Simple living does not mean getting rid of everything you own, moving to the countryside, or following a strict minimalist lifestyle. I believe it is about making everyday life a little easier, calmer, and more intentional.
For most people, it is much more practical than that.
Simple living is about noticing what makes everyday life unnecessarily complicated and then making small changes that remove some of that friction. It might mean having fewer things to clean, fewer notifications competing for your attention, fewer unnecessary commitments on your calendar, or fewer subscriptions quietly taking money from your account.
I have found that the most useful changes are usually the unglamorous ones. Clearing one kitchen drawer, creating a simple morning routine, turning off unnecessary notifications, or deciding what you will no longer say yes to can make a bigger difference than attempting a dramatic lifestyle makeover. Research also supports the value of small changes in our everyday environment and routines. Studies have found links between a more cluttered home environment and stress, while research on everyday habits suggests that familiar, consistent routines can require less conscious effort and may be associated with lower feelings of stress. Research on clutter, mood, and cortisol and research on habits in everyday life both point to why making daily life a little more manageable can matter.
The goal is not to make your life empty. The goal is to make room for what actually matters.
Here are 20 easy ways to start simplifying your life.
1. Clear One Small Area at a Time
Do not begin by trying to declutter your entire house.
Pick one drawer, one shelf, one cupboard, or one corner of a room. Empty it and separate the items into four groups: keep, relocate, donate, and discard.
I used to make the mistake of taking out an entire cupboard and then getting tired halfway through. These days, I pick one shelf and finish that before moving on. More importantly, you get to see the result immediately.
There is also some research behind the idea that our surroundings can influence how we feel. A study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin examined home environments and found associations between perceptions of a home as stressful or restorative and patterns of cortisol and mood. The study was conducted with families in the United States and should not be interpreted as proof that decluttering alone improves health, but it does offer a useful reason to pay attention to the environments we live in.
Start with the place that annoys you most often.
2. Create a Home for Everything You Keep
Decluttering becomes much easier when the things we keep have a proper place. With kids, I often find toys, books, and little things left in different corners of the house.
Instead of putting everything away myself, I usually ask them to return things to where they belong. It took some time for them to get used to it, but now cleaning up feels much easier for all of us.
3. Follow the One-In, One-Out Rule
Before bringing something new into your home, ask whether something similar can leave.
Buying a new shirt? Look at the clothes you already own.
Getting a new kitchen gadget? Check whether another appliance already does the same job.
This is not about refusing every purchase. It is about preventing possessions from quietly multiplying.
The EPA’s guidance on reducing, reusing, repairing, and recycling household items puts “refuse” and “reduce” before recycling, emphasizing that preventing waste in the first place can be more effective than dealing with it afterward.
That principle works surprisingly well at home too: buy less before figuring out how to organize more. I have made it a habit to pause before buying anything and ask myself whether I really need it or am simply tempted by the purchase.
4. Stop Buying Things Just Because They Are Cheap
A low price can make something feel harmless and tempting to buy .
But a cheap item still takes up space, needs to be stored, may eventually need cleaning, and can create another decision when you realize you rarely use it.
Instead of asking only, “Can I afford this?”, try asking:
“Would I still want this if it were full price?”
Another useful question is whether you can imagine using the item regularly six months from now.
Simple living becomes easier when you buy according to usefulness rather than impulse.
5. Simplify Your Wardrobe
You do not need a tiny capsule wardrobe to benefit from owning fewer clothes.
Start by identifying the clothes you actually reach for. These are usually your most comfortable, practical, and reliable pieces.
Put aside anything that no longer fits, feels uncomfortable, needs constant adjustment, or is only being kept because you feel guilty getting rid of it.
The aim is not to own a specific number of items. It is to make getting dressed easier.
A smaller collection of clothes you genuinely like can remove a surprising amount of daily decision-making.
6. Make a Few Default Meals
Food creates dozens of decisions throughout the week.
What should I make? Do I have the ingredients? Should I order something? What should I pack for lunch?
One simple solution is to create a handful of default meals. I usually keep a few simple meals in rotation, especially on busy days. For breakfast, I might make something quick like eggs and toast, and for lunch or dinner, I stick to a few meals that I know my family will eat without much fuss.
You might have three easy breakfasts, four reliable lunches, and five dinners you can prepare without much thought. This does not mean eating the same thing forever. It simply gives you a dependable starting point when you are busy and don’t want to spend extra time deciding what to cook.
A simple meal rotation can also make grocery shopping easier because you begin buying ingredients with a purpose instead of filling the cart with random possibilities.
7. Reduce the Number of Notifications You Receive
Your phone can make your day feel busy even when you are not doing anything particularly important. This can easily become part of phone addiction, where checking your screen becomes a habit without you even realizing it.
Every notification gives you another reason to pick up your phone, even when it is not something you need to check right away. I started turning off notifications that were not useful and kept only the ones I actually needed, such as calls, messages, and banking alerts. It made my phone feel much quieter, and I stopped checking it so often just because a notification appeared.
Research discussed by the American Psychological Association’s overview of multitasking and task-switching costs shows that switching between tasks carries a cognitive cost and can reduce efficiency.
You do not need perfect concentration all day. Simply creating fewer interruptions can make your attention feel less scattered.
8. Stop Checking Your Phone Every Few Minutes
Notifications are only part of the problem. For me, the bigger issue was picking up my phone again and again without having any real reason to check it.
I started keeping my phone away from me while working and stopped carrying it from one room to another at home. I also made a simple rule for myself: instead of checking messages or social media whenever I felt bored, I would check them at specific times. It was difficult in the beginning, but after a while I noticed that I was reaching for my phone much less often.
During work or anything that needs my full attention, I now try to keep my phone out of immediate reach. That small change has helped me stay focused instead of constantly thinking, “I’ll just check it for a minute.”
The APA’s research summary on multitasking and switching costs explains why repeated switching can add up over time.
9. Keep Your To-Do List Short
A giant task list can create the illusion that everything is equally urgent.
It is not.
Try choosing the three things that genuinely need your attention today. Everything else can stay on a separate list.
For example:
- Finish the report.
- Buy groceries.
- Call the electrician.
That is easier to act on than a list containing twenty-five unrelated tasks.
A short list also gives you a clear definition of what “done” means for the day.
10. Give Your Calendar Some Empty Space
Many people fill every available space in their schedule and then wonder why they feel exhausted.
I used to do the same, always trying to finish one more task instead of leaving some time for myself. Once I started keeping a little empty time in my day, I noticed that doing nothing for a while actually helped my mind feel calmer. Sometimes I would simply sit with a cup of tea, take a short break, or just do nothing without feeling like I needed to be productive.
An empty hour is not wasted time. It can absorb delays, errands, unexpected work, rest, or simply give you a chance to breathe. Try protecting at least one period during the week with no planned productivity attached to it. Simple living needs some breathing room, and without it, even a small unexpected problem can make the whole day feel chaotic.
11. Learn to Say “No” Without a Long Explanation
Every commitment you accept becomes something you need to remember, prepare for, or show up for.
That does not mean you should avoid helping people. It means your time deserves the same consideration as your money and possessions.
A simple response can be enough:
“Thank you for asking, but I won’t be able to take this on.”
You do not always need a complicated excuse.
“Saying no to what drains you gives you more time for what matters.”
The less you commit to things that do not fit your priorities, the more energy you have for the commitments you actually value.
12. Create a Simple Morning Routine
A complicated morning can make the entire day start with unnecessary decisions. What should I wear? What should I eat? What do I need to finish before leaving? Making too many small choices can become mentally tiring. Research discussed by the American Psychological Association on decision-making and mental fatigue found that making a large number of choices can leave people more fatigued and less productive.
I prefer to keep my mornings simple and predictable. I usually prepare what I can the night before, keep breakfast simple, and try to follow roughly the same routine each morning. My routine is not strict, but having fewer things to decide makes the morning feel less rushed.
You might prepare your clothes the night before, keep breakfast ingredients together, or leave your work bag by the door. These small preparations can turn a stressful morning into a routine you already know, leaving less mental energy to spend on decisions that do not really need much thought.
13. Build a Calmer Evening Routine
The same principle works at night.
Give yourself a basic sequence that helps signal that the active part of your day is ending.
Clean the kitchen, prepare for tomorrow, put away obvious clutter, dim the lights, and step away from work.
The CDC recommends habits such as keeping consistent sleep and wake times and creating a relaxing bedtime routine as part of better sleep practices.
You do not need an elaborate nighttime ritual. Ten or fifteen predictable minutes can be enough to make tomorrow easier.
14. Cancel Unused Subscriptions
Take a look at your bank and card statements and see how many subscriptions are quietly taking money from you each month. I realized I was paying for a few services that we hardly used, especially some that I had originally signed up for because they seemed useful at the time. The amount for each one was small, but together they were an unnecessary expense.
I started cancelling anything we were not using regularly. With the kids, I also noticed that we did not really need so many entertainment subscriptions. Instead of automatically putting on another show, we started spending more time outside, going for walks, playing, or simply finding something to do away from screens. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidance on healthy digital habits for families recommends creating screen-free times and planning regular screen-free activities that families enjoy.
The Federal Trade Commission’s guidance on auto-renewing subscriptions also recommends monitoring your bank and card statements so you can spot recurring charges and cancel services you no longer want. After going through my subscriptions, I found that cancelling the ones we rarely used helped my pocket and also made me more conscious about which services were actually worth paying for.
15. Reduce Your Digital Clutter
Your physical home is not the only place that can become crowded.
Look at your computer desktop, downloads folder, email inbox, screenshots, saved posts, browser bookmarks, and photo library.
You do not need to organize thousands of files perfectly.
Start by deleting obvious duplicates and things you clearly no longer need. Create a few broad folders rather than building a complicated filing system.
The best digital organization system is usually the one you will actually maintain.
16. Unfollow Accounts That Make You Feel Distracted
Your social media feed is part of your environment too.
For a while, I noticed that scrolling through social media was distracting me more than I realized. I would see people sharing expensive holidays, beautifully decorated homes, new clothes, and a lifestyle that always seemed a little better than mine. Even when I knew I was only seeing a small part of their lives, I still found myself comparing and thinking about things I did not actually need.
I started unfollowing accounts that made me feel distracted or encouraged me to compare my life with someone else’s. I replaced them with accounts that were useful, creative, or genuinely enjoyable. I also stopped scrolling whenever I had a few free minutes and became more selective about what I allowed into my feed.
It took some time, but reducing that constant stream of comparison made it easier for me to focus on my own life instead of thinking about what everyone else was buying, doing, or achieving. You are not required to consume everything an algorithm puts in front of you.
17. Keep Frequently Used Items Easy to Reach
Pay attention to the things you use every day.
If you use a water bottle constantly, keep it somewhere convenient. If a particular kitchen tool gets used daily, do not bury it behind rarely used equipment.
Storage should support your life instead of forcing you to work around it.
A useful rule is:
The more often you use something, the easier it should be to access.
This also reduces the temptation to leave frequently used items lying around because putting them away is inconvenient.
18. Repair Before Replacing
When something breaks, the automatic reaction is often to buy a new one.
I used to do that too. If something stopped working properly, my first thought was usually that it was time to replace it. But I started changing that habit by checking whether it could be repaired first. Once, one of my children’s clothes had a loose button and I was ready to put it aside, but I simply fixed it instead. It only took a few minutes, and there was no reason to buy something new.
The EPA encourages people to consider repairing and reusing items before throwing them away. Repairing everything is not practical, and sometimes replacement makes more sense. For me, the important part is simply pausing before turning every small problem into another purchase.
19. Create a “Not Now” List
This is one of the simplest tricks for handling ideas without acting on all of them immediately.
Whenever you think:
“I should start this.”
“I should buy this.”
“I should learn this.”
“I should reorganize that.”
Write it down.
Do not automatically do it.
Review the list later. Some ideas will still matter. Others will lose their appeal completely.
This separates having an idea from having an obligation.
That distinction can make your life feel much lighter.
20. Decide What “Enough” Means for You
This may be the most important step.
Without a personal definition of enough, simplification has no natural stopping point.
There is always another room to organize, another product to buy, another skill to learn, another project to start, and another improvement to make.
Ask yourself what enough looks like in practical terms.
Enough clothes.
Enough commitments.
Enough work.
Enough possessions.
Enough screen time.
Enough spending.
Your answer does not need to match anyone else’s version of a simple life.
How to Start Simple Living Without Overwhelming Yourself
You do not need to complete all 20 ideas this weekend.
That can turn simple living into another project on your already crowded to-do list.
Instead, choose three areas that currently create the most friction.
For example, you might start with:
- One drawer or cupboard to declutter.
- Ten unnecessary phone notifications to remove.
- Three recurring subscriptions to review.
Then live with those changes for a week.
Notice what becomes easier.
Maybe you stop losing your keys. Maybe your phone feels quieter. Maybe you discover that you were paying for services you barely used.
Those small observations tell you where the next useful change is.
Simple Living Is More About Removing Than Adding
There is a strange trap in the simplicity movement: buying products to become simpler.
You can end up purchasing organizers, planners, storage boxes, minimalist furniture, apps, journals, courses, and gadgets in an attempt to create a simpler life.
Sometimes those things help. But they can also become another layer of consumption.
Before adding a solution, ask whether the problem can be solved by removing something instead.
Remove the extra commitment.
Remove the unused subscription.
Remove the duplicate item.
Remove the notification.
Remove the unnecessary step.
Remove the expectation.
Often, the simplest solution is not another system. It is less to manage.
Simple Living: Your Takeaway
A simpler life is not necessarily a smaller life.
It can be a life with more space between appointments, more attention during conversations, fewer things competing for your attention, and fewer possessions demanding maintenance.
You do not have to become perfectly organized or perfectly minimalist.
Start with what repeatedly causes friction.
Clear one small space. Turn off unnecessary alerts. Reduce your commitments. Review your subscriptions. Create a few dependable routines. Decide what is enough.
Then pay attention to how those changes affect your ordinary Tuesday—not how impressive they look on paper.
That is where simple living becomes practical.
The goal is not to remove everything.
The goal is to remove enough unnecessary complexity that you have more time, attention, and energy for the life you actually want to live.
References & Sources
- No place like home: Home tours correlate with daily patterns of mood and cortisol — Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2009.
- Multitasking: Switching costs — American Psychological Association.
- About Sleep — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Getting In and Out of Free Trials, Auto-Renewals, and Negative Option Subscriptions — Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice.
- What You Can Do About Climate Change — Waste: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
