How to Live a Simple Life and Be Happy (It’s Quite Easy)

How to simplify life and be happy

If you’re wondering how to live a simple life and be happy, you’re in the right place!

Life is already so complicated. We have bills to pay, work to attend to, and people to communicate with. It can get so overwhelming to keep up with everything. Making life simpler helps you live a more balanced, calm life because you can focus on things that are really important.

I’m going to share with you these simple life hacks that have helped me live a simpler life. You don’t have to incorporate all of them at once. Instead of that, make it your next month’s goal to minimize your life as much as possible.

Once you have decluttered your life, you’ll start seeing the results. Having more time to spend on things that really matter is a guaranteed way to make yourself happier.

If that topic still confuses you, ask yourself, “What distractions can I remove to focus on the things that really matter?” Concentrate on eliminating those things.

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The best tips for simplifying your life

1. Be prepared

When we talk about how to live a simple life and be happy, I have one really great tip for you. Always be prepared for every life situation. You never know when something unexpected might happen. It’s actually correlated with organization, as organization leads to preparation.

Always carry useful items with you. For example, I always carry this pink glitter water bottle with me. When you know your lips tend to get dry fast, put chapstick (this one’s really good) in your handbag. Always bring tissues with you, as you usually need them most when you don’t have them.

Keep an emergency bag. Whether it’s for an unexpected trip, an emergency evacuation, or some other unexpected situation. Keep an emergency bag somewhere you can see it (or in your car) so that you can just grab it when you’re in a hurry.

Prepare your clothes, breakfast, and coffee machine the night before. This way, you’ll have more time in the morning to spend on more important tasks.

2. Get rid of bad mental habits

When we’re talking about how to simplify life and be happy, we should talk about being mentally balanced. Your mind can actually be either your biggest advantage or your worst enemy. Your thoughts affect both your emotional state and your behavior.

Bad mental habits include procrastination, self-blame, low self-esteem, bad sleep habits, self-sabotage, making excuses, and so on. These are actually habits you might not even be aware of, but they will have a huge impact on your quality of life.

To learn how to get rid of bad mental habits, read my blog post about toxic habits that are ruining your life (quit them NOW).

To live a simpler life, get rid of negative thoughts using these tips. Focus on the things you can do instead of the ones you can’t. By wasting your time on things you can’t control, you’re taking your focus away from things that really matter.

I’ve found journaling, practicing affirmations, and manifesting very helpful on my journey toward becoming a better person and being mentally more balanced.

3. Get rid of unnecessary stuff

Decluttering your closet and starting a capsule wardrobe are certainly useful life hacks. Do you know that feeling when you have tons of clothes but still nothing to wear? Yeah, I’ve been there. Simplifying your wardrobe means you’ll spend less time picking out which clothes to wear.

If your home is untidy or there’s too much clutter, it will actually affect your mental health. Looking at all those things that you don’t need and that take up a lot of space only causes you stress.

And look at all that clutter. That clutter used to be money. And that money used to be time. Why are you wasting your valuable time on things you don’t even need?

Instead of buying clutter, invest in yourself using these tips and learn new skills or update your current ones. You never know when a good opportunity might present itself.

Buy multitasking products. I’m going to give you an example. Perhaps you don’t need so many different products to clean your home. Try to find a product that you can use for more than one purpose.

I really like the soda and vinegar combo, but one thing a lot of people rave about is castile soap. What is castile soap? Castile soap is a liquid soap that you can use for multiple purposes.

It’s made of only organic oils and natural vegan ingredients. You can use it as dish soap, body wash, shampoo, baby soap, veggie wash, laundry detergent, pet shampoo, shave gel, liquid floor cleaner, and for tiles and tubs.

And my last tip for you. You don’t need 20 shades of lipstick (you probably don’t wear all of them either) or 10 dinner plates if you live alone. Use the Marie Kondo method to get rid of things that don’t spark joy anymore.

4. Organize your life

Organizing your life is certainly among the best hacks to minimize your life.

Let’s talk about the most important thing. Setting goals, whether they’re monthly, weekly, or daily. Setting goals helps you schedule your days as well.

If your days are scheduled, you’ll know exactly what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it. It reduces your stress enormously, and you’ll actually achieve much more this way.

Write to-do-lists. Writing to-do lists also helps to clear your head. My number one tip for to-do lists is to eat the frog first. It basically means you have to put the largest task at the top of the list and do it first thing in the morning.

For more productivity tips, read my blog post about how to successfully increase your productivity.

Establish routines. Having a proper morning and night routine helps you organize your life and stay on top of things.

If you don’t know where to start, I’ve written a great post on having a slow morning routine that works and super-easy tips for a productive night routine. Make sure to check them out if you really want to focus on making life simpler.

Meal-prep. Meal-prepping once a week helps you save tons of time. You’ll also save tons of money, and you’ll make healthier choices. When you have a prepped meal with you, you won’t go to the cafeteria to buy unreasonably priced, unhealthy sandwiches.

This meal planner is a lifesaver. It also has grocery lists in it, which makes your life so much easier.

I’m going to give you one more easy tip to minimize your life. Invest in a crockpot or an air fryer. This is the best investment you’ll make. By using a crockpot, you’ll spend less time cooking and more time doing things you like. Also, there are tons of healthy slow cooker recipes.

Plan your workouts. Working out without a plan is bad for so many reasons. You’ll spend much more time trying to decide which workout to do.

You might not even start because you don’t have a strict plan that would motivate you. I usually follow the Blogilates’ calendar. She actually puts out a different calendar for each month.

Automate as much as you can. The first thing you can automate is your payments. Instead of going to the store every day or even every week, order groceries online.

You can use Amazon Fresh for that. You can schedule a 2-hour grocery delivery window for free with a minimum purchase. They also offer contact-free delivery, which is a must-have right now.

Free delivery is available for Prime members in select regions on orders that meet the local free delivery threshold. Make sure to log into your account to see if you qualify for free shipping.

Switch to the cloud. I know there are a lot of people who still store important files on flash drives. However, I suggest storing your files on the cloud. This way, you’ll have all those important files in one place, they’ll be easily accessible, and you won’t have to worry about forgetting your flash drive at home.

Live closer to work if possible. I know it’s not always achievable, but it’s an option to consider. Especially if you spend two hours every day commuting to work.

5. Simplify your financial habits

Most people spend too much and save too little. However, mastering budgeting certainly belongs to minimalist lifestyle tips. It’s a pity it isn’t taught in schools. If you’re not sure how to start working on your financial habits, use the 50/30/20 budget rule.

It basically means you can spend 50% of your income on your needs (rent, groceries, utilities, and bills), 30% on your wants (hobbies, vacations, and hobbies), and put away 20% for savings. It’s actually a bulletproof way to limit your spending and save more.

How to use the 50-30-20 rule? It’s easy. Calculate your income. Calculate a spending threshold for three categories (needs, wants, and savings).

Then plan your budget using these numbers and strictly stick to that budget. People have different incomes, so you can always modify this rule and save more or less money.

Pay off your debt. If you are in debt, try to pay it off as soon as possible. Debt can quite often make you worry more and shift your focus from important things to unimportant ones.

Create a passive income or start a side hustle. I understand that getting rid of debt isn’t always possible, especially when your income is lower. That’s why it’s important to at least try to increase your earnings. Here are 50 profitable side-hustle ideas.

Limit your buying habits. Instead of buying new things, try to identify the reason behind buying them. Do you really need it, or is it an impulse purchase? Are you shopping to hide your emotional pain or satisfy some needs? Try to eliminate those kinds of purchases as much as possible.

Look for free entertainment ideas. Sure, going to the cinema or to a restaurant is fun, but there are also other ways to entertain yourself. This post about fun things to do when it is raining is packed with useful information, so make sure to check it out.

6. Reduce time spent on electronics

Do you want to know more about how to live a simple life and be happy? Reduce the time you spend using electronic devices.

Unsubscribe from unwanted e-mails. Unwanted e-mails only take up your valuable time and offer nothing in return. You don’t need to subscribe to every possible newsletter possible. You’re not missing out on anything.

If you don’t want to unsubscribe manually, use an app for that. I personally use Cleanfox for that.

Watch less TV. TV takes up a huge portion of our time. It’s so easy to forget yourself and watch a reality show for a few hours straight. Don’t get me wrong; it’s totally okay to watch TV every now and then to rewind and clear your head. However, is it what you really want to do every day?

Limit your time on social media and go for a walk instead. I recently uninstalled my Instagram app, and I have to be honest with you: I used to browse Instagram multiple times a day, but now I don’t miss it at all.

7. Learn to say no

It happens quite often that we want to please people, so we’re too afraid to say no. So what happens is that we spend our valuable time doing something we don’t actually want to do. Or we simply don’t have time to do it. And let me tell you, it goes against the rules of simple living.

Keep in mind that what you do with your time is entirely up to you. Every time you say yes to something, you’re actually saying no to something else. If you’re wasting your time trying to please everyone else, you won’t have much time to work on what YOU want.

Don’t be afraid of other people’s reactions. Set yourself and your goals first. Just because you say no to someone right now does not mean you’ll say no the next time they ask.

8. Get rid of toxic people

Getting rid of toxic people is actually the last tip that you can use to learn how to simplify your life and be happy. Negativity steals your happiness and therefore makes your life harder.

If you’re looking for easy ways to better yourself, certainly get rid of toxic people as the first thing. The people around us have a huge impact on how we think and act. Negative people will only bring you down.

You’ll also spend a lot of time in the middle of drama and gossip, which actually adds no value to your life. Instead of spending time with toxic people, try to figure out how to work on yourself instead.

I’ve written an informative post about 50 daily habits you need to adapt to glow up your life, so make sure to check it out if you need more ideas about ways to minimize your life.

Knowing how to live a simple life and be happy is easy

What did you think of this blog post about how to live a simple life and be happy? Did you find anything useful? How do you make your life simpler? Let me know in the comments below!