Strong Female Leaders

By Sarah Go | Strong Female Leaders | Reading Time: Five Minutes Visualize this: you no longer care to partake in the rat race. You have just alleviated yourself from the pressure of having multiple deadlines, piling workload, pleasing everyone and flashing seemingly impressive achievements. You now care about the simpler things in life, like spending time with family, laughing with friends, and reading actual, real books. If you have been feeling under stress, instead of squeezing it all in, consider removing the unnessaries. You may feel loss at first. Untimately, however, you will realize how much you have gained, including time and self worth.

7 Ways to Simplify Your Life

1. Let your own goals guide your day, not other people's agenda.

Without personal goals, an overachiever like you will likely try to fit everyone else's priorities into one day. This leads to multi-tasking, getting distracted, and feeling unfulfilled and unaccomplished. Overtime, you will become drained and unmotivated.
Before going to bed each night, plan the next day by creating and committing to your own goals. Make sure that at least one of them guarantees a small win in the beginnng, so you start the day feeling accomplished. Good ideas include making the bed, stretchng after shower, and eating a healthy breakfast. As pint-sized as these goals are, completing them instantiates a sense of pride and a peace of mind.
You may never attain full control of your day, especially if you have team members, clients and a mom. You can have, however, goals that make yourself happy, even if they seem inconsequential and simple to others.

2. Cut the clutter.

When your environment is cluttered, you cannot think clearly. Free your living and work space by reducing clutter and tidyinig up. Also, take the opportunity to get rid of what you don't need. Things that no longer serve a purpose can be donated. For example, clothes that barely fit or electronics that rarely get used. Unless something has deep sentimental value, let it go.

3. Deactivate social media.

When used incorrectly, social media can be a huge burden on your time and your mind. How many times have you picked up your phone and spent hours scrolling through facebook feeds? To simply your life and free your mind of friends' picture-perfect lives, deactivate social media temporarily. You don't have to delete the account; just deactivate it for a week or so, until life feels simpler.

4. Reduce screen time.

Like social media, too much screen time can also congest your life. If you cannot go off the grid completely, try to unplug as often as you can. Good times to do so include lunch time, after work, and early evenings. Use the time to work out, have face-to-face conversations with friends, go on a hike, play board games, or read a book. There was a time when no one had access to the screen. People lived good, simple lives back then, and so can you.

5. Take a break from toxic people.

Not everyone is worthy of your time. If friends, family, or coworkers add negativity to your life, consider avoiding spending time with them. Saying "no" once in a while is not a crime. It gives you a break from being in a toxic environment, and lets the toxic people spread their negative energy somewhere else.

6. Pay your debt.

And try to pay in full. If the debt doesn't contribute to a stabler financial future, it needs to go. By paying off debt, you can reduce the stress of owing someone, and also stop yourself from purchasing more possessions that accrue more debt. When you are debt-free, you can now find ways to trim bills, limit wasteful spending, and plan a successful financial future.

7. Eat clean.

Clean eating isn't just great for diet, it also simplifies your grocery list, pantry and meal plans. Having simple fresh foods like fruits, veggies, and whole grains on hand makes creating meal ideas easier and faster. Plus, it trims your grocery bill as well.

Parting Thoughts

Having more doesn't always make you happy. Filling your life with objects, parties and people won't make you a better person. When you simplify, you allow yourself the space to discover more meaningful things. You might find your calling, see a clearer future, and discover what makes you truly happy. So take some time, get rid of what you don't need, and enjoy the miiniimalist journey.