What does "simplify your life" really mean?
I call myself a productivity coach. When someone asks me about my business, I tell them; I help people simplify to make more room for the fun stuff. But what does that actually mean? Sometimes, even as I say it, I feel like I'm just spewing out buzz words. I wanted to take a dive into these terms and explain what makes them different, which ones are actually helpful to better your life, and how you can use them to help you rather than compare yourself to a staged Pinterest shot.
Simplify
This seems like a good one to start with since it's my specialty. Google will tell you the dictionary definition of "simplify" is to make (something) simpler or easier to do or understand. I love that idea. Making your life easier to do? The dream.
The hard part is that simplify can mean a million different things. It might mean moving closer to work so you have an easier commute. It might be stocking your fridge with healthy food so it's easier to stick to your diet. Simplifying can be as simple as moving your shoes to the front door instead of your closet, to save yourself 12 seconds of getting ready in the morning.
Simplifying is a big word and it covers so many different aspects that it can be silly to recommend that someone should just "simplify" their life. Simple.
The most important thing I could recommend for someone who wants an easier life is to look at simplifying as a project rather than a one-time thing. You cannot simplify your life in one day, in fact, simplifying your life now vs. in ten years might mean two completely different things for you. What makes life easier today is going to change over time, this is a life-long endeavor.
The best place to start is to find your pain points. What do you dread doing? What continuously gets put on the back burner? What takes up a lot of your time? Make a list, then start thinking of ways to make those things a little easier. Even if your morning routine is 1% more efficient, that's a big increase. 1% over a year makes a big difference.
Let's look at something as simple as making yourself dinner. It's one of those things you have to do every day, but maybe you hate it. You order out most nights because, after a long day at work, the last thing you feel like doing is going to the store, shopping, cooking and then cleaning up. I get it.
Instead of the generic "just meal plan" or "use XYZ delivery service" - figure out how you can make this 1% easier. Can you make a grocery list in the morning, so you know exactly what you need to pick up on your way home? Can you order groceries at work, so they are ready for pickup right as you're arriving to shop? Can you buy bulk of dry and canned goods so you only need to shop for a week at a time? Maybe you want to plan your meals in advance, a couple of days, a week or even a month (I have a blog post about that if you're curious). Making this daily struggle just a tiny bit easier will simplify your life. You don't need to hire a personal chef to have more time with your family. Just make a dang grocery list.
Simplifying is actually, well, simple. Humans do it everyday as we invent things to make life easier. You have a ton of tools at your disposal to help you simplify so many pieces of your life. Start with a list of the most annoying, time consuming or hate-to-do-it things in your life and do some research.
Organizing
I honestly hate this term. When I think of organizing, I think of people going to the container store, buying a bunch of plastic bins and moving all their crap from one drawer into a colorful box and then calling it good. That's not organizing. I get asked all the time, “how do you keep things organized”. If you can’t “keep” them organized, they weren’t actually organized in the first place. The definition of organizing is "arrange into a structured whole; order". Arranging things to be more orderly - I like that idea but in practice, this gets blurry.
If you organize as step one, the only thing you’ll be doing is rearranging a mess. Organizing should be step two, three or even step four in a larger project of simplifying. Let's use the dinner example again.
Making dinner is a pain-in-the-you-know-what, so step one, you simplified. Maybe you're pre-planning your meals, grocery shopping once a week, and ordering groceries for pickup. But, now you need to store more groceries, you need to make sure food doesn't go unused and you want to be able to find all your ingredients when you need them. This is when it's time to organize.
We don't all live in places with massive kitchens, endless countertops, and walk-in pantries. So, most of the time, we stick things behind other things, pile things on top of things and put things into drawers or cabinets and forget they exist until that thing starts to smell.
The best way to organize is to follow a few steps: make it easy to see, easy to reach and easy to replace.
Use clear containers, use Lazy Susan's or wire shelves, and use refillable containers so that your food always has a place in your pantry. We use giant mason jars in our pantry so that we can buy bulk rice, pasta, couscous, cereal, and oatmeal. We refill our clear containers, store them on a turntable and store the big bulky bags in an unused coat closet. When we run low, it's easy to see what we need, we refill and the product always has a spot on our shelf.
Organizing has a place in our lives, but it needs to be in the right order of things, otherwise, the organization methods fall apart in a few days or weeks. Before you organize your spice drawer, throw out all the expired spices. Decide which spices you use often and get refillable containers for them. THEN buy a little drawer organizer to keep them all looking nice. And remember to leave room for growth. If you organize your entire pantry THEN go grocery shopping, you’ll find your pretty mason jar wall doesn’t have room for the other 18 things you need to store.
Minimalism
The buzz word of the year, ladies and gents. Minimalism is "a style or technique (as in music, literature, or design) that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity". Yep, minimalism is defined as a style. Every time I see someone say that minimalism isn't an aesthetic I want to correct them, it actually is. It can be a lifestyle, don't misunderstand me, but that's not really the definition of minimalism, it's an interpretation. I think this is why things like simplicity and essentialism have sprung up because they better explain the goal that so many are working to obtain.
If you're into the whole minimalism trend, you probably Kon-Maried your home clear of clutter by now, but in case you're not jumping on the bandwagon just yet, let me give you some unsolicited advice. Minimalism isn't about how little you own, it's about only owning what you need. If you don't need a couch, sure, go ahead and sell it. But if you use it every day after work, do not swap it out for floor cushions just because you saw that in a YouTube video.
Minimalism is great for people who want to travel, college students or city dwellers with small spaces or people who get overwhelmed by possessions. If you're a hoarder, minimalism probably doesn't sound all that great. Finding a balance of getting rid of everything you own, and just cleaning your house is key here. You can use minimalistic principles without living out a backpack. I love the minimalism style, I want my clutter gone or at least in a drawer somewhere. There’s nothing wrong with that. After you have simplified, organized and cleared the clutter, minimalism is a great way to make your home feel the way you intended when you started simplifying in the first place.
Did you make it this far into the post? Wow, thank you. If you want a list of tools, books, courses, videos and resources that may help you actually simplify your life, click the button below. (YES, there are affiliate links and some of my own courses in there but I'm not recommending them because money, I'm recommending them because relevant).
