people who encourage and uplift me-this helps us to share our time and energy with those who deserve it.
4. I will only accept a phone call if I can have a conversation, instead of saying “I am busy and will call you back” –this is good for practicing being in the present moment and a time saver.
5. I will go to bed at the same time every night- this helps set our body clock and gives us the structure to wind down our evenings.
6. I will create a meal plan for the week every Sunday- this saves time in the decision-making process of the age old “what will I eat now”, along with saving time that it takes to get the ingredients together and saves prep time.
7. I will wake up at the same time every day– If we wake up at the same time every day, we can set our circadian rhythm and which will assist in going sleep at the same time every night. The outcome is that our bodily functions and cycles operate efficiently, keeping our system strong and energized.
8. I will put a basket in my closet and every time I see something I won’t wear again, add it to basket- this makes more room in closet, gets us in the mindset of less is more and also encourages us to only have things in our closet that we love.
9. I will spend 45 min alone with no distractions every day- this is good for refueling to face the rest of the day.
10. I will pick out my clothes for tomorrow the night before – this is a time saver for morning rush, decision making made easier.
11. I will keep gratitude jar- put at least 1 piece of paper with what I am grateful for each week– this gives us accountability for having a gratitude practice.
12. When I am angry or upset by a situation, I will wait 24 hours before I “react” in any way. – this saves us from having the common regret of “o gosh, wish I never said that” and teaches us how to sit with our emotions so we can process them in a responsible and fair manner.
13. I will go to the grocery store 1x a week instead of several times a week– this saves time and gas.
14. I will verbalize to one person a day what they mean to me– this will aid in learning to sharing emotions and gifts the other person your love for them.
15. I will only open my email if I am able to respond at that exact moment. Otherwise, I will save it for later. – this means you only read it once and respond immediately…, which in turn saves time from re-reading it later.
16. I will make my daily to do list at my desk every morning or at night before I go to bed- this frees up time during the day where you are looking through all of your calendars, emails etc. to see what needs to be done.
17. When watching TV, I will not be on my computer, phone etc. starting with 1 program a week. – this is an exercise in being fully present.
18. I will make my bed right when I get up in the morning – this starts the day with order.
19. When Family and Friends are sharing information with me, I will truly listen and then ask them if they are venting or asking for advice- this gives people the gift of feeling heard and keeps the listener reminded of the venting vs. advice concept)
20. I will drive slowly– fast driving is dangerous and causes anxiety. Slow down, enjoy the drive.
21. When running errands, I will pay attention to location and route. so, I don’t drive across town then back to the other side and back again– this saves gas and provides order to the day.
22. I will walk instead of drive whenever possible– this is good for exercise/health aspect of our lives, good for environment and saves money.
23. I will have a bedtime ritual of drinking hot tea before bed- science shows a lot of health benefits of drinking tea, from heart health, stroke and many others. Warm drinks send happy signals to our brain and are very soothing.
24. I will do dishes every time I use them instead of waiting till they pile up- this provides a sense of order, saves time the next day because the dishes are done.
25. I will put things back where they go when I am done using them. Example – scissors. Everything will have a place- this saves time and negates the frustration that comes from not knowing where something is when it’s lost.
26. I will throw away every pen in my house that doesn’t work-this helps with drawer clutter and frustration when we grab a pen that has no ink in it.
27. I will record shows instead of watching live to avoid commercials- this saves time and gives us more time to spend with people we love.
28. I will not use my phone while walking – this keeps us safe(Lots of accidents happen when people walk/look at the phone) and assures us to stop, look and listen to the sounds around us. We miss that if we are on our phones.
29. I will notice and acknowledge when people are taking my energy instead of energizing me – reminds me to remember to be around uplifting people.
30. I will donate clothes and other household items to a shelter or charity once a month – this feeds our innate need to give of ourselves and benefits the recipients who get our pre-owned clothes and other items.
The idea of simplifying your life immediately provides a sense of control and calm. These 30 days, 30 ways take time and commitment but pay off in a big way by giving us back so much more.