Simple Living Tips For Slowing Down
If you are looking for a way to slow down. To enjoy life in a more simple way. To want less so you can have more, is our goal today.
Try any of these simple living tips that I know will help you to embrace a life you truly enjoy. We love to talk about living simply here at Simple Living Country Gal so read on for some of our best tips.
Learning to live a simple life has been a goal of mine for quite a while. Doing more with less and living better with little is the whole premise behind my blog Simple Living Country Gal.
What is simple living? A simplified lifestyle is nothing new, actually, it is becoming more and more popular every day.
In a world that is full of gadgets all designed to make our lives easier, it is ironic that those gadgets are instead making our lives more complicated and busy.
The purpose of simple living is reducing chaos and stress by removing the excess and clutter. This can at times be easier said than done. So rather than diving in head first, let’s take this one step at a time. Slow and simple changes tend to stick and you all know how I love simple!
what exactly is a simplified lifestyle?
Well, to be honest, it is whatever you want it to be. For our family, it simply means doing more with less. Fewer things, less clutter, less debt, less mess, and less busy. If we don’t use it, need it, or love it….we are not going to keep it. It’s that simple.
how do we simplify our homes?
You need to look at your home as a treasured space. Only items that are special (they mean something to you), are useful (you need them to get through day-to-day life), or are luxuries (entertainment that you enjoy but do not specifically need) will earn a spot in your home. Simple living will keep things to a minimum.
The best part???
Simple living and slowing down will cause a chain reaction that will begin in your home and continue through every aspect of your life. Your finances, your habits, your relationships, your thoughts, and your routines.
One area will naturally flow into another. Uncluttered counters in the kitchen will encourage cooking meals from scratch. Cooking meals from scratch will call for better and healthier ingredients. Better ingredients will encourage you to grow your own food. Growing your own food will decrease your grocery budget and limit trips to the store. And so on.
This transformation does not happen overnight, however, once you choose a starting point for your path you will be well on your way to a simplified mindset.
Learning to live with less will not only streamline your home but also your way of thinking.
You will no longer bring random clutter into your home. Now, each item you purchase will be bought with a specific intention. Every item will have a purpose and every item you purchase will be used frequently.
When you have less you will learn to care for what is in your home. Stuff will no longer be stuff, but instead tools needed to get through your day. Knowing your tools are important will in effect cause you to take better care of your things. When you take better care of your things, those things last longer which in turn saves you money.
See how nicely this works!
As you move forward in your simple living journey you will learn to shift how you see things and how you think of things. This will, in turn, eliminate the stress and energy-sucking spirits that can clutter our minds.
13 Simple Living Tips
Some of these tips are easy and timeless and some are a bit out of the box. Try them all and see which ones work best for you.
Tip #1. Make a Priority list
Write up a list of what is most important to you. Those things that get you up and moving every single day. Family, friends, pets, whatever it is that gives you purpose.
Every day put your focus on those top priority items. What you do, what you have, and what you buy should be for the purpose of your priority list. The rest is just excess and clutter. Remove that excess and simplify your surroundings so you have more room for what you love.
Tip #2. Take simple living for a test drive
Like I mentioned before if you don’t love it, need it, or use it….remove it!
Yes, it really is that simple!
If you want to do a test run on simple living, go ahead and grab a few boxes. Talk a stroll through your home and start filling those boxes up with items you feel you can do without.
This is only a test run, so don’t worry.
When you’ve finished close your boxes and label them with a date 1-2 months from now. If you find after a few months those items are not useful, let them go!
Tip #3. Leave bare space…bare!
As you begin to remove things you are going to find you have quite a bit of open space. Don’t be tempted to fill it back up. Instead, leave it open and clear. After a few days, you will not only be used to the open space but you will want more of it.
When the clutter is removed from your home, it is magically removed from your head as well. This is the secret to simple living.
Tip #4. Make more and buy less
Simple living means relying less on gadgets that clutter and distract and more on doing things yourself. This may sound counterproductive but actually doing more will help you to want less.
Rather than order a pizza, why not make one from scratch with your family? It costs less, tastes better, and is actually fun to do when you are doing it together.
SLCG Pro Tip: Working with your hands and mind is a great way to stay young. Our minds are a muscle that needs to be exercised often. Living a more simple lifestyle and using your own resources every day will help you not only live better but live longer too!
Take the time to streamline a self-sufficient cooking space with simple cooking tips for the kitchen that will help you to make more meals from scratch using the ingredients you grew at home.
Tip #5. Watch less and unplug more
Another secret of simple living is to turn it off. It is amazing how quickly time can trickle away when we are watching TV. Shut it off, step away, and enjoy the beauty around you.
Here are a few tips:
- Take a walk.
- Read a book.
- Write a letter and mail it.
- Do a puzzle.
- Play a game with your family.
- Go bird watching or star gazing.
Slow down just a bit and be present in every minute of every day.
Tip #6. Bake
There is nothing that I enjoy more than the smell of home-baked bread. Roll up your sleeves and get your knead on! Baking is a wonderful way to relax and distress.
One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is my kneading board. This amazing tool makes bread making so much easier to do.
If you are new to bread making, you can check out my Pinterest Board for some delicious and super simple recipes.
Tip #7. Eliminate the excess and simplify
The secret sauce to simple living is less on our calendars. More open squares where we have no commitments or appointments planned.
The stress we are under is more often than not, self-imposed. We set the bar unrealistically high and then work like crazy trying to reach it.
Remove the excess from your schedule, lower that bar, and learn to say no. It will be a decision you will not regret.
Read tips on how to get more done in less time.
Tip #8. Start a Garden
Yes, it’s true that gardening is work and it is also true that gardening takes up time. However, when you are not dependent on the grocery stores to feed your family you are, in turn, simplifying your own life.
And here’s a bonus, gardening is an amazing stress reliever!
Never gardened before? Check these posts out and get your garden on!
- So, You Want To Start A Garden. Start Here!
- Starting Plants Indoors From Seed.
- How To Water Your Garden To Get The Best Results.
- How To Stop Garden Pests Without Chemicals.
Tip #9. Simplify your chores
This is one tip I absolutely love. By creating a simple cleaning system for your home you will cut back on even more stress.
As you begin to remove the clutter and excess you will need less time to clean. Yes, those things that are all over our homes take up time as well.
When cleaning your things outweighs the love of your things it is time to let them go.
Tip #10. Edit your rooms
Do you have rooms that are stuffed full of furniture? Try removing a few items and see what you think.
We got rid of the dressers in our bedroom years ago and it has been pretty life-changing. Once the dressers were gone, we were forced to pare down on the number of clothes we owned.
This not only removed the clutter from our rooms and closets but also made our morning routines much simpler. When you only keep the clothes you love you make getting ready a breeze.
Tip #11. Streamline your days and simplify your schedule
Do you want to know the secret of a good start to your day? A morning routine. By having a set list of things you do every single morning you are creating simple living habits that will ensure a pleasant start to each and every day.
But don’t just stop there. Create an evening routine too so you end the day right and set yourself up for a peaceful night’s sleep.
Learn how to setup a morning routine here!
Tip #12. Learn to Live more Frugally
It is no secret that debt causes stress. Actually, debt is the number one thing most couples argue over. By learning to live more frugally it will not only reduce your stress but it will reduce your debt as well.
Buy less – so you have less – so you want less.
Excess in our homes not only costs us money to buy but costs us money to keep too. Learn to buy only what you need, keep only what you love, and love only what you have.
Let’s take a cue from the Amish. Everything they purchase is bought with a specific intention and not on impulse. They shop because they need to and not to pass the time. Change your mindset and look at shopping as a task that you need to do.
READ: 10 Best frugal living tips.
Tip #13. Listen to our Grandparents and follow their simple living tips
If you want to learn simple living, then there is no better place to look than to our grandparents. Tool sheds for doing our own work, stocked pantries of canned goods to create healthy meals, shelves full of books to read instead of watching TV, and, my favorite, porches with chairs to visit with family and friends.
Our grandparents knew their priorities and how to keep them forefront in their lives. Take a tip from them and do the same.
Learning to slow down and simplify is not going to happen overnight. It is a process and one that is created one day at a time.
With each step forward you will unburden yourself from stress and begin to see light at the end of a cluttered tunnel. I hope you found these simple living tips the help you need to create a life you love and enjoy.
We’re featuring you on the Homestead Blog Hop this Wednesday. Thank you so much for sharing such great tips for slowing down and prioritizing. Living that simple hard working life is very valuable to us.
Thank you, Kelly!!
I am so excited to be featured on the Homestead Blog Hop!! Thank you!
Tracy Lynn
A list is everything. I will keep this in mind and start doing. Very Impressive work and I love how you put every detail in a simple way also. Thank you for sharing!
Hello, Wendy!
Yes, lists are the magic behind getting stuff done, right? Glad you enjoyed the post!
Tracy Lynn
So MANY have blogged of simplicity/frugal living etc.
Unlike those YOU are GIFTEDI
(I only have five extremely special sites in my bookmarks. You-now-are one of them!)
God bless you for your sharing!
So, glad you liked it, Bee. Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
Tracy Lynn
Hi Tracy,
Great tips on simple living! Especially the notion that empty spaces will cause you to want more empty spaces. The beginning of my simple living journey was 8 years ago when we were staging our home for sale and emptied out our house. I loved how it felt without all of that extra stuff so much that we sold most of it when we moved into our new home! I never keep nick-knacks anymore, aside from a few keepsakes from our grandparents. I prefer things that are both useful AND decorative.
Thanks for sharing these other great tips!
Isn’t it funny how addicting it can be…all that empty space! So much easier to not only clean but to look at. Clutter was hard to look at for me and once I got rid of it I really began to enjoy my home so much more.
I love your tips, thank you for sharing!
Tracy Lynn