Ultimate steps to Simplify your life to finally have peace

Live simply to finally have peace

Do you ever get overwhelmed? What if you could find the peace and calm you desire in your life through simple living? I will teach you my ultimate steps to organize yourself for a simpler life starting now.

Why live life simply?

When my life feels out of control, I tend to lose focus on what matters most. Simplifying helps me do that – live my life with meaning and with purpose. I don’t want to spend my life moving clutter around or chasing better days. I want to live them now.

Like in nature, pruning and cutting away the extras make my life healthier, richer, fuller, and more beautiful. Simplifying helps me do that – live my life with meaning and with purpose.

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How did I get here?

Maybe you popped in here because your life does not feel simple right now. Do you want to find that peace in the midst of chaos?

I realized that simple routines and a clutter-free space were what I craved and valued. So I set out on a journey to make that kind of life.

I hit some obstacles along the way. For example, I became too rigid and stressed myself out. I tried to keep things “perfectly” clean and exhausted myself. Then I thought “I must be doing it wrong” and I would quit.

To simplify my life I needed to do some serious work. Here are some of the exact things that I did to bring my life from chaos to calm, from burned out to abundant. (And yes, they all serendipitously begin with “c”).

Clarify your core values
Cultivate the unhurried
Cancel Plans
Cut the drama
Capture your thoughts
Create life-giving routines
Clear the clutter
Conquer your finances
Clean as you go
Cook Less
Carry Water
Care for your health
Create a command central
Consolidate outings
Capsule Wardrobe
Cut Digital Clutter
Cultivate creativity and curiosity
Connect with people

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ULTIMATE STEPS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE TO FINALLY HAVE PEACE

Clarify your core values

Before you begin making changes to simplify, establish your most important core values. Values are the foundation of all we do and more importantly why we do it. Even if you have not thought about them before, your values are there pulling at you even if your actions are taking you in another direction.

When we clarify our values, we can begin to strip away the things that do not align with them. Living by our values makes decision-making easier, it helps us eliminate the things that get in the way of our happiness and what matters most.

If you are feeling drained, lost, burned out, and resentful, chances are you are not living your life by your values and that makes everything feel so much harder and so not simple.

Cultivate the unhurried

Slow down. That’s it.

Stop rushing through life. There is no need to hurry. It only elevates stress levels and adds pressure and depletes joy. If you eradicate the clutter from your calendar and environment, you will have more time to take your time.

Cancel plans

Simplify your life by canceling plans. I would not advise you to ghost your friend, but consider evaluating your schedule. Is there anything that you can quit?

Using the core values that you clarified above, pay close attention to which activities and events on your schedule serve you and your family and the values that you hold dear. Some plans complicate things and add stress. Be ruthless and cancel the complex.

Cut the drama

I am not going to over-simplify my guide to simplify life by suggesting that removing drama will be easy, but it will definitely be worth it. We cannot control everything that comes and goes from our lives, but we can choose if we will engage, feed, and entertain the drama and chaotic emotions.

Canceling drama is a powerful way to simplify your life. For tips to eliminate the drama, see my post: How to Avoid Drama in You Life: List of the Best Tips

Capture your thoughts

Get your thoughts out of your head and captured in a system. Whether you use paper or a digital method, downloading the thought helps bring clarity and rest to your beautiful brain. Studies suggest that our minds can rest better when we have captured our thoughts and put them in a system we trust to get them off our minds. I got this idea from my reading and study on productivity, specifically from David Allen and his system called GTD.

If you don’t do this already, start by writing down what you are thankful for today and then jot down your basic plan for tomorrow. This plan should including things like any appointments, what needs to get done, a meal plan, or a shopping list, for example.

Life is much less complicated when we are clear on the problems we want to solve and have a written plan to conquer them. To simplify your life, capture your thoughts in a system and make it work for you.

Create life-giving routines

Routines make life feel automatic and therefore simpler. I know that many people, feel like they might lose flexibility or freedom if they stick to a routine, so they avoid it. But what if I told you that routines can actually bring freedom to your life? Here’s how.

When we cultivate life-giving routines, we take the mental load off our brains and engrain them in our habits. We can accomplish the tasks that are most important to us without even using up the mental or emotional energy to do it.

Routines anchor habits to actions and allow them to almost run on auto-pilot throughout our days. Routines make life simpler.

Clear the clutter

To simplify your life, you must clear the clutter. Clutter is a symptom of delayed decisions. Whether you tend to be tidy or not, all kinds of clutter can complicate your life in so many ways.

For a guide to help you start to strip away the clutter, start here with my Stuff to Get Rid of Now series – Part One: Shoes and Clothing.

Clutter can cost us time, money, and even emotional energy. These life-suckers add too much unnecessary complexity to our lives – more than they are worth.

Conquer your finances

Money mayhem is real. Even if you have never heard this phrase before, I can bet that you are having a visceral response in your body because you know how Financial Stress feels. Emotionally, it can cause anxiety, fear, sleeplessness, marital and relationship stress, and more. Not to mention the strangling effects of lack.

Conquering your finances will bring well-deserved peace and simplicity to your life and family. Security in your financial situation is not the same as being rich or retiring to a beach (not necessarily). Simple is not the same as easy. Simple is clear and straight-forward, but it might also be hard and take a lot of work.

To get you started, check out my post, 7 Simple Actions for Money Mindset Peace.

Care for your health

Health problems are one of the heaviest things that can complicate life and threaten our peace. Not all health concerns are in our control, but many illnesses can be prevented with some care and diligence on our part.

Take care of your health to simplify your life. Be sure to get enough sleep and water. Eat when you are hungry and as many plants as you can. See your doctor and dentist, floss your teeth, and always wear your sunscreen and seatbelt. Move your body, love your favorite people well. Do the things you enjoy, and learn to say no.

Clean as you go

Do not let your messes pile up. I know that cleaning is not your favorite thing to do, but when we put it off it gets overwhelming and much more complicated.

Add a few small habits of cleaning up as you go throughout your day. It lightens the load and simplifies your home and life. Routines help bring that automaticity to your home and allow it to work for you.

Check out my post, 8 Ways to Simply your Home Routines Today to begin forming new cleaning routines.

Cook Less

To simplify your life, be lazy and cook less. I am not suggesting you go to restaurants for every meal or eat packaged junk all the time — on the contrary! Cooking less or smart means streamlining your meal planning, so you are not putting so much effort and time into feeding your family.

Check out my post with the 6 Simple Steps for Reverse Meal Planning here.

It might mean using your crockpot or enjoying cold sandwiches for dinner. Other ways to simplify are to double a recipe when you cook and save the other half for another time, or eating leftovers for lunch because you got them ready the night before.

Menu planning, grocery pick-up, or a meal delivery service are other great ways to simplify. How can you cook less or smart to simplify your life?

Carry Water

One of the most basic human needs is water and many people are chronically dehydrated. Adding the habit of carrying a reusable water bottle and keeping it with you regularly has so many benefits including:

*Avoid stopping to buy sugary drinks when you find yourself thirsty
*Reusable water bottles keep disposable plastic out of landfills
*Make it simple to drink more and stay hydrated throughout the day
*Hydrated people often have clearer minds and healthier bodies

For more tips, read my post:
Stupid Simple Strategies to Get Your Kids to Drink More Water.

Create a command central

A command center (Real Simple) is a designated place in your home to keep information and tools to keep your life running. It will simplify your life by keeping the most important tools to manage your life organized and ready to serve you.

Command center ideas:
Family calendar
Clock
A board for notes
Key hooks and keys
Menu plan and/or grocery list
Files for permissions slips, order forms, information flyers, for example
Bill paying supplies
Charging station
Basic office supplies
Family mission statement or values

There are no limits to how little or how much you can include in a command center, but having things that you need handy and organized and in a neat designated location can save you from headaches and simplify your life.

The Unoriginal Mom has a nice how-to and April Perry at Learn Do Become has a course to help moms set up a command center and get organized (she also has a podcast).

Consolidate outings

Consolidating outings will simplify your life by saving time, not wasting fuel, less impulse or “emergency” spending, and thinking ahead for what you need before you need it, thus helping you be prepared and lowering stress.

Because our family shares one vehicle, planning ahead for trips is built into our lives. I see this as a benefit because it challenges us to think ahead for the prime use of our car and it saves us from extra trips and procrastinated errands. Sharing a vehicle might not work for you, but consolidating trips can streamline your life and help it feel lighter.

Capsule Wardrobe

A capsule wardrobe is one of my favorite ways to simplify life for me and my family. A capsule wardrobe can mean many things to many people. I describe it as having a few inter-matching clothes that you love and wear. It does not mean you can only wear black or that you are limited to only 5 pairs of underwear. No!

You can design a capsule wardrobe to be just as colorful and abundant as you are. The difference may be that you purchase clothing going forward with intention, purpose, and a plan. And clear out the items that don’t fit in.

Read more about how to create your realistic and sustainable Capsule Wardrobe here: Surprising Ways People Fail with a Capsule Wardrobe and the Must-Know Secrets. You can even download a free checklist over there to get you started!

Cut Digital Clutter

Running out of storage? It seems that everything is going digital, which has so many benefits! But does it feel overwhelming sometimes for you, too? Between screenshots, old documents, cords, and devices, digital clutter can really pile up.

I offer a guide to start simplifying digital life: Stuff to Get Rid of Right Now, Part 2: Digital Clutter. Go there to get all the ideas and inspiration to simplify your life…virtually.

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Connect with people

People can be messy, so I can see why you might be skeptical of my suggestion to connect with people to simplify your life. I know. I get it. Here’s the thing, we need people.

Meaningful human connection is just as vital to our health and survival as sleeping, for example. When we shut people out and allow our relationships to drift apart and disintegrate, it adds to our stress and emotional strain.

We need to be clear about our values and we must use firm boundaries to uphold them. Then we can connect with people that love and support us. These people build us up, help us when we are weak, add meaning and purpose and fill our lives with so much joy. It would be easy, but it will be worth it.

Keep it simple by working on your most important relationship with intention and intensity. It gets more complex when we neglect them.

Cultivate creativity and curiosity

Last, but not least, cultivate creativity and curiosity to simplify your life to finally have peace. You might be wondering how creativity and curiosity have anything to do with simplifying – they seem counterintuitive at first glance.

The entire purpose of simplifying our life is to focus on what matters most. So we owe it to ourselves to get creative and curious about what our deepest values are, what makes us unique, and what our purpose is.

There is no purpose in simplifying unless we are clear on what we are getting closer to when stripping away the overwhelm, chaos, and clutter. This takes innovation and discovery work.

Curiosity and creativity add the joy and meaning to life, which is why we simplify in the first place to get back to the happy we feel we lost.

To sum it up

I finally realized that simple routines and a clutter-free space were what I craved and valued. So I set out on a journey to make that kind of life.

This list is some of the exact things that I did to bring my life from chaos to calm, from burned out to abundant.

Clarify your core values
Cultivate the unhurried
Cancel Plans
Cut the drama
Capture your thoughts
Create life-giving routines
Clear the clutter
Conquer your finances
Clean as you go
Cook Less
Carry Water
Care for your health
Create a command central
Consolidate outings
Capsule Wardrobe
Cut Digital Clutter
Cultivate creativity and curiosity
Connect with people

I hit some obstacles along the way. But I continue to make progress and do the difficult work or focusing my life on what matters most.

If you ever get overwhelmed, what if you could find your peace and calm again through simple living? Starting now. What are you waiting for?

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About the author, Jaime

Here at Altogether Mostly, you will find grace, compassion, joy, and beauty. I use empathy and a little tough love to bring out the best in people. I live in the Midwest United States with my loving husband and awesome children. For more about me and Altogether Mostly, please visit my about page here.