If you’re stressed out because you have way too much going on in your life, it’s about time to start looking at ways to live a simpler life. Stress can cause high bloodpressure, insomnia, a lowered immune system, and a slower digestive system. Living a complex and stressful life is not worth the health issues! It’s time to chill out! Check out these ways to live a simpler life to find out how!
1. DON’T TRY TO PLEASE OTHERS
One of the most important ways to live a simpler life is not spending your time and energy trying to please others. You will never be able to please everyone, and trying to will drive you crazy. As soon as you find a way to please oneperson, you’ll find another person dissatisfied. Use your energy for building your character and being the best person you can be. Everyone won’t like you, but you’ll like you, and that’s what matters.
2. DON’T TRY TO BE PERFECT
This may sound cliché, but nobody’s perfect. Don’t put yourself under all of that pressure. It’s an unrealistic goal, and it’ll only make you more stressed and depressed when you inevitably don’t reach it. Cut yourself some slack, and understand that you make mistakes. Perfection is unattainable, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can live a simpler life.
3. LEAVE WORK AT WORK
There’s a time for everything, and if you take work home everyday, it’ll be all work and no play. It’s easy to get burnt out when you don’t set boundaries and schedules for yourself. When you’re working too much regardless of how much you like your job, you get stressed.
4. APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE
Being appreciative and grateful is the key to living a simple life. If you’re always trying to keep up with the Joneses, you’re under this pressure to get more, bigger, and better things than you already have. After a while, if you don’t have those material things, you’re unsatisfied with your life. Those thoughts will hurt yourself and your family. Forget the Joneses! Love your life!
5. WHEN YOU MESS IT UP, CLEAN IT UP
Have you ever walked into your kitchen and there was a huge pile of dishes waiting for you to wash? If that’s not stressful, I don’t know what is! Somethingeasy to do to live a simpler life is to clean up as soon as you mess up. It’ll cut down on time spent doing chores, and it’ll take away the stress that comes with a cluttered living space.
6. KEEP A JOURNAL
Writing down the events and emotions you have everyday is a great way to release a lot of the stress that builds up from those emotions. It’s also a way to track your progress from being a complex, stressful drama queen to the simple, happy, and healthy you!
7. EXERCISE OFTEN
Exercising has to be the best way to live a less stressful life. When you exercise your body releases endorphins, which boosts your mood, increases your self-esteem, strengthens your immune system, and aids in better sleep! It’s the ultimate stress reliever!
8. GET RID OF THINGS YOU DON’T USE
Living around clutter, junk, and random stuff will only create more stress. Comfort and simplicity can be found in clear, clean, and organized spaces. It’s time to get rid of old clothes you haven’t worn in 3 years, old stuffed animals, and meaningless trinkets you found cool in 2003.
9. BE EARLY
When you’re early, the anxiety of missing something important, running into traffic, and not being prepared, almost completely goes away. Set your alarm a half hour early, and take your time with your morning routine. You’d be surprised at how much more efficient you’ll be.
10. DON’T PROCRASTINATE
Waiting until the last minute to do anything is the main ingredient to stress, and can sometimes cause an unnecessary all-nighter. Plan ahead, and get things done on time, so your work can be high quality, and well thought out.
11. SAVE YOUR MONEY
It’s the most irritating and stressful thing when you’re at your last few dollars, and because you don’t have money saved, you have to borrow from someone. Don’t squander all of your money, it’s important to save, budget, and have emergency money put away so when times get hard, you won’t have to stress about how you’re going to pay your bills, and pay back the people you owe.
12. LAUGH
Have you ever heard that laughing is the best medicine? Well it is! Part of living a simpler life is about enjoying it. There’s always something to laugh about. Never reach the point where you can’t find humor at all. Laughing is the simplest way to de-stress.
13. LEARN TO SAY NO
Finally, it’s important to learn how to say no. If you’re a person who has a hard time saying no and finds yourself spending all of your time doing things for people, but never have time to wind down, you need to start saying no! Saying no doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you a person who sets their priorities, and knows when too much is too much. Learn to balance your time and when you have too much on your plate, learn to kindly turn people down.
In order to live simply, you have get rid of the unnecessary and adopt healthy and productive habits. These aren’t the only ways to live a simpler life. How do you deal with stress? What are other ideas that yield an uncomplicated life?