Teeny tiny steps to simplify your life are usually even more powerful than big, sweeping changes. By the time we decide to simplify, overwhelm and exhaustion have usually set in so tiny steps to simplify are the only ones we have time and energy to actually accomplish.
I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry when I think about the big changes I tried to make in my life. I would turn my life upside down (and myself inside out) in the name of fast and furious, quick fixes and surprise, surprise, they never worked. I finally had to change the way I change. I traded pushing through and exhausting myself for slow, steady, simple changes that didn’t wear me out. It took hundreds of tiny steps to simplify my life, and they made a big difference.
12 Teeny Tiny Steps to Simplify Your Life
Start to change the way you change with these teeny tiny steps to simplify your life. They will help on their own by allowing you to create more time, space and energy and give you confidence in taking even tinier steps when something needs to change.
1. Create a donation collection spot in your home.
This is one of those teeny tiny steps to simplify that will surprise you. Even if you aren’t always focused on decluttering, there are always things that pop up that you don’t know what to do with. A donation collection spot (even something as simple as an empty box by the door) will encourage you to let go of extra clutter every day.
2. Give your books away (one at a time).
If your books are building up, use this teeny tiny step to simplify as an invitation to share what you are reading. Once you finish a book, send it off to a friend with a little note. It’s really fun to have friends to share books with. You’ll discover new reads (that they share with you) and declutter along the way. If you have a bunch of books to declutter here are 25 places to donate books.
3. Cancel things.
If you are feeling stretched too thin when it comes to your time, audit your calendar. Perhaps you’ve overcommitted? What can you cancel or reschedule to create some extra time for yourself? If you tend to over schedule yourself, consider a 24-hour pause before saying yes to anything moving forward.
4. Create a not-to-do list.
We are so consumed with the things we need to do that we often discount the power of considering what we are not going to do anymore. Your not-to-do lists may focus on tasks, habits or even mindset shifts. Creating these lists will help you be more mindful about how you aren’t spending your time. This creates more time for things you want to do.
5. Give yourself a simple pleasure every day.
Simple pleasures are usually ordinary things, something so ordinary that we forget to see them as a pleasure. If you have trouble identifying a simple pleasure, think about what pleases one or more of your five senses. A soft blanket can be a simple pleasure for your sense of touch. A small piece of dark chocolate may be just right for taste buds. A spritz of your favorite perfume or lighting a scented candle will be a pleasure for your sense of smell. Looking at images from your favorite artist or reading a book may serve your sense of sight. Beautiful music or listening to the birds is a simple pleasure for your hearing.
6. Sample simplicity with a capsule wardrobe experiment.
Simplicity is contagious! Start in your closet and create a capsule wardrobe or at least remove anything you don’t wear. Try the project 333 challenge. This minimalist fashion challenge invites you to dress with 33 items for 3 months (clothes, shoes, jewelry, accessories). The benefit of a challenge or experiment is that you can sample simplicity without a bigger commitment of getting rid of all of your stuff. If a capsule wardrobe isn’t for you yet, consider a closet clean out.
7. Hide a box of stuff you never use
Walk around your house with a bag or box and fill it up with things you never use and don’t really care about. Include things like duplicates and extras. I’m looking at you coffee cups and water bottles. Then, instead of donating the bag or box (which may feel like a big step), hide it for 30-60 days. If you don’t miss it, donating it will feel more like a tiny step because you’ll break the emotional hold and realize that you enjoy the space more than the stuff.
8. Try a simplicity reset.
Every day, or at least once a week, take a few minutes and reset your home. Reset to zero. 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.
9. Join the Tiny Step Simplicity email series.
If you want to focus on tiny steps each month, join the Tiny Step Simplicity email series. This is a straightforward, twice-monthly program (delivered via email) to help you simplify your life by using tiny steps. Every two weeks, you’ll receive a short email breaking down one important area of your simplicity journey. These emails include tiny, easy actions that you can do straight away. They’ll help you simplify your home and much more. Learn more here.
10. Turn off your notifications.
It takes an average of 23 minutes to bounce back from a distraction. Stay more focused with notifications off. Try this and other tiny steps to simplify the time and attention you give your phone. Turn off social notifications, breaking news updates, useless reminders that apps send you to keep you engaged and anything else that removes you from your life.
11. Take a tiny walk after a meal
I love this recommendation from this article about tiny habits. Rather than sitting on the couch after I eat a meal, I’ve been going for a 2 to 5 minute walk. Rachel Fairbank, a journalist with The New York Times, inspired this tiny habit. In her article, Fairbank shared the findings (NYT gift link) of a meta-analysis that “compared the effects of sitting versus standing or walking on measures of heart health, including insulin and blood sugar levels.” Researchers discovered that very tiny walks – between two and five minutes – “had a significant impact in moderating blood sugar levels.”
12. Be gentle with yourself.
Always start here. Be gentle with yourself. Make things easier in your life. Take care of yourself when you actually need to take care of yourself. Prioritize tiny habits over radical change. Rest before pushing through. Just give yourself a break. You are doing so much better than you think. For more encouragement to be good to yourself, read my new book, Gentle, Rest More, Stress Less and Live the Life You Actually Want.