5 Ways to Make Your Life More Simple and Easier (With Examples)

Do you find yourself saying that life feels complicated? We’ve all been there. But the truth is it doesn’t have to be this way.

When you make an active decision to simplify your life, you tune into your purpose and find deeper fulfillment. By eliminating complexity, you clear your headspace up to focus on what really matters in life.

This article will teach you how to make your life feel simple so you can make room for joy and excitement again.

Is life supposed to be complicated?

With the pace of the world we live in, it’s easy to get wrapped up in chaos and feel like there’s never enough time to live.

And when you do have a free moment to think, you might find yourself reflecting on if you’re even living your true purpose.

But is this really the way we are intended to live? You probably already know the answer to this question.

Research indicates that job burnout is surging internationally and stress levels are adding to increased levels of disease in our bodies.

So what’s the antidote to our complicated and busy lives? It seems to me that the answer lies in learning to simplify your life.

Benefits of simplicity

Simplifying your life sounds great in theory. But is simplifying your life really going to do anything for you? I’m going to let the research answer this question.

Research shows that pursuing a more minimalist life in all senses of the word can have profound impacts on your psychological well-being as well as your business and environmental stewardship.

Another study found that individuals who pursued simpler lifestyles experienced greater relationship satisfaction and reported improved mental health.

All this to say that simplifying your life is more than just a nicety. It has tangible effects on your well-being and it’s actually very important.

5 ways to make life simple

Let’s dive into how you can start today to eliminate unnecessary complexity in your life and make space for you to feel alive again.

1. Say no

If you find that your life is stuffed to the brim with activities and obligations to where you feel like you can’t breathe, you must learn this one word. The magic word is no.

By learning to say no, you’re learning to say yes to yourself and simplicity.

You don’t need to have your engine revving at full speed all the time. This is a recipe for dissatisfaction and burnout.

Trust me, I spent the first few years of my career volunteering for every extra task at work and lending my services pro bono to various organizations. While it definitely gave me experience, it led to what I would call a mental breakdown in the second year of my professional career.

I almost gave up healthcare altogether because I felt like the career was too much. But it wasn’t the career that was the problem. It was me saying yes to everything.

Say no to all the extra unnecessary obligations. Say yes to what really matters to you. It will keep your life simple.

2. Physically clear your space

I’m sure you’ve heard this before. But tell me this, how do you feel when you walk into a messy space?

If you’re like me, it automatically raises your stress levels. Whereas when I walk into a clean and organized space, I feel like I can think clearly.

Take the time to declutter and organize your physical items to help promote mental clarity.

This one is particularly important for me with my writing space. I find that if I’m in a cluttered environment, I feel mentally blocked and irritated.

Having a minimalistic desk space has helped me feel like there’s room for new and fresh ideas to flow in.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed in a certain space in your home, clear that one first. Work your way through each room and notice how clearing your physical space makes life that much easier.

Need more tips? Here’s our article on how to organize your life better.

3. Eliminate energy-draining relationships

This tip can be quite challenging, but it may be the key to a simpler life. It’s never fun to tell someone that the relationship you have with them is not healthy for you.

But by engaging in energy-draining relationships, you’re making your life complicated. You’re choosing to cultivate a relationship that’s clouding your mental space and stealing your joy.

Now I’m not telling you to just cut everyone who bothers you out of your life. But I am telling you to take a deep and hard look at relationships that may not be serving either party’s needs anymore.

I remember I had a friendship in undergrad that really used to stress me out. This friend would always get upset with me over the smallest of interactions.

It led to me feeling like I was walking on eggshells around her and it only added to my anxiety.

After a chat with my other dear friend, it became apparent that engaging in this relationship wasn’t good for either of us. So I respectfully cut ties with this person and after that, I felt physically lighter.

You get to choose to who you give your time and energy. Choose wisely. Keep life simple by giving it to people who love and respect you.

4. Try to be more grateful

This tip is for when you’re stuck thinking that life is too complicated. If you’re like me, this makes you jump on the complaint train.

But when you’re focusing on the negative in life, you’re framing things in a way that complicates it.

If you stop and choose to focus on three simple things you’re grateful for, you will probably realize that your life really isn’t that complicated.

Choosing to focus on all that you have helps you realize that the meaning of life is never found in your problems.

So next time you find yourself overwhelmed and thinking life is working against you, stop and get grateful. It only takes a few moments of gratitude to realize just how simple life can be if you let it.

It will help you reframe your negative thoughts to embrace the positivity that you’ve already got going on in your life.

5. Spend time away from social media

In today’s society, this is probably one of the most difficult tips to implement. But I can almost guarantee that stepping away from society’s chaos will help you simplify your life.

Any time I find myself getting caught up in the rat race, I make it a point to take a break from social media and the news.

When I do this, I feel like I’m able to connect with myself again and remember what it is I really want out of life. Because social media has this way of trying to tell us what it is we need or should want out of life.

But the problem is so often these things that social media tells us will make us happy won’t give us sustainable joy. They’ll give us a temporary dopamine buzz.

Being away from your phone or the computer helps you reconnect with your inner voice to hear what matters to you.

You may just find out that after enough times taking a break, your life is simpler without social media altogether. You don’t have to go that extreme, but don’t be surprised if you find more peace without it.

💡 By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here. 👇

Wrapping up

It can feel impossible to find simplicity in a world that seems to be full of complexity. But life doesn’t have to be complicated. By using the tips from this article, you can cultivate a sense of simplicity in all aspects of your life and find inner clarity. And when you embrace simplicity, you may just find that life becomes easy and abundance finds you.

What is your favorite tip to simplify your life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!