A Simple, Simple Living Guide: 10 Ways to Simplify your Life

Is your life getting busier and busier? Do you need a simple living guide?

We tend to live in a hectic and overly busy society. In just 24 hours we are expected to work eight or more hours, commute to and from our workplace, exercise for at least 20 minutes (if not an hour), eat three balanced meals, take our daily vitamins, shuffle our children to various extra-curricular activities, walk our dogs, and, if we are on the spiritual path, meditate for 10 to 20 minutes, plus get a good night’s sleep!

Oh, and we can’t forget those weekly (or more) to do’s that are sprinkled in; keep the house straightened, give it a deep cleaning once a week, grocery shop, take that evening business or self-improvement class, tend to the garden, wash the car, the laundry and the kids, scoop pet poop, and go to church.

Wait, there’s more! Dentist appointments, car tune-ups and maintenance, community volunteering, haircuts, the kids’ games or meets, class parent meetings, regular veterinarian visits, monthly book club, and those well anticipated family vacations and three-day weekends that we call “getaways.” 
Interesting word – getaway:

1. an act or instance of getting away, as escape
2. a place suitable for a vacation
3. a vacation especially of brief duration

These are not exhausted lists of daily, weekly and other necessary activities, of course, but it’s likely that your name is on that long list of exhausted folks trying to keep up. No wonder we need to get away!

We have created a society that keeps us so busy we have mastered the art of multi-tasking. (How many things are you doing right now?) We have DayTimers, Palm Pilots, iPhones and access to a multitude of online calendars to keep us organized enough to do it all. Our schedules are so jam-packed there’s hardly any breathing room.

We are multifaceted beings living in a demanding society, yet our souls are yearning for simplicity.

How does one find simplicity in such complexity?

Here are ten guidelines for creating a more simplistic life - though adhering to them may be difficult for some people.  Consider it a simple, simple living guide for beginners:

1. Set your intention to create simplicity. Be willing to release your hold on doing everything. Trust that your life won’t fall through the cracks. Remind yourself of this intention, whenever necessary.
2. Turn off – or get rid of – the TV. Our media emphasizes a harried lifestyle and sets high expectations on us about how we should live, look, and be. Television also consumes a hefty amount of our time with shows we don’t even like!
3. Turn off your phone’s ringer. Cell phones – and most home phones – collect the caller’s ID. Let your voice mail or answering machine take the message and call back when it’s convenient for you. (Do you dare give up that cell phone?!)
4. Only do the things that resonate with your body and soul. Stop volunteering for “shoulds,” or doing things you absolutely hate. Hire, or delegate, the work out. Learn to say, “No.”
5. Slow down. Wake, eat, dress, drive, and move through life a little slower. Take the scenic route home, eat your meals sitting at your table, and allow yourself to do one task at a time.
6. Bring yoga and/or meditation into your life. Though certainly not panaceas, these practices are designed to slow us down and bring our body, mind and heart into balance.
7. Take nature walks. Whether you stroll through a nearby park, or take a hike down a rugged path in the wilderness, nature walks not only require us to move at a human pace (as opposed to the speed of light), they also connect us to the simplistic qualities of the natural world.
8. Create a balanced calendar. Use different colored pens to schedule the types of activities you plan. This allows you to have a quick visual review of how much time you dedicate to your Work, Play, Home Life, Spirituality, Physical Well-Being, and other activities.
9. Stop chasing money. When the economy is challenged, it can be hard not to panic, desire to work more, scheme up ways to make more money, and so on. A simpler solution is to release what you don’t really need. Perhaps the Universe is scheming to make you simplify.
10. Take leisurely getaways. Create frequent, yet simple outings for yourself and/or your family. Indulge in a spa weekend, go on a silent retreat, snow-shoe through the woods or picnic on the beach. Don’t try to do and see everything on just one trip.

Obviously this isn’t a complete simple living guide. Rather it is a list of suggestions for ways to simplify a busy lifestyle. The last thing any busy person needs is another to do on the list. Ideally, implementing just a few of these "10 ways" will help you reduce the size of that list and bring more simplicity to your life.

Your mind, body, heart and soul will thank you for the breathing room.

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