Four Effective Ways to Simplify Your Life

When I was first widowed, friends offered to move me closer to my daughter and her family on the east coast. The catch: Everything needed to fit into their 10-foot cargo trailer. I pared down further … and it all fit, much like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle.

The plan was for my belongings to remain in my friends’ trailer parked on their property until autumn when the leaves in New England would begin showing off. And then we would drive east.

But plans changed, and the miracle of an affordable, furnished guesthouse presented itself in Bend. These friends kept my earthly possessions in their cargo trailer, and I managed to survive for six years without all that stuff.

Just before Dan and I were to be married, my friends backed their cargo trailer up to Dan’s shop. He seemed pretty excited that I didn’t have a full house of furnishings. But after emptying the cargo trailer, Dan stood scratching his head. “How did you get that much stuff in this trailer?”

From my experience, simplifying and paring down offer an extravagant sense of freedom. With that in mind, here are 4 effective ways to simplify your life:

1. Fall in love with less.

I cleared out my first husband’s side of the closet shortly after his Celebration of Life service. Not because I was eager to get rid of his things, but because there were men at Shepherd’s House who could use winter coats, hiking boots, and warm plaid shirts.

I kept my grandmother’s Singer treadle sewing machine, not because I’ll ever use it, but because it’s in beautiful condition and my grandmother once sewed on it.

This thought from William Morris:

 “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

Speaking from experience, living with less is rather liberating. Because when we have too much stuff, we need to maintain it, and build fences around it, and pay excessive storage fees for it, and we can’t park our vehicles in our garages because of it.

2. Simplify your schedule.

My daughter, crazy mom to six kids, er … I mean, mom to six crazy kids, liked to keep the summer schedule simple when her kiddos were younger. She planted herself daily at the backyard picnic table with reading materials — available as question-answerer, comforter to tearful children, and overall referee. And most of their meals were served at that same outdoor table.

Instead of chasing all over town with kids in multiple sports and activities and saying Yes to every invitation that comes your way because you don’t want to disappoint anyone, why not schedule in some slowdown time for stillness and relaxation?

This thought from my daughter in the middle of that season:

“Now that summer break is in full swing, I’m learning to breathe, to enjoy the little moments, to stay positive, and to be grateful … even in the mundane.”

3. Get outdoors.

 You may wonder what in the world getting outdoors has to do with simplifying one’s life. But work with me here:

If we cut unnecessary busy-ness from our schedules, that affords us time to get outdoors. And the outdoorness—climbing tall trails, cycling, or simply sitting on a park bench with a book—goes far in alleviating stress.

And less stress is an important part of a simpler life. You see my logic, right?

4. Prioritize.

This wisdom from Lynn G. Robbins:

“Simplifying our lives increases the probability of achieving the most important things in life—the best things.”

What do those best things look like?

I think they look like the true give-and-take of relationships, the ability to see through different lenses how wealthy we are, and the capacity to create a safe and nurturing space for the people we love.

In her book, Growing Slow, Jennifer Dukes Lee wrote:

“In the scramble to grow a purposeful life, we accidentally forfeit too much: a settled-ness with what we already have, a sense of peace with what already is, and a connectedness with the people right here with us. You can get so rushed chasing a certain kind of remarkable life that you miss the fact that you’re already inside the one God gave you.”

Jesus spoke these words in the middle of his Sermon on the Mount. They weren’t spoken to twenty-first century Americans about decluttering and simplifying our lives. But listen to the concept:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21, ESV

 Christ’s teaching was about priorities, because he knew that our hearts would follow our treasures. Which should dictate how we spend our time and our dollars, and what we do with the stuff we’ve already accumulated.

Here’s a thought: If, in the past five years, you haven’t utilized your stored away belongings, what if you gave them to someone who could put them to good use? It’s something to think about as we begin a new year.