How to simplify a busy life
There are times in your life that will be busier than others. That’s just life. There are also times when you might make your life busier than it needs to be.
It’s important to figure out if that’s what you’re doing - either at work or in life in general. Either way, it’s important to slow down so that your health doesn’t make you slow down. Going at an unrelenting and unsustainable pace week after week is impossible to keep up without burning out. Plus, you miss out on the good things in life - which are the little, simple moments.
10 ways to simplify a busy schedule and busy life
1. Set boundaries.
It’s important to set your own boundaries, make them known and stick to them. There’s a saying” If you want to get something done, ask a busy person.” If you’re the person everyone comes to with their problems and to-do lists, chances are you’re the busy person that has no boundaries. Take a good look at your commitments and what you do for yourself vs. what you do that others could do for themselves. Evaluate when you do things as well - just because it’s urgent for someone else doesn’t mean it’s urgent for you.
set boundaries on when you respond to work emails (ex. no responding on evenings and weekends)
set boundaries on your calendar (ex. no meetings in the early mornings or evenings if you need to be with kids, or no meetings during a lunch hour that is needed for you to get out for a walk and de-stress)
set boundaries on your family commitments (ex. a sibling can pick up some of the responsibility with parents)
learn to lovingly say no (people will respect you for it)
2. Re-evaluate your values and their measurements.
Do you value your worth based on how busy your calendar is? How much money you make? How many awards you win? Or is it by how much time you spend with people you love? Your level of happiness/contentment? How you’ve been able to make the world a tiny bit better? Get out a journal, re-establish your own unique values and then figure out how you will measure if you’re living up to those values - or not.
3. Choose the essentials.
Essentialists get in a habit of continually evaluating what they spend their time on. Anything that isn’t essential for living the life they want or meeting goals they’ve set, gets pushed away. When you focus on the essential things that move the needle in the right direction, they get done more quickly and you are less stressed doing them. Focus on doing the right things and schedule them into your calendar before anything else.
4. Don’t multitask.
If you want to simplify anything, focus on one thing at a time. That may mean that you only concentrate on something for a short spurt - even 15 minutes. But you’ll get a heck of a lot more done in that 15 minutes when you’re fully focused on it. Plus, it allows your mind to begin compartmentalizing things and not draining energy trying to keep it all in your head at once all through the day.
5. Give only 90%.
If you’re someone who always goes above and beyond, evaluate where it’s gotten you. There may be a few essential areas where it’s paid off. But the others? Probably not. Will anyone notice if you give just 90% instead of 110%? Try it.
6. Stop spending time on mundane tasks.
Many meetings can be emails. Many emails are not needed. Learn to get things done without the administrative red tape that can often be eliminated. That said, sometimes quick huddle meetings with your team once a week might be the way to avoid a ton of back-and-forth emails all week. Strategize to figure out what can be cut and what will increase efficiency.
7. Limit your consumption.
Our lives - and our planet - could be so much more sustainable if we just cut back on everything we consume. The culture of over-consumption has become rampant and we often don’t even realize in our day-to-day lives that we’re playing into it. When we cut back, it simplifies everything and we start to feel lighter.
Cut back on social media and non-stop news consumption (use my 7-Day Digital Detox plan!)
Cut back on shopping and spending
Cut back on food and alcohol consumption
Cut back on the consumption of negative things (violence on TV, negative people, disturbing books, gossip)
Even cut back on travel (sometimes all you need is free time close to home, not time waiting in airports, driving on freeways and standing in lines)
8. Limit decision-making.
We make a gazillion little decisions every day and it takes up way too much of our energy and brainpower. So put in place systems and habits so that allow you to go on autopilot without having to make many of the more mundane daily decisions.
Set a 1 or 2-week meal plan and stick to it (no meal decisions to make ever again, same grocery lists over and over)
Simplify your wardrobe so you have just 5-7 outfits that look great on you (no morning wardrobe decisions to make)
Set a time in your calendar that’s the same every single day for when you’ll exercise (no more back on forth on when/if you’ll work out today)
Set a morning and bedtime routine and alarm that’s the same every day (no decisions first thing in the morning or last thing at night)
Set your billpaying on auto-pay or schedule in your calendar an hour at the end of each month where you sit down and pay them (no more trying to remember to do it)
9. Declutter.
Busy days and weeks are much easier when you aren’t annoyed by clutter. Clutter at home and at work gets in the way of efficiency, diverts your attention and makes you feel guilty. Having a tidy, clutter-free and organized home and workspace will help you feel calmer and give you back time (even if it’s just 15 minutes) to relax instead of cleaning or searching for something. My 5-Day Declutter Dash will help you get started!
10. Enjoy yourself.
Even when life is busy beyond your control, you can still enjoy it. Embrace this time in your life and find the good things within it. Practice gratitude every single day by noticing the good things around you. And remind yourself that it’s only for now, and things will calm down at some point. Enjoy what you have today.
Want help simplifying your systems and habits so you’re less busy? Take one of my online courses for guided-step-by-step instructions on becoming an essentialist.
WORK SIMPLE helps you simplify your digital and work processes, declutter your workspace and become more productive in less time.
7-DAY DIGITAL DETOX walks you through tiny steps to declutter all of your digital devices and slowly detox from spending so much time online.
