Minimalism and decluttering are hot topics.

In the last few years there’s been a rise in the claim to fame of The Minimalists duo, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, who are inspiring millions of people worldwide to throw out, cut back and let go of STUFF as well as tidying and organizing guru, Marie Kondo, with her NYT bestseller, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing, which has become a decluttering bible for the masses.

In a similar vain, our very own Carey Peters shares HCI’s version of this hot hype in her 3 Steps to Clear the Clutter Tuesday Tip, which you can watch HERE.

You may recall from your Orientation videos that we are big on clearing out the old to make way for the new, letting go of what no longer serves you to embrace that which totally does and getting rid of the crap in our lives that is weighing us down and preventing us from lightly stepping into our awaiting spotlight!

So, on that note, in celebration of National Simplify Your Life Week (the first week of August every year) we wanna offer you up 10 tips to help you simplify your life, starting now.

So check this out below and then do us a favor, and leave a comment below the post, and tell us what your FAVE tip is that you’ll implement now AND give us a new one that we haven’t included here.

Before we know it our lives will be so simplified that we’ll be able to eat with more gratitude, love with more energy, coach with a clearer mind and be the person we want to be with more spaciousness in our lives ‘cos let’s face it, people are HUNGRY for simplification in this over-consuming, over-stimulating, over-bearing modern world, right?

10 Ways to Simplify Your Life Starting Now

  • Food: Clean out your fridge, your pantry, your kitchen shelves and keep only what is fresh and useful to you and throw away anything that has passed its sell-by-date, that you don’t use, that’s gone bad or that contains harmful substances. Make space for the food you love, the spices you enjoy to use and the ingredients that inspire you to cook.
  • Clothing: Go through your wardrobe and dressers and donate or sell any clothes that you haven’t worn in the last year, don’t make you feel GREAT or have stains or holes in them. Keep only the clothes that make you feel like the person you want to be. This is (according to Marie Kondo) a great place to start your decluttering spree.
  • Work space: Imagine your client is walking into your work space. What do they see? A total mess or a clean, organized, calm space? Organize your papers, your stationery, your bills, and keep only what you really and truly need and use. Paperwork and desk clutter has a way of making our brains crazy like nothing else. So do yourself a favor and declutter your work space.
  • Technology: Have a million tangled cords stuffed in drawers that you have no idea where they plug in? Take them to the dump to recycle responsibly. Have hundreds of photos from last year’s trip taking up space on your phone or computer? Copy them onto a hard-drive and delete them on your phone or PC. Similarly, if your inbox is over 200, 1000, 3000 emails full, don’t ya think it’s time to delete them? We like to delete anything older than two weeks that is no longer of value to you.
  • Home: This is a huge undertaking so give yourself enough time to do it well. Go through every corner of your home and create four categories: One to sell, one to give away and one to throw into the garbage and one to keep. Author, Marie Kondo suggest you start with clothes, then books, then papers, then miscellany and lastly mementos. She also firmly believes you should keep only what gives you joy. You’ll be shocked at how little you actually really need once you do this. You may need a friend to help you let go of sentimental stuff so call on your peeps to help you.
  • People: Are there people in your life who are just weighing you down? Taking more than they give? AKA energy vampires. Be assertive, put up your boundaries and let them know that you value your energy, are simplifying your life and don’t have space or desire to engage in energy-draining conversations or arguments. Instead, start hanging out or calling in people in your life whose energy and drive you want to mirror so you can learn from them what it takes to step into your most empowered self ever.
  • Schedule: We are all guilty of trying to do a million things at once and be everything to everybody but the person who suffers most is you. Simplifying your life means simplifying your calendar so it’s not jam-packed with a gazillion scribbled activities 24/7. Give yourself space to breathe, rest, relax and just be. Cancel ‘commitments’ that you feel obliged to attend, and only go to those that come from your heart. If that weekly gym class is not working for you, quit it and find something else that does. If visiting your long-lost relative is nothing but draining, cancel it. Stick to what energizes and rejuvenates your soul.
  • Thoughts: This is probably the hardest one of all since our thoughts are not easy to control but it can be done. Negative, self-defeating, worried thoughts can plague our minds and weigh us down. One of the best ways to start simplifying our lives is to simplify our thoughts. So, experiment with what works for you, be it meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, hiking, biking—find ways to clear your mind and the rest will follow.
  • Money: Asking for, dealing with and accepting money is something that a coach deals with on a daily basis. In BHC we take you deep into how to have a better relationship with money and in the meantime, there are easy ways to start this process. Simply start today with decluttering your wallet or purse. Organize your notes, your coins, your receipts, your cards and show money that you respect it, and it’ll respect you back by showing up more for you in your life.
  • Time: We are plagued by the “I have no time” lifestyle and “I’m too busy” paradigm but what if, that was all an illusion, and actually, you could feel like you have all the time in the world, for the most important things in your life? How much simpler would your life feel with a sense of having more time? A lot! Right? We often say that you can’t pour form an empty cup so, similarly, you can’t live a happy, fulfilled life if you have no time. So starting now, carve out space in your day to go for a walk, talk to a friend, listen to the birds, stretch, rest, sleep. Your doing less will reward you in so many unexpected, wonderful ways.

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Don’t forget to leave a comment below the post and tell us which of these 10 ways resonates with you the most. And, if you have any other ways to simplify your life that we haven’t mentioned here, please share them! We’d love to hear from you. 

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