How to Simplify & Organize Your Life: My 10 best advices

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Selim Tolga, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Would you like to lead a simpler life? What would it mean for you to finally get rid of the energy draining clutter, messes and simply too much to do that surrounds you every day?

How would it feel to have all of your stuff clean and in order (also in your head) while all distractions were reduced to a minimum? But how do you go about it? Where and how should you start?

So here are my 10 best advices for simplifying and organizing your life:

My one answer to your question applies equally to simplifying life and boosting productivity: stop doing so much at once. It not only means to not multi-task, but also limit the number of projects you are working on at any given time. Careful with your wishes.

Life is such a big picture resolution, so my advice is to approach the lifestyle change one small step at a time. For instance, start with simplifying diet. Once that becomes comfortable, move to clutter, or debt. The order isn’t as important as sticking to one thing at a time.

Determine, very precisely, what you want your future life to look like, feel like, be like. How will you spend your time? How will you feel when you walk into your home? What will your home look like, exactly? If you don’t know where you’re headed, you’ll never be able to get there.

It can be tempting to want to attack your house (and schedule) with a giant garbage bag tossing things (and activities) out with abandon in the name of simplifying. Don’t. Pick one area to focus on, and really get it streamlined before moving on to the next thing. Simplicity is not about tossing things, but rather actively, consciously choosing what you want to make the cut in your life. When you approach the act of simplifying one zone of your life at a time you’re much more likely to do the kind of considered thinking that lays the groundwork for systemic simplicity — and the chaos & clutter is much less likely to creep back in. If you’re not sure where to start, we recommend beginning with the ONE zone of your life that is causing you the most anxiety & stress.

When you want to simplify consider the power of letting go and getting organized. While this can look very different to each of us, having a sense of clarity and order in our physical environment can greatly enhance our ability to function more simply with less stress and stuff. Suspend the notion of organizing perfection. Instead, figure out what organized enough means for you and take small steps to get there.
When our spaces are cluttered with things that no longer serve a purpose, those possessions drain our emotional and physical energy. Too many of our resources go towards maintaining our “stuff.” When objects clutter our spaces, it becomes difficult to think and easily move through our day. We feel heavy and encumbered. We might even feel hopeless and depressed. When we let go, what happens? We often experience a sense of lightness, freedom, happiness, or growth. Positivity envelops us; perhaps a sense of giddiness enters our being. I experience this wonderful shift regularly with my clients. There is a huge sigh of relief when the weight of the paper piles, crowded closets, or floors covered with overflowing shopping bags is released. Smiles return, as the letting go increases. The things, which once cluttered our rooms and thoughts, are no longer obstacles.

When it come to simplifying life it really comes down to getting organized. Keeping a schedule and task list will help you prioritize your time. Be sure to set aside down time to reenergize. In addition, go room by room in your home and purge unused items that you don’t charish. Clutter carries a lot of visual weight and once gone, the home is more peaceful and simplified.

My advice is to know yourself and what you want. Most people skip this step, focused as they are on achieving something new, or reducing to achieve clarity, but that clarity is difficult to reach if you don’t know what to reach for and what to leave in place as you minimize. You can’t know for sure what’s necessary and what’s excess until you know what’s important to you. Sit, think, explore, and then, finally, act. Taking that time will save you a whole lot of time and trouble down the line.

Start from the inside and work your way out. Simplifying your physical environment is important, but stripping away the emotional, mental, and spiritual excess brings about a more intentional life.

You can’t make a resolution to “simplify” until you know what currently feels too “complicated” — so let’s start by getting clear about your definition of living simply. Take a minute to look back over the past year at all the things you’ve been tolerating and would like LESS of in your life — like clutter, stress, debt, too many obligations, rush hour traffic, or toxic relationships. Then think about all the things that help you to feel grounded and centered, that you’d like to have MORE of in your life — like free time, satisfying work projects, regular exercise and good nutrition, a sustainable living environment, or opportunities to express your creativity. Now, set a specific goal related to each of these issues — for decluttering your closets or reducing your monthly expenses or drawing healthier boundaries at work or whatever is going to bring your life back into alignment with your values. Even small changes can make a big difference, so start with those — then you’re welcome to work your way up to more radical ways of simplifying.

Start with your possessions. Simplifying our stuff and removing the excess is both an eye-opening experience and transferrable exercise in intentionality. As you begin, you’ll quickly discover how our lives and decisions have been based on cultural expectations and societal norms far more than our truest pursuits. And you’ll notice how your life has been unnecessarily complicated in the process. But even more, you will find yourself forced to identify your greatest values. After all, you can’t really remove the nonessential possessions without identifying which possessions need to stay… and you can’t identify which possessions need to stay until you discover what you most want to intentionally accomplish with your life.