There are many reasons to simplify your life. We live in an era of consumerism and materialism. Life has become a restless struggle. We are so busy chasing more that our lives are filled with unnecessary things, responsibilities and additional burdens. These things have clouded our lives so much that it is difficult to focus on the things that are truly important and meaningful to us. We assign meaning to insignificant things while completely missing the true aspects of life.
Life should be simpler
By living simply, you can pay much more attention to the central aspects of your life that really matter to you.
The acquisition of material things has become the religion of materialists. As a result, we are always looking to acquire more. More money, property, power. At the same time, we strive to fulfill all our desires without realizing that they are more or less insatiable.
All this persecution makes us less content with what we have and turns our attention to what we don't have. As a result, we experience dissatisfaction.
For this reason, below are some inspiring ideas to make your life easier. These tips will help you rid your life of unnecessary clutter.
About books
1. Boring books don’t need to be read to the end. They won't judge you.
2. Use this rule: subtract your age from 100 - you get the page number up to which it makes sense to read the book in order to understand whether it is worth continuing or not. If you are 35, then give the book a chance until page 65 at most. Save time.
3. Emphasizing “clever thoughts” in a book doesn’t work. The brain receives its dose of dopamine and is even more willing to forget what you emphasized. If you want to remember, rewrite the thought in a separate document, return to it three times: in a day, in a week, in a month. Better yet, tell it to another person. Read more.
4. Reread books. You will be surprised: a) how much you have forgotten or missed; b) how you yourself have changed over time.
5. If you are looking for cool non-fiction in English, check out the Edge Association website.
6. By the way, it is not necessary to read many non-fiction books - find the author’s speech on YouTube on the same topic: this way you will learn the most important things from the book in 40 minutes or less.
Where to begin? Why do this at all? What does simplification actually look like?
At its core, simplifying frees up time for the things that really matter to us, said Rachel Jonat, who writes about simplicity and minimalism on her website The Minimalist Mom. "This means redesigning how you spend your time, money, energy and even space in your home to reflect what's truly important to you."
Simplification allows room for “creativity, imagination and play,” says Landis, the life coach.
Fortunately, simplification can be small and gradual and – yes – simple. Below you will find many practical, completely doable suggestions.
Write down your reasons to simplify. Think about why you'd like to make your life simpler, said Courtney Carver, author of the blog Be More with Less and the book Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More.
About communication
7. Work on communication skills - unlike intelligence, they can be significantly strengthened through practice. Negotiations and public speaking are your chances to hone them. Remember, even the most interesting thoughts will not be heard if you do not learn to convey them.
8. Don’t remember what you need to tell at the meeting - better catch the mood, the idea with which you are going. The words will come up on their own.
9. A few minutes before the meeting, closing your eyes, focus on the sensations in your body. This practice is called noting. Mentally note everything you feel: warmth, heartbeat, “itching,” the touch of clothing. 30 seconds of this meditation will allow you to restore calm and focus.
10. Learn to say no. This will save a lot of time and nerves. Remember that every time you say yes to something, you are saying no to something else.
11. When you want to express a complaint or a negative emotion, use the “I message.” This is a great way to get the point across without slipping into conflict. Read more.
12. Don't be afraid to pause in a conversation when you don't know how to react. Be silent for a few seconds to give the other person a chance to understand what he said. It is possible that he himself will try to correct his phrase.
13. Do not immediately respond to a letter or message that has pissed you off. Write a response, but don't send it. Return to it the next morning.
Only worry when necessary
This will take some practice. If we are not aware of our thoughts, our worries can travel with us throughout the day.
There are ways to be proactive when your thoughts start to unravel, such as setting aside time to worry and worry only. By doing this practice, you will begin to understand how much time and energy is spent worrying about certain things and how repetitive some of these worries can be.
Whether it's 5 minutes or 15 minutes, spend that time solving those problems and leave them there when the time is up.
About health and activity
14. Think not about how many steps you took per day, but about spending as little time as possible in a chair or on a chair. A couple of trips to the gym a week will not compensate for a sedentary lifestyle. Members of the Hadza tribe, distinguished by good health, do not exercise, but they hardly sit in the usual sense.
15. Stand on one leg when brushing your teeth or on other appropriate occasions. This helps to train your balance, thanks to which you will avoid many injuries.
16. Try to try as many different sports as possible - this is the only way to find one that will truly bring you pleasure. And this is the key to regularity. If you don’t know where to start, pay attention to the test by sports psychologist James Gavin - he helps you choose a sport based on your personal characteristics.
17. Take a shower without soap or gel if you just want to cheer up. This will help maintain a healthy skin microbiome, which is important not only for beauty, but also for good immune function.
18. Try actively massaging your head while you wash it: touching the skin affects tactile receptors, which send a signal to the vagus nerve. Less stress hormones are produced, and more happiness hormones. Read more.
19. Spend a few hours photographing the most important medical documents and transfer the test data into one table. Save to the cloud. In an emergency, it will be easier to convey important information to doctors.
20. Take care of your health. If you lack motivation, imagine yourself in old age: do you want to play basketball with your grandchildren or be bedridden? Same thing.
21. Monitor three key health indicators: blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure.
22. Don't forget about vaccinations. Remember that the effect of those that were given to you in childhood has already worn off, so a lot of work awaits you, which you need to approach systematically: draw up a vaccination schedule with your therapist.
About other people
23. We underestimate the support that other people can provide. Do you want to get rid of a bad habit? Join a group whose members strive for the same goal. Do you want to reach your goal? Make a promise to a friend or even publicly.
24. When you don’t know how to do this or that job (from renovating an apartment to hiring an important employee), ask someone who has already been through a similar thing. People are amazingly willing to share their experiences.
25. Plan to call or write once a week to someone you haven’t talked to in a while. You will be surprised how many new ideas and opportunities this will bring into your life. Read more.
26. Do you want to make friends with someone, but don’t find a reason to start communicating? Offer him your help or even a joint project.
27. Try to be as open as possible when communicating with someone important to you: sincerity creates sympathy and strengthens the connection. This is a scientific fact.
Improve your relationship
57. Be honest with others (this will help avoid possible conflicts).
58. Treat everyone with respect, not just your loved ones or friends.
59. Treat all people equally - don’t make life difficult for yourself by singling out “best” and “worst”.
60. Trust people.
61. Take people as they are. Don't try to change them.
62. Compare yourself only with yourself in the past, with no one else.
63. Learn to say “no!”
64. Ask your friends what things or household items they need, and try to allocate something from your “arsenal”.
65. Keep phone numbers and addresses in one place.
66. Involve your whole family in this process.
67. Tell your friends what you want to achieve by following all these points.
68. Select some points from the above and offer it to your friend.
69. Make some things yourself, don't buy them.
70. Spend more time with positive people.
71. Apologize quickly.
72. Spend time alone with someone close to you.
73. Go out with your friends and their families, call them, visit them just because.
74. Make the gift you want with your own hands without buying it.
75. Say thank you or write thank you notes to your friends often.
76. Call your friend and just wish him a good day.
77. Avoid judging other people and do not engage in gossip.
78. Let family meals come first, not work.
79. Stay completely disconnected from work on the weekends.
80. Listen to others, and stop talking only about yourself.
About happiness
28. When choosing a gift for yourself or others, give preference not to things, but to impressions. They bring more happiness and their effects last much longer.
29. Talk more often to friendly strangers - sellers, couriers, fellow travelers on a plane or train. While pitch current may seem insignificant, research shows it lifts people's spirits and makes them happier.
30. Before going to bed, remember at least three good things that happened to you during the day. Relive these moments. This way you will double the effect of them and tune in to a positive mood.
31. Spend at least 120 minutes a week in nature. This is exactly what scientists recommend. It is not necessary to spend them in the mountains; a city park will do.
32. Turn any routine activity into meditation: it could be cleaning, waiting for the traffic light to turn green, or taking a shower. The main thing in such moments is to “slow down” and focus on your feelings. Read more.
33. At least sometimes dance like an idiot. We greatly underestimate this type of activity and its impact on happiness.
Set your pace
Every morning we make a conscious decision to set the pace for the day. Think back to a time when you woke up late for work and felt irritable and depressed.
Your actions and reactions play like dominoes that either raise or lower your vibration. A bad day is usually caused by one thing that influences another, and so on.
By choosing your pace intentionally, you can stop, take a step back, and reset at any time. Start your morning by being intentional about how your day will unfold.
About stress
34. Master at least one breathing exercise - it will help you out in a moment of stress or help you warm up in the cold. Finnish biohacker Ilmo Strömberg, who knows a lot about this topic, recommends resonant coherent breathing. Read more.
35. In a stressful situation, talk about yourself in the third person (not out loud). Basketball player LeBron James did this, and psychologists call it linguistic distancing, it helps to cope with emotions. Read more.
36. If trouble or even a great misfortune happens to you, imagine that you have been given a test, the purpose of which is to toughen you and make you stronger. Philosophy professor and popularizer of Stoicism William Irvine advises using this strategy very quickly, otherwise the emotional response will gain momentum and will be unstoppable. Read more.
37. To prevent burnout, balance is necessary in life. The best way to maintain it is to come up with a daily routine that suits you and strictly adhere to it, no matter what happens around you.
38. In order not to succumb to panic in a difficult situation, think through all - even the most terrible - scenarios for its development and your actions if any of them comes true. It is better to do this in writing - this way you activate the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is responsible for planning, decision-making and control of emotions.
About smartphone and social networks
39. Treat gadgets like a toothbrush that you put back after brushing your teeth. Don't twirl them in your hands all the time, waiting for a miracle. All miracles happen in life when we look not at the screen, but at the people next to us. Read more.
40. Open apps on your phone through search: moments while you type can help awaken awareness. This will reduce the risk of being stuck for half an hour, aimlessly scrolling through the feed. Read more.
41. Open browser versions of social networks on your phone. The applications themselves can be deleted.
42. On your computer, use a separate Facebook messenger site. This way you will save yourself from the temptation to read your friend’s feed.
43. Unsubscribe from news channels on telegram and social networks: you will still learn about important news. The unimportant ones (and there are 99% of them) will only distract your attention.
44. Follow trends, not news. Bad things happen in the world very quickly and just as quickly end up in news feeds. But in the long term, a lot of good things are happening: science and societies are developing, the world is becoming a better place, says the main optimist of our time, Steven Pinker. He himself gets his information from futurecrunch.com.
45. Make more active use of the Unfollow function on Facebook - if you become friends with a person, you don’t have to read all his posts. Leave in your feed only those people whom you would like to see visiting you.
About productive work
46. Divide things into “blue” and “red,” as Keri Evans, a New Zealand coach and sports psychologist, advises. The first ones are carried out according to an algorithm, for example: submit documents to the visa center. The second is emotionally difficult, for example: informing an employee about a salary reduction. Add only one “red” task to your daily plan and complete it before lunch. Read more.
47. Set a period of time during which you only work and do nothing else - for example, from 10 to 14. This is called deep work. Read more.
48. For motivation, imagine in as much detail as possible what you will get when you implement your plans. A vivid fantasy affects our psyche almost in the same way as a real experience. Research shows that visualization stimulates the brain to work towards achieving a goal.
49. If you need to work with concentration, turn on the Do not disturb while driving mode. It is on the iPhone, but not everyone knows about it.
50. Check your email and respond to emails only at certain times of the day so as not to become hostage to an endless stream of messages. If someone needs to contact you urgently, they will call you.
51. Turn off images in your browser if you want to achieve maximum concentration. Our brain processes images 15,400 times faster than text (13 milliseconds versus 200 milliseconds). Online advertising and social networks exploit this property to attract us to content that only distracts from the main thing. Try installing the Wizmage Image Hider extension for Chrome. Or enable Reading Mode for all sites in Safari.
52. Buy noise-canceling headphones. They will help you concentrate, even if you haven't turned on the music.
53. Use playlists for work: Brain Work: Classical Music for the Flow (Apple Music), mix from the entrepreneurial community Shmit-16 (Soundcloud), Pure Focus (Spotify), Deep Work from Silicon Valley entrepreneur Karl Tashyan (Apple Music) . An alternative to streaming is a channel with 4 different playlists for background music Deepwork.fm. Or - subscribe to the Endel app.
54. Use Flowstate when you need to quickly write text. In this text editor, you set a timer and write until the time runs out. And if you leave the text unfinished, it will fade and disappear.
55. Come up with something that will put you in a working mood. Especially if you work from home. For example, the founder of Ecwid Ruslan Fazlyev helps to quickly get into the mood for work with a ten-minute morning call with his team.
Time blocks
As an entrepreneur, the luxury of time can sometimes feel more like a curse than a blessing. Set yourself working hours, especially when it comes to completing individual projects.
Blocking out your schedule or setting time frames for completing certain tasks can help you stay on track without being distracted by outside distractions. It's a way of telling your brain when it's time to work and when it's time to relax, and it greatly helps simplify your daily life.
About working with information
56. In order not to lose interesting content, create several secret telegram channels that only you yourself will read. This is more convenient than Saved Messages: channels can be divided into topics and you can add links to articles, photos, thoughts - whatever you want.
57. In any unclear situation, draw a mind map. This will help you structure your knowledge about the problem, and at the same time understand what exactly you don’t know about it yet. Another non-obvious bonus: drawing helps you remember new things, so mind maps should also be used as a mnemonic device.
58. If you really need to remember something, try turning the information into a joke: vivid emotions help to more clearly fix the details in memory.
59. If you have written a long text and want to check whether it is readable and if there are any typos and errors, paste it into Google Translator and listen.
60. Use the Look up function on your iPhone: click on an unfamiliar English word, hold it down - an article from an explanatory dictionary appears.
61. If you prefer to listen rather than read, turn any text into an audio recording using the pocket application: just drop the links you like into it, and then select the appropriate voiceover inside the application.
Avoid excessive media consumption.
Limiting screen time gets you moving. It's easy to get lost in the endless world of news, inboxes and entertainment, but it's all about using your digital information effectively. Make your life easier by managing your inbox and using the two-minute rule.
For example, read your message in your inbox and ask yourself if you need to take action. If an action takes two minutes, do it now. If the action takes more than two minutes, place the message in the specified folder to return to. Simple tricks like these will prevent your inbox from becoming overcrowded.
About investments and savings
62. If you want to increase your monthly income by 50%, then it is better to find a new job or improve your skills rather than play on the stock market. Investing in stocks over the long term returns 6-7% in dollars per year at best. This is a historical fact.
63. Set a date on your calendar and transfer a certain amount to your brokerage account every month. Use this money to buy a standard set of ETFs, creating one of the “lazy” portfolios. Read more.
64. If you want to actively trade stocks and other risky instruments, allocate no more than 10% of your savings for this.
Be adaptable
Changes in schedules and even life plans can happen at any time. The best way to live a simplified life is to first learn to adapt to change and ride those waves as they come.
Being adaptable also means preparing for the unexpected. Start your rainy day fund while you're earning income and pay off that credit card sooner rather than later.
Learn more about the importance of adaptability: Adapting to Change: Why It's Important and How to Do It.
Start incorporating these 13 things into your daily routine and make them your habits. And soon you will live a more simplified life and feel happier.
About free time
65. Plan pleasures in advance: the thought that in a week you will have a meeting with friends or the premiere of a film by your favorite director will delight you even before the event itself.
66. When you make plans for a week or more, first of all include time for rest. This will increase the chances that you won't neglect it.
67. Don’t try to see “as much as possible” on your trip. Instead, choose individual points of interest, read about them in advance and hire a local guide to immerse yourself in the context. Example: not all the museums of the city - but the life and works of one local artist.
68. Try searching for the movie you plan to watch in the evening, not by genre, but by the actor or actress you like.
69. Think of the weekend as a full-fledged vacation, plan something interesting and look forward to it. This technique will allow you to rest better, but do not use it too often, otherwise there will be no effect.
70. Go to museums and exhibitions at least a couple of times a year. Scientists have found that those who do this reduce their risk of premature death.
71. If you don’t understand the theater and don’t know which performance to go to, pay attention to the winners of the Golden Mask - this is the Russian theater Oscar.
About food
72. Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Famous author Michael Pollan boiled down the rules of food to one line: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plant-based.” By “food” he means real food, not processed products.
73. Eat as little as possible of what is clearly harmful: processed meats and industrial baked goods, as well as foods whose main value is sugar, including juices.
74. Eat more fiber - it is found in whole grains (cereals), vegetables and fruits. Ideally, several dozen different types of fiber per week. This will help you take care of your gut microbiome. A lot depends on it: from immunity to mental health. Read more.
75. Use the Eat The Rainbow rule: your diet should include food of all colors, this gives the necessary variety in food. Green food - for example, from plant leaves - contains the maximum amount of fiber and vitamins per gram of weight.
76. If you have long wanted to record what and how much you eat, but you can’t systematically write down, try photographing every meal. Photos can be stored in an album or sent to your secret telegram chat. The result is a food diary that only takes five minutes a day to keep.
77. Eat more protein to help you feel full and avoid overeating. The feeling of hunger occurs mainly due to a lack of protein. Read more.
78. Eat slowly: the satiety hormone PYY is not released into the blood immediately, so the subjective feeling of fullness usually occurs late - when we already have time to go overboard with calories.
79. To reduce your dependence on black tea and coffee, try hibiscus, cocoa, fiber-rich chicory, buckwheat tea or fireweed. These drinks will help enrich your diet with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory polyphenols.
80. Drink just water more often - this is the healthiest drink for the body.
81. When looking for a recipe, search for the name of the dish and jamie oliver. Jamie has recipes for almost everything, and very good ones.
82. Before preparing a complex dish, understand the principle of the recipe. Write down the sequence of steps on sticky notes and place them at eye level in the kitchen.
83. It is almost impossible to find healthy ready-made sauce in stores. But it’s not difficult to prepare it yourself. Here's nutritionist Michael Mosley's recipe: French mustard, garlic clove, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil - ready.
February 15, 2016
Valeria Romanovskaya Experienced sociologist and PR specialist. Author of the vibesoflife.com project, dedicated to personal and professional development, time management, self-discovery, spiritual and physical beauty and health. It is very important for me to share my experience with readers, to help with advice - after all, we are all people living similar events in life - it is important for us to realize that we are not alone.
- facebook.com/valeria.terenteva.5
- vk.com/id245225939
- instagram.com/val_romanovskaya
I strive for liberation. I am freeing myself from everything unnecessary in my life. Today you would call me the buzzword “minimalist.” Although just a few years ago everything was different. My house was bursting at the seams with an endless supply of new clothes, cosmetics and perfumes, and some interior items.
But life has taught me a lot. My parents’ house burned down, I got divorced and spent a lot of time moving, renting an apartment and supporting myself, giving up clothes and travel. In the rented apartment there was no closet or vacuum cleaner, and I learned to wash the floor regularly, that is, to do something that I have not liked since childhood, and I placed my clothes in boxes on the floor. And nothing - it was even cozy.
Over these few years, I have seen how the careers of people close to me are destroyed, and how they suffer from it. I paid attention to how parents’ energy and money go into maintaining many, in my opinion, unnecessary things and objects. And I made conclusions that I want to share with you.
Regularly get rid of unnecessary and/or old things
Moving from apartment to apartment, I appreciated that the less unnecessary things I have, the easier it is to live. The main thing is that what travels with me is necessary at this particular stage and correct for my lifestyle.
Life is unpredictable. And if you give yourself completely and emotionally invest in things, it can be very difficult if you suddenly have to part with them.
A dozen sentimental bears from the past, clothes that no longer fit or simply don’t like, but seem to be not old yet - it’s a pity to throw them away - all this takes up a lot of space and drains energy. And here we are not talking about esotericism - we have to spend energy on ironing, vacuuming, dry cleaning and doing many more manipulations with things that are no longer suitable for us. Elementarily, excesses in the wardrobe complicate the choice of clothes. While you're going through your entire closet, you can forget about a new blouse under a pile of old dresses.
- Cloth
Once a season I review my entire wardrobe. I get rid of what I don’t like, what doesn’t fit well, what I’ve never worn and can’t even imagine a situation where I would wear it. I make an exception only for very expensive and high-quality items and jewelry. Who knows, maybe in ten years they will become a valuable rarity? Or will they finally fit me in size again?
With everything else I do this: I wash cheap clothes or those that are not in very good condition, put them in order and take them to a charity store or, in the end, leave them next to a garbage dump in the city center or in a residential area. Usually the homeless take it right away.
I sell the better one. I often use Avito. Just today I sold a wool scarf with a Guess hat. The hat was prickly for me, and I didn’t like it at all, so it lay for two seasons almost untouched. And sometimes we team up with friends and organize parties with trying on and exchanging such clothes. A great reason to meet and have a great time. Cocktails included!
If there is something left that I don’t yet dare to sell or give away, I put it off for half a year and see if my attitude towards this thing has changed.
Why did I decide to clean out my wardrobe once every three months? Yes, because it’s incredibly tiring to sell and give everything away when the closet hasn’t been thoroughly reconsidered for a couple of years. Despite the fact that I have been periodically getting rid of everything for the past two years, I am now in my second week of organizing my wardrobe.
- Unnecessary/outdated household appliances and gadgets
Oh, these surprise gifts and everything that we receive “on duty” or from those who do not know us well. Then there are always extra coffee grinders, multicookers, smart alarm clocks and other things that seem to be necessary, but are not for us. They lie and wait in the wings, or rather the moment when they are already morally obsolete and will be sent, at best, to the country.
If the item is in packaging and has not yet been used, I sell it or put it away as a gift to someone who really needs it. Among my friends and acquaintances there are also lovers of fresh coffee and those who need a flashlight keychain for their keys.
Sometimes it happens that you choose some super fashionable gadget for yourself, walk around with it for a month and realize that, that’s it, you’ve played enough. This happened to me, for example, with the Jawbone Up24 smart bracelet. I chose it myself as a birthday present for myself and wrote it on my friends’ wish list. I thought he would help me wake up with my biorhythms and eat only the right food. As a result, after a month I got tired of him, and I adjusted my biorhythms myself.
I didn’t throw it into a box with unnecessary items and decided to sell it. By the way, this is where my acquaintance with Avito began. I reduced the price by 4 times, and a buyer was immediately found. Yes, it’s a pity to give away a good thing at such a price, but for myself I decided that it would be better for me to go to a restaurant twice with this money than to fill a drawer with something I don’t need.
And so it is in everything. Now I confidently sell the extra juicers and food processors left over from my family life, I don’t wait to find a family again and squeeze juice for my children and husband. Perhaps my future husband lives in another country and has a personal chef who squeezes juice for him every day!
Choose things according to their expediency.
I used to often buy myself clothes and perfume for my mood. Hence the extra clothes and wasted money. But life, as they say, taught me the ruble. Renting an apartment is not a cheap pleasure. And I slowly began to save. And most importantly, it brought back that same joy that arises when you look for something for a long time and find it.
I'll tell you using perfume as an example. I used to have about ten different ones, and I used them depending on my mood. That’s why they didn’t end for a long time and bored me like crazy over several years. It’s a shame to throw it away, but I don’t want to use it.
Everything is different now. I have one for daytime perfume, one for evening perfume and one for seduction. Something like this. And now I choose perfumes for several months. I go shopping, sniffing whether it’s mine or not. And I only take those that made me remember their smell.
And how nice it is to buy something for a reason, but to make a mini-holiday out of it! For example, I decide that I will devote Saturday exclusively to myself. In the morning I wake up, have a delicious breakfast, go shopping, buy a dress, then have lunch in a new place, and at the end of the day - a movie or a spa. This is a whole ritual that gives much more pleasure than a blouse or mascara bought in a hurry and in a fit of melancholy.
If you’re just sad and want to cheer yourself up, it’s better to go for a massage or to the theater. Spending money while delirious is not a good story.
This is about clothes, but what about large purchases? Household appliances, cars and other things? Again, the principle of expediency. Why buy a TV for every room if I only watch it in the living room, and only on holidays? Or what's the point of having a food processor if there's nowhere to put it. It will be stored in the pantry or under the bed, and, accordingly, almost never used.
You need to keep family heirlooms and your own trophies, but not all of them.
Over the years of life, a lot of memorable little things usually accumulate in one place, which over time can absorb the entire apartment if they are not cleaned regularly. For myself, I choose only what I am willing to spend my space on; everything else I arrange according to its intended purpose. I store old photos on removable hard drives, I give away the disks, keeping only the most memorable ones.
It is always very difficult to part with the belongings of beloved relatives after their death. But you can’t take everything with you and carry it around for the rest of your life. I would really not like to get rid of my grandfather's military uniform with orders and his records or some of my grandmother's jewelry and photographs. But, for example, I would give some of the books to those who really need them: friends, small cafes, orphanages. This won’t make my memories any less, but I will have more space.
Or another example, I have a memory box where I used to put old concert tickets, love letters and other nice little things. Although it takes up a lot of space, until now I did not dare to throw it away and steadfastly carried it with me during all my moves. But now I’m already mentally mature enough to part with her if life demands it. After all, all the memories are in our heads!
Plan your living space consciously.
In the living space, everything should be convenient and at hand. For example, I love to cook and put everything in the right order for me. It’s important to me that everything is close by and not in a closet or closet. When I had a large kitchen, I could afford to display all the kitchen appliances on various tables and kitchen islands and use them regularly. As soon as I put something away in a drawer, I forgot about it. So, the blender could stand idle for months. When I moved into a rented apartment with a small kitchen, I took only the most basic things - a couple of frying pans, pots and other small utensils. I no longer had time for steamers and food processors.
The same applies to extra shelves, boxes and small items. When planning a kitchen and apartment (strange, but I’ve already done this many times in my life), I try to minimize as much as possible unnecessary rooms and objects that are then not clear how and with what frequency they will be used. Anything that doesn’t have real functionality only gets in the way and clutters up your apartment.
I arrange my cosmetics so that in the morning I have only my regular set at hand, and not a whole cosmetic bag. Eye shadows and lipsticks, foundations, which I use less often, are kept separately. This way I save a lot of time, because I don’t have to look for anything.
I also have several drawers and compartments that hold the contents of my most frequently used outdoor items. For example, in the fall there is an umbrella, keys, documents, gloves, a couple of bags, a shoe sponge or credit cards. And in the summer - sunglasses, adhesive plasters, napkins.
I place such functional sets in those areas where I find the fastest access to them at the right time. And again, I regularly get rid of everything that I don't need and doesn't work. I mean it doesn't work for me and my current life situation.
Don't buy extra food if you don't have time to cook it.
My heart bleeds every time I see that my parents make excess jams, sauces, mushrooms and cucumbers! Year after year the situation does not change, and only half of everything that was done so diligently and with soul is eaten.
I always try to use the principle of expediency. For example, I'm a fan of fresh berries - so at the end of summer I can devote time to picking them or buying them and processing them for storage in the freezer. But I sincerely don’t understand those who do this “out of inertia” - you don’t have to be a “fraud” who was ruined by greed. This only makes life more complicated, because we lose precious minutes that we could spend on something really important.
I myself am not a fan of jam and canned vegetables and fruits, so I don’t strive to make such preparations. When I was married, I made several jars, just enough to last through the winter. I don't like it when food gets thrown away. The same goes for shopping. I prefer to go shopping for perishable foods, such as milk, meat or fish, several times a week, than to buy for a few weeks in advance and store it all in the freezer.
Again, all products that have been subjected to heat treatment, whether by cold or heat, no longer carry as much benefit as fresh ones. For myself, I decided to buy seasonal vegetables and use a grain sprouter. There is always a solution if you really want to find it.
Periodically evaluate whether all those expensive things we use are really necessary.
Now we will talk about apartments, cars, dachas, yachts... A car is good, but how much time and money does it take to maintain. The cost is quite comparable to daily taxi trips. There are also traffic jams, time to warm up the engine (especially in winter), problems with parking, and so on. Yes, the car also makes us walk less. This makes walking a hundred times less. And to be in shape, you then need to go to the gym, but you could just walk five to ten kilometers every day. And this is quite real.
I'll tell you with my own example. As soon as I got a car, I started driving it almost constantly. With the change of job and housing last year, I simply couldn’t get out of it. So what's the result? I gained a couple of extra kilos, despite the sport. And then I decided to reconsider my attitude towards the car, to evaluate whether I really need it every day. Having abandoned the usual pattern that a car is convenience and comfort, I rediscovered walks, minibuses, metro and even trains. And I was satisfied. Now I often do this: I come to work in the morning by car, and in the evening I go home without it. I leave a couple of metro stations earlier from home to walk and do some shopping. So, I walk more and manage to do my other things at the same time.
Apartments, cottages and other real estate. I am sincerely convinced that these things should work for the owner. Either they live there regularly, or they are required to bring money. My choice is simple. I don't want to waste time maintaining houses that I won't live in, buying furniture, cleaning, insurance, etc. After all, strength and energy flow into this hole, why give it to something you practically never use. Guided by the principle of expediency, if possible, I will rent out some things, sell others, and where my heart is, I will live.
Self-development #Minimalism
About alcohol
84. There are no harmless alcoholic drinks. But if you can’t do without alcohol, choose natural dry wine: judging by research, this is the lesser of evils.
85. Wash down alcohol with water rather than snack. Advice from clinical pharmacologist Olga Shatalova: two servings of water for one serving of alcohol. This way you can avoid dehydration, plus - with water it is more difficult to exceed “your dose”, because it fills the stomach.
86. If you want to quickly recover after being very drunk, take a cold shower. Sudden cooling is stressful, and with stress, the level of glucose in the blood quickly rises, which you just don’t have enough of right now.
About sleep
87. Get up at about the same time every day, even on weekends. From a biological point of view, Saturday and Sunday do not exist, and a constant schedule is the best means for sound sleep.
88. Try to be outside for at least 30 minutes a day before sunset - sunlight helps produce the sleep hormone melatonin.
89. Reduce mental activity an hour before falling asleep. The brain cannot automatically switch to sleep mode from playing a computer game, watching a video, or arguing on social networks. Read more.
90. Come up with a ritual for going to bed - a sequence of the same calm actions: let a reflex develop for them.
91. Reduce the temperature in the bedroom, ventilate it. Try sleeping in socks, this method works.
92. If you wake up in the middle of the night and are overwhelmed by doubts and anxiety, imagine that these negative emotions are experienced not by you, but by another person. This is not entirely untrue: personality is largely determined by the distribution of hormones and neurotransmitters. For someone who doesn't get enough sleep, their balance is structured differently.
About things
93. Those things that you spend a significant part of your life with (bed = 1/3 of your life, desk chair and desk = 1/4) are worth spending significant money on.
94. Come up with a rule by which you get rid of old things - for example, if you haven’t used them for a year. This will make it easier to throw them away. Read more.
95. Relate a certain object that you often see to something important. The hero of one English-language podcast said that every time he walks through a doorway, he smiles and reminds himself that he is “ready to serve people.” This helps him come to meetings or negotiations with the right attitude.
