10 Ways To Simplify Your Life (collab w/ Hope Leilani)


A simple lifestyle. . . something many of us long for but have no idea how to adopt. Our world craves for more. “If I just had (insert word) I’d be happy” is a phrase I hear far too often.

Minimalism takes a different approach. It pushes us to survey what we already have, discover what sparks joy and brings value to our lives, and be content. Over the past few months, I’ve come to see the benefits of living minimally. I’m more grateful for the things I have, and I’m not constantly pining for more.

It’s influenced my outlook on life and positively affected my mental health. I feel like I can actually breathe when I need to breathe and rest when I need to rest.

Minimalism doesn’t have to mean living in a room with no furniture and owning three pairs of clothing. To me, it means simplifying your life and living with intention.

And I’m not going to lie — I love decluttering. 😏

In this post, I’ve teamed up with my blogging pal, Hope Leilani, to bring you 10 Ways To Simplify Your Life. I hope this encourages you to simplify your lifestyle and live purposefully!

1. Declutter Your Closet

assorted clothes in wooden hangers

Let’s be honest. We can’t wear every single piece of clothing in our closet in a month. We rarely wear it all in a year! When we intentionally determine what clothes we actually wear and get rid of the rest, our closet looks more like a closet than a pigsty. Plus, it makes it a thousand times easier to get dressed in the morning. Believe me. You’ll save five minutes of time spent searching for a pair of shorts.

Before you start, make an accomplishable action plan. You’re not going to skim your closet overnight. In fact, that’s not recommended. A simple lifestyle isn’t something that should be rushed. Instead, work at it section by section. Follow a decluttering plan or challenge. Start small and work your way up. You’ll get there eventually!

Some resources:

What are you waiting for? (; Grab your donation box and attack that wardrobe!

2. Turn off notifications

Phones are great tools for many things, but they certainly drain presence. Every single minute we seem to be bombarded with notifications. They blow up our devices and distract us from the task at hand.

One of my greatest pet peeves is seeing people glued to their phones while they’re eating at a restaurant or chatting with a friend. Like, what happened to in-person communication? And experiencing life first-hand? Has that just faded with omnipresence of our devices? Devices can be the death of conversations.

Studies show that it takes roughly 23 minutes to refocus after getting distracted. 23 minutes! Just because you looked at that social media notification. (;

For these reasons, the best way to simplify your life is to eliminate distractions. And that means turning off your device’s notifications.

By doing this, you can engage more deeply in conversations and be present. Getting rid of distractions also helps you focus on the tasks you have to accomplish.

Person Pouring Tea In White Ceramic Mug

3. Take a Tea Break

Joy Clarkson from the Speaking With Joy podcast introduced me to this refreshing habit, and I’ve incorporated it into my daily routine. This British custom of taking a few minutes in between work/studying to make tea and relax has helped my heart so much! The peace I get from such a simple practice is inexplicable!

Though tea helps calm me down, there’s no obligation to make that beverage. You could replace it with coffee, juice, or water–whatever fits your fancy! What matters is that you take a break. Take time to rest before attacking your assignments again.

It’s one of those lovely habits that make me wish I was really British. (;

4. Unsubscribe!

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE receiving emails. Yet, there’s a difference between a good amount of mail and too much mail. And more often than not, my inbox is on the overload side of the spectrum. Once I realised how much junk mail cluttered my mailbox daily, I decided to do something about it: I decided to unsubscribe.

Now, I don’t have to waste time scrolling through spam to get to important emails. It has boosted my productivity and focus by miles!

Unsubscribe from newspaper articles, recipes, random apps. . . anything you don’t care about. Take 10, 15, 30 minutes to clear out your inbox. Trust me, once that’s done, you’ll feel less stressed and more focused.

5. Slow down

Don’t rush through your morning! Wake up earlier if you have to. Morning is the most important part of your day because it sets the stage for how you perform the rest of the day. Be intentional with what you include in your morning routine. Stay away from your phone, and drink a lot of water.

In this crazy, busy world, it’s so easy for people to passively fly through their daily routines, missing what really matters. Resist the urge to get sucked into that habit, and instead slow down and enjoy life. Day by day. Be present in every moment and approach your daily tasks with purpose!

Were these tips helpful? Which one(s) will you implement into your life? What are some ways you simplify your life? Let me know in the comments!

Want to read 5 more ways to simplify your life? If so, check out Hope Leilani’s post for some more ideas! ✨

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13 responses to “10 Ways To Simplify Your Life (collab w/ Hope Leilani)”

    • Ahh — she’s so lovely! I aspire to be like her. (: *high fives* I haven’t meet another fan.

  1. Abigail Blessing, thanks for being a blessing to your Grandpa and Grandma as we just read this. I love to simplify my life and glad you do! Last week I deleted my CNN app on my phone and this week my phone time was cut in half. And i didn’t miss it! I think I will start drinking more tea and actually sit down and take a break while drinking it. Also, i turned off all of my notifications while reading your post! Grampy is going to declutter his desk, yay!

  2. I think I was a born minimalist. Even as a child I was super organized and neat. There are books by Marie Kondo about decluttering. One thing I have been doing lately is getting rid of things used for decor that are really small. For necessary decor I want things that are at least medium sized to be used and not a lot of that either. I want to love everything I possess.

    • It sounds very much like you. (: That sounds like a fantastic plan! And yes — loving everything you possess is a wonderful motivation. Thank you for reading!

  3. This is a great post! It really made me want to clean out my closet and make some lists XD. I was just talking to a friend about introducing small forms of minimalism into my life like these.

    • This comment brightened my day. ✨ Thank you for your kind words. And yes, clean closets and lists are definitely perks of minimalism! (: Thank you for reading, Marie!

  4. Those are some great ideas! My Sister and I have been talking a lot about trying to simplify things a bit, especially in our room. There’s so much that we probably could declutter, but have not made the time do so. However, we now have an excuse since our Dad is going to be re-painting our room soon. In our eyes, it calls for cleaning up and some decorating! 😀

    • Thank you so much, Heaven! ✨ Oh wow, that’s fantastic! Sounds like a fun job. Decorating is my favorite part. (: What color are you painting your wall?

      • The wall is going to be pained white. We thought a blank canvas, so to speak, would be nice because then whatever pops of color we want to add (like on our beds or wall decor), it will not clash. Currently, our wall is a sunset yellow. And, it could also be because we’ve been watching some minimalist videos on Youtube.:D

        • For sure! I love decorating white walls, because I have so much freedom. There are so many ways you can decorate them. Haha, I totally get that. (;

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