10 More Tiny Steps to Simplify Your Home Without Overhauling Your Whole Life
It’s time to make simplifying feel good. Release the pressure to simplify your home into a picture perfect place you see on social media. Simplify your home slowly and create a space you actually want to live in.
With tiny steps and a gentle heart you can simplify your home without overhauling your entire your life. You can also simplify in a way that really works for you; for your time and energy availability. I recently shared 10 tiny steps that instantly make life simpler and less stressful. These next 10 tiny steps will help you simplify your home and continue to create a simpler life with less stress.
10 More Tiny Steps to Simplify Your Home Without Overhauling Your Whole Life.
Take these tiny steps as they are or use them for inspiration to make small shifts and create tiny steps that work better for you. Keep in mind that consistency is more important than intensity. If you notice your simplicity efforts are exhausting you, make your tiny steps even tinier. I should mention too that not every step will be right for you. Use the ones that work best to simplify your home and your life and let the rest go.
1. Try a weekly simplicity reset to simplify your home.
Every day, or at least once a week, take a few minutes and reset your home. Start with your surfaces and enjoy a clear desk, kitchen table and countertops. Put away things you aren’t using. As you pare down, declutter and embrace simple living, resets will take less and less time. If it feels too overwhelming, focus on one small space per week to start. This reset will help you simplify your entire week.
2. Let go of something that makes you feel sad.
If you want to live a happier life, let go of something that makes you feel sad. From clothes that don’t fit to some sentimental items, releasing the things that weigh us down can make us feel lighter. Maybe the things that make you feel sad aren’t physical things. Let go of things like regret, guilt and unmet expectations too (especially other people’s expectations). This may not feel like a tiny task but sometimes letting go of something is just a decision. Haven’t you suffered enough?
3. Work on one space at a time.
Choose one tiny space to focus on at first. Start with your nightstand or the space next to your bed. When you put your head on your pillow, the last thing you want to look at is a cluttered space. Clear your nightstand or bedside table of extra stuff. Remove phones and tablets and anything work related. Only keep what will support a good night of sleep. If you have drawers in your nightstand, declutter them too. Give yourself every opportunity to sleep well. Let the last thing you see at the end of the day and first thing you see in the morning be a simple space in your calm home. Then move on to these other spaces for a calm home.
4. Trade shopping for self-care.
I used to shop for every event and emotion. Now, when I feel myself getting stressed, tired, sick, frustrated, or bored, I take better care of myself. My body and brain is telling me it’s time to make a change, not that it’s time to “add to cart” or add to my wardrobe. When I’m not feeling my best, I know my body isn’t saying, “let’s go shopping” it is saying, “Please take care of me.”
If you shop for every event and emotion too, make a list of other things that make you feel good. When you feel like shopping, check your list and trade shopping for self-care. My list includes:
- Take a walk
- Call a friend
- Make a smoothie
- Sleep for an extra hour
- Journal
- Take a bath
- Meditate
- Write a thank you note
5. Take back your inbox
If checking your email turns into information overload, consider a different approach. Check email twice a day and when you open your inbox, click “select all” and then uncheck anything you want to read. Delete the rest. This will free up time you spend on your desktop or device and get you out of your inbox and into your life.
6. Box up anything that doesn’t fit your body or your lifestyle.
You don’t have to give it away, just get it out of your closet and hide it for awhile. You aren’t wearing them anyway, so why face the questions about why they don’t fit or why you bought them in the first place. Eliminate the physical clutter, and the mental clutter goes with it. Tiny wardrobe beginners notice a big difference when they hide the things that aren’t important to them. If you are ready for a closet challenge, try Project 333.
7. Do absolutely nothing to simplify your home and life.
You might be surprised that this is one of the ways to simplify your life. You may want to do nothing for a couple of reasons. First, if you are very content with the way things are for you right now, you may want to ignore the other recommendations and simply do nothing. Or, if you’ve been doing too many things or trying to change in too many ways, doing nothing may be the thing that simplifies your life the most. If seeking is overshadowing your seeing, choose nothing today. Sometimes your soul needs time to just hang out with your heart, and your truth.
8. Say, “no” more often to simplify life.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but you are allowed to say no or no thank you even when you aren’t busy. I don’t say “no” because I’m so busy, I say “no” because I don’t want to be so busy. Just because you have time or availability for something doesn’t mean you are obligated to say yes. You are the only one who can protect your time. Don’t create space so you can do more things (especially things you have no interest in). Create space for more life, for more being you.
9. Simply place a box by the front door.
Use the box as a reminder that you want to let go and drop things in as you pass by that aren’t useful or meaningful. When the box is full, give it away and replace it with a new empty box. When you remove things you don’t care about, you don’t just simplify your home, you create a place you love to live in.
10. Get Gentle support.
Read my new book Gentle, Rest More, Stress Less, and Live the Life You Actually Want. You could listen to the audio version as you simplify your home. It will encourage you to take care of yourself as you make changes to ease stress and enjoy your living space and your life.
I hope you enjoy these 10 (more) tiny steps to help you simplify your home and life. Don’t feel pressured to do them all at once. Tiny steps = gentle progress. This is how you simplify without exhausting yourself. You are allowed to simplify in a way that feels good to you.