Intentionally making the choice to live a simple life goes directly against the social currency of our day. Our world is chock-full of the hustle mentality.
Advertisements, the job market, our friends and family — all tend to focus on what we have or haven’t achieved, because that is what our culture trains us to value. It can be exhausting, so here’s some simple living tips to find peace again!
Hi, I’m Ryan
Ten years ago, I was entirely burnt out in all areas of my life and I knew I needed a change. Since then, I’ve learned to let go of things I don’t need in my life and pursue simplicity.
Tip 1: Create Time To Self-Reflect
The first and most important step toward living a simple life is reflection. It’s hard to create a simple life for yourself if you’re unsure what elements of your life need simplifying. I often say that the process of living simply requires a complex journey.
Start by taking just a little bit of time out of your day to sit with your journal and reflect on why you want to start living more simply, what changes you are desperately needing in your life, and who you hope to become.
Try Answering These Questions
- Why do you want to live simply?
- What about your life right now is stressful?
- What about your life right now brings peace?
- What kind of person do you want to be?
- What attributes do you want to embody?
- What do you crave more time for?
- What activities stress you out most?
- What could your life use more of?
- What could your life use less of?
- What can you afford to let go of?
I got to chat with my friend Connie Riet, who spends her days coaching others on ways to live a simpler life and begin their journey toward mindfulness. Connie had loads of wisdom about the ways one can become more grounded.
“I journal what I’m grateful for, how I want to feel, then the kind of person I want to be. I also let myself daydream as if I was currently living in my ideal future.”
– Connie Riet, Mindfulness Coach
Tip 2: Declutter Your Belongings
Becoming a minimalist was huge for me in my journey toward a simple lifestyle. The art of minimalism teaches us that less is more. It reveals that our lives can be full of quality that does not come from how much stuff we own.
Take some time to go through your physical belongings. Allow yourself to let go of what no longer serves you. The decluttering process can be overwhelming if you have no idea where to begin, but if you have a decluttering strategy, it will make it easier. Take it a little bit at a time; you’ll slowly start to feel freer.
Tip 3: Intentionally Slow Down
This is my favorite tip for living a simpler life. Taking the time to intentionally slow down isn’t only about taking work breaks.
Intentionally slowing down means being thoughtful about cultivating a slower pace every single day. You can do this by creating a simple schedule and refusing to fill every hour of your day with something you need to get done.
Many people push back on this idea by saying, “It must be nice to live slowly, but I just have too much to do.” However, I am a firm believer that you can have the best of both worlds: productivity and peace.
As the owner of a company as well as someone devoted to simple living, I am a direct example that you don’t have to sacrifice your sanity to be efficient and accomplish your goals.
There are many simple living tips and coping mechanisms that go into learning to slow down, like saying no, refusing to bite off more than you can chew, allowing yourself to take breaks, learning to monotask, and taking things one day at a time.
“The misconception is that it takes a ton of extra time to be mindful, but it doesn’t. It’s really just about learning to be aware.”
– Connie Riet, Mindfulness Coach
Try Answering These Questions
- Do I take time to recharge before working?
- Is it essential that I complete my to-do list today?
- What tasks can I replace with breaks?
- What do I have the bandwidth for today?
- Have I made time for what I enjoy?
- Will everything fall apart if this one task is on hold?
- Am I giving myself grace when things don’t go as planned?
Tip 4: Identify What Brings You Joy
Hustle culture can cause us to forget what lights us up, but simple living calls us to take back our simple passions and hobbies. It’s extremely easy to get stuck in a rut and go through the daily motions without actively pursuing the things that light us up and bring us joy.
To keep your head above water in the adult world, it’s easy to train yourself to tackle the have-tos and the minutia before the want-tos. While this is healthy for functionality, it’s important to balance this impulse with what your soul needs.
I intentionally make time to read, go on a walk, and eat dinner with my girlfriend each day because these things lift me back up. How do you find what joy is for you?
Experts say one way to find what brings you true joy is to think about the kinds of things that used to light you up as a child. Think about your favorite pastimes when you were young.
What made you happy before you learned to adapt? Were you a creative kid? Did you love climbing? Were you always making up stories? Pursue things you loved when you were little, and make time for them.
“The joy of life is made up of a million tiny moments, but when we get so caught up in the doing and hustle of life, we miss them.”
– Connie Riet, Mindfulness Coach
Tip 5: Simplify Your Finances
They say money makes the world go round, and that could not be more true. However, just because money is the backbone of the world doesn’t mean it has to be the backbone of your personal world.
A great way to simplify the stressors in your life comes down to simplifying your relationship with money. As someone who has worked insanely hard to manage my finances without letting money consume me, I have a lot to say on the topic.
Money is a vessel to get from point A to point B, but earning money should never be, in itself, your end goal. However, being able to reduce your financial stress can give you freedom and peace of mind, which can help you lead a simpler life.
Simple living tips like budgeting intelligently, spending wisely but not limiting yourself, setting up auto payments, and seeking out financial advice from experts can help you get there.
Tip 6: Add Downtime To Your Schedule
This is also one of my favorite tips on living a simple life. It may seem “extra” to quite literally schedule downtime and put it into your calendar, but I assure you it is one of the best habits I have ever created for myself.
To live a simple life, you have to value your breaks and your downtime just as much as you value appointments and meetings. Sometimes downtime happens organically, but if you literally put a block of free time into your calendar however frequently you desire, you will be much less likely to replace your free time with another task or appointment.
Tip 7: Define What Success Means For You
The definition of success is different for everyone. It doesn’t have to mean a huge house, a high paying position in a corporate office, or a wife and two kids.
It can be that, if that’s what you value, but simple living calls us to refrain from allowing our own metric for success to be set by the expectations of others or the world.
Success should be defined by what you personally value, love, or want to become better at in your own life. The only person you should be trying to “beat” is you.
A huge part of adopting a simple living mentality means avoiding comparing ourselves to others around us and letting go of the hustle culture mentality. Again, this is way easier said than done, but there are many small ways you can adjust your mindset to a simpler one with less weighing your achievements against others.
When debilitating thoughts of comparison creep into your mind, try replacing them with small affirmations. Slowly, you can train yourself to let go of others’ definition of success.
“Start by identifying what matters most to you in your own life. Once you know that, you can eliminate the things that don’t matter as much.”
– Connie Riet, Mindfulness Coach
Tip 8: Take A Walk, Move Your Body
Creating a simpler life also means taking caring of yourself physically. I’ve gone through many seasons where my work piles up and it’s hard to create time for movement. I’ve found the best way is to find a style of exercise that works for you.
I like to take a walk in the middle of the day or at night before I get ready for bed, even if it is just for 30 quick minutes. It helps me clear my mind, increases my endorphins, and allows me to recharge.
Walks also provide me with the brain breaks I need to maintain my simple living habits, When I pull myself away from my work and go out into the world, it’s easier for me to stop hyper focusing on everything I need to get done, take a look at the world around me, and get some perspective.
“Slowing down is so important. Participate in activities that actively slow down the chatter of the mind, like going for a walk. There is nothing better than a good walk.”
– Connie Riet, Mindfulness Coach
Tip 9: Limit Social Media Intake
Another great way to live a slower, more simplistic life is to limit your time online. Like many, I make an intentional effort to be conscious about my online presence and the amount of media I consume.
There are so many studies that directly link media consumption to depression, anxiety, and loneliness, and just as many that link time away from the screen to peace of mind, recalibration, and confidence. Intentionally take breaks from mindless scrolling and seek out other ways to fill your time.
Tip 10: Practice Being Present In The Moment
This simple living tip really calls us to evaluate ourselves and our minds. Are we present where we are?
True presence means living in the here and now instead of fixating on the past or being clouded by worries about the future. It’s about being exactly where you are. Easier said than done, right?
Being in the moment is a huge part of leading a simpler lifestyle, and there are many small changes you can make to your daily life to help you get there. Meditation, music therapy, animal therapy, movement, and observing your sensory world are just a few tools you can use to stay grounded.
“I think presence is a hard concept for people. My favorite tip for being present is to start with your daily shower. When you’re in the shower, I challenge people to be in the shower. Feel the water, notice the temperature, smell the soap, feel your hands in your hair.”
– Connie Riet, Mindfulness Coach
Your Turn!
- What are some small changes you can make today to live a simpler life?
- Which simple living tips would improve your life the most?
Always being creative and a love of woodworking, I actually get great enjoyment and peace building tiny homes, doing every aspect of the construction myself. We haven’t made the downsizing move from a regular sized rural home with land into one yet and I need my workshop and tools but the idea of one day living in my latest work-in-progress creation is a nice dream… and it causes me to slow down with every detail to attain as close to perfection as possible. Realizing my wife and I may be living with the design decisions we make. Seeing things come together just right is reward in itself. Our mindsets are already attuned to the simple, peaceful lifestyle. We’re maybe 10+ years away from actual tiny home living so there’s no rush to complete our ideal tiny home. The journey towards it is all part of the enjoyable process.