The Three Reasons To Simplify Your Life
Simplifying your life has a huge range of benefits that can carry over to your finances and relationships. The reasons will be different for everyone, but they’ll be equally important. When you know why you’re pursuing a more simple life, you’ve got all the motivation you need within your hands. So this week, I want to hear your top three reasons to simplify your life.
For me, they’d be:
1. More freedom. I want the ability to make both small and large decisions based on what’s best for my family and I. I don’t want to be held back because I have too much stuff to take care of. I want to be able to turn my life upside on a whim, and having a lot of stuff to maintain and pay for doesn’t go with that wish.
2. Time to focus on people instead of things. Hmm… I could spend my evening washing and detailing the car, cleaning the second guest bathroom (or working a bit more to afford someone who can do this for me), trying to squeeze in a working dinner and a community meeting, and… Oh, I give up. I just want to curl up with my husband and dog. Maybe I just want to sit in a quiet room and stare at the walls for a while as I daydream. I need my time to be mine to give away freely, not to bargain for.
3. I want to focus on accomplishments, not possessions. Any time spend worrying about keeping up with the Joneses is time I don’t spend working on a worthwhile goal. Stepping off the hedonic treadmill frees up a lot of bandwidth for things that in the end will make me much happier.
Please head into the comments and share the top three reasons why you want to simplify your life.
photo credit: przemko.stachowski(busy)
This post has 26 comments
September 10th, 2008
Hi Sara! I see one benefit to my now being an early riser is that I get to comment first
Only in hindsight can I now say that the top 3 benefits to simplicity for me are
1. having space to breathe and enjoy life because I am free of “stuff” cluttering my vision and time.
2. having money for the future and hopes and dreams for tomorrow
3. a blossoming creativity. This should be number one but i am too lazy to go back and switch my numbers. I love that simplicity has led me to learn to make things, grow things and do more with my hands. I love when I can make something with what I already have instead of buying something new from a big store.
Have a happy day!
September 10th, 2008
Only three? Okay….
1. More time to spend with my husband and son because I’m not always trying to deal with all the ’stuff’.
2. Making my house easier to clean and maintain.
3. More time to spend on fun projects like photography or crocheting.
September 10th, 2008
I simplify:
1. So I can really focus on the things I have and appreciate that which means the most to me. With too much clutter, the “good stuff” gets buried.
2. For time. By simplifying, I think I have more time - quality time - when it’s not spent on stuff that is of little value to me.
3. For peace. Life seems a lot more calming, when I’m surrounded by that which matters, not by loads of things that clutter and take up space. And that’s both physical space and mental space. It’s easier to do the physical, since I can see it. The mental aspect take more work, but is so well worth it.
September 10th, 2008
Simplicity for me:
1. Cleared space - physically and mentally. I feel fresh and clean without clutter and keeps me open and available to let “more” in.
2. Time to focus on what truly matters. Without “stuff” I can really concentrate on spending my time on things I care about and with people who mean a lot to me.
3. Peace. After a I clean up the house, or even meditate, both practices that help remind me of simplicity, I feel so at peace, it’s like nothing can bother me.
September 10th, 2008
1. To have more time to pursue what I would really like to be doing.
2. To clear my mind.
3. To stop this feeling of being overwhelmed by life. Seriously…I feel like it will just not stop!
September 10th, 2008
1. More time to do the things I enjoy. Family, dogs, bike riding, reading.
2. Less clutter and fewer unwanted obligations makes life more relaxing.
3. Not feeling guilty for not using the extra stuff.
September 10th, 2008
1> downsizing my standard of living gives me more time and money to share with those I love
2> stepping aside from “running” the community and letting others step in allows me to add more value to my activities
3> simplicity equals that “aaahh” feeling. and there’s nothing like it!
September 10th, 2008
Hi Sara,
I love these “three things” posts of yours.
My three reasons to simplify are:
1) To achieve that sense of “lightness” (clutter and stuff weighs me down)
2) To enhance my creativity (having too much stuff around stunts creativity for me)
3) To have more time to spend with loved ones
September 10th, 2008
1. focus on what is important: family, dissertation, favorite activities.
that cognitive dissonance can be avoided entirely and i can end up doing what i ultimately feel is the right thing. does that make sense? need a therapist much?
2. make things easy! less messes to clean, less bills to pay, less objects of value to worry about. now that’s worth something to me!
3. making choices i feel good about. that means: the satisfaction of buying some new thing that i don’t need or really even want is really momentary and quickly overtaken by feelings of guilt. with a little forethought and discipline, couched in the simpler guise of simplicity as an overall goal,
September 10th, 2008
Hi Sara,
1) Clutter confuses me and diminishes my creativity. More simplicity=more creativity
2) More simplicity= more time to play and have fun with family and friends
3)Simplicity brings me peace and joy. The more things rattling around in my life and my brain, the more anxiety I have.
September 10th, 2008
I want more time to relations instead of claning and stuff
I want to experience new things like festivals in selfhelp and so on
I want to spend my time as I want
September 10th, 2008
I don’t really have anything to add - you really captured it. I think that most of all, it’d freedom. Freedom to me is not just freedom from clutter and from unnecessary stuff. It also freedom from toxic friendships.
September 10th, 2008
1. So I can find the other things I REALLY DO need.
2. To save on the costs of upkeep and maintenance for so much stuff.
3. Each day has enough trouble on it’s own. Why complicate things further?!
September 10th, 2008
Thanks for all the responses so far! I’m playing with moving Friday’s “Three Things” posts to Wednesday for a good high point in the week. If you’ve got an opinion on what you prefer, feel free to let me know either in the comments or via email; I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Emily: Creativity! That’s a great one, and it looks like a few other folks agree with you. It didn’t immediately cross my mind as I was thinking of my three, but I know exactly what you mean.
Mary: Less time on housework is a huge benefit! I don’t know how people with a lot of decorative items do it.
Lance: I love your idea of mental space. It’s amazing how physical stuff manages to take up mental real estate. Fantastic point!
Stacey: Another vote for mental space! Cleaning works the same for me; it’s not exactly fun, but it makes me fall in love with simplicity all over again.
Katie: I always look forward to reading what you have to say! The feeling of overwhelm is such a killer; I hope you’re managing to carve out some peaceful time and space for yourself.
David: Ooh, not feeling guilty–that’s a great reason. Those little guilty feelings can creep in from so many areas of life and take the focus off what we do have. Great list!
Barbara: I’m so glad you enjoy these! I enjoy them as well, and they always give me wonderful ideas. I’d agree (along with Emily above) that empty spaces require and inspire creativity.
NeimanMarxist: I like that you singled out the satisfaction of being simple as its own reward. With that motivation, I don’t think you’ll run of out simple steam any time soon!
Spiritlight: Spending our time as we want is such a luxury, and it’s also a major inspiration for me.
Vered: Thanks so much! And heck yes about toxic friendships. For me, I could live in a fantastic minimalist home with simplified everything and still manage to feel cramped and cluttered around toxic people.
Ron: Saving money is a great reason, and as you totally know, combining simplicity and frugality gives you the freedom you need for so many other things. “Each day has enough trouble on its own.” That is so true!
September 10th, 2008
I simplify wherever I can because:
I want to enjoy life now in these very moments - with the kids at this perfect age - and being happy together just as we are. (I believe firmly in the saying, ‘life is what happens while you’re busy making plans…’)
I want to be able to relax more.
I feel better when everything is simplified…less drama, less clutter, less financial worries.
September 10th, 2008
Thought provoking. I’ll need to give my answer some thought.
September 11th, 2008
Apologies for not making it sooner, Sara - my pc is faulty.
I’d definitely agree that achieving focus in different areas is my main reason for wanting to simplify my life.
In many ways, life today is just too busy and it’s easy to overlook the small things… and these can be the things which are most important.
If I can work towards getting rid of unnecessary clutter wherever I find it, I hope to capture more of the stuff that actually matters.
September 11th, 2008
I like the idea of simplifying for freedom. I usually do not like having too much stuff and make it a point to regularly do some housekeeping. Simplifying also means having the time to do what I really want and to focus on what is important to me.
September 11th, 2008
I am working towards less time spent cleaning (by clearing surfaces and floors), less time spent on mowing the lawn (by xeriscaping), and as a result more time spent reading! So many books, so little time!
September 11th, 2008
1. For me, simplifying means getting rid of clutter: dinnerware I will never use again and haven’t used for a long time because it’s ugly, books I will never read or even look at again (like my old Windows ’95 book), instead of leaving candles all over the place, put them away when I’m not using them and so on. When my house is a mess or just cluttered, it feels like my life is turned upside down. I can’t focus, I can’t concentrate, I can hardly sleep and I can’t get done what needs to be done. Without clutter, I can make plans, pay bills, relax with my partner, and work on my business.
2. It makes cleaning so much easier and faster. I can concentrate on cleaning the floors, or scrubbing the tub, gardening, hanging clothes on the line, etc and not spend half my life putting things away. It frees up our weekends.
3. I admit I like “things”, but the less I have, the more I can appreciate and use what I DO have. I’m more careful with what I buy and ask myself, “will enjoy/use it in 1, 2, 5 years from now?”
September 11th, 2008
Wendy: Life is definitely what happens we’re making plans/striving for goals/waiting for the “good stuff” to start. I couldn’t agree more.
Jackal: Thanks for taking a moment to ponder!
Scott: You don’t ever have to apologize before a comment; your comments are privilege, not an expectation. And I like the idea of “capturing” stuff that really matters, since it puts the onus on us to go out and get it instead of waiting for happiness to find us.
Evelyn: The time factor is such a big one for me also. Life is complicated enough, right?
Alexandsam: What a wonderful way to think about chores! You can really can design your life around your values, and your xeriscaping is a great example of that.
Carla: Your #1 sounds very much like me. I’ve found that the more I learn to value simplicity, the more noise and clutter bothers me. Thanks for sharing!
September 12th, 2008
We have moved thrice in the last 4 years, one of the move being half way across the world (USA to India). Every move has helped declutter. I am so amazed at our ability to collect ’stuff’. One of the dilemmas always is- “What if I need this later on?” Would it be environmentally better to hang on it or to give it to someone who could probably use the things now and then buy again if need be? Haven’t figured out this one completely yet but simplicity and not having the pressure to keep up with the neighbors truly creates more time in life!
September 12th, 2008
I don’t think being a “collector” is always about “keeping up with the Joneses”. Some people are just naturally collectors. My mother is that way. If she finds a good deal on something, she has to have it. She doesn’t spend a lot of money but she ends up collecting a lot.
I used to have an issue of throwing things away regardless if it worked or not, if I can still wear it or even liked it, and it had nothing to do with my neighbors. I don’t even know what they have or who they are most of the time! It was just a pattern from my upbringing that I had to break.
September 14th, 2008
Anu: I also struggle to find the right balance between conserving and purging. “Not having the pressure to keep up with the neighbors truly creates more time in life!” That really sums it up well. Thanks!
Carla: That’s a really good point. Many times it’s not about keeping up with anybody; it’s a battle we fight (or a scale we balance) with ourselves. And there’s no right or wrong answers, just what works for each person.
October 29th, 2008
I know, I’m rather late at this but I love your blog so much I just had to catch up on the archives.
Hmm, I’m still pretty new to the simplicity thing (at least focusing on it) so these may change but here’s what I’ve got.
1) Freedom: For me this means freedom from all those things I thought I needed to be/have. As a child/teen I ached for people to be happy with me and the harder I tried to make them like me, the more depressed and inadiquate I felt. Then I turned to trying to at least fit in with everyone else (family living just above poverty level, going to a private university on grants and loans), this led to one of the things I regret the most, playing with credit cards. I want a simple life so that I do what I want with my time and resources because I WANT to, not because I think someone else wants me to.
2) Personal health: I stress easily, I’m still learning how to deal with it all. By simplifying my time and possessions I’m taking care of myself (still a new concept) which gives me the energy to take care of those I love.
3) Relationships: Who has time to just cuddle on the couch and listen to the rain fall when they’re so interested in having the perfect house/car/career/etc, etc, etc? I have been very blessed with my husband and am building friendships, and I do not want my energy and attention going more to inanimate things then those with hearts and souls.
October 29th, 2008
V: No need to apologize: I love it! Your reasons really speak to the way that simplifying can improve your general quality of life. The example of listening to the rain really resonates with me; ignoring the rain to focus on something totally unimportant sounds like something I would do!
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