What Not to Do While Trying to Simplify Your Life - Life's Little Pleasures and Struggles

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Many people unknowingly make their journey stressful while trying to simplify their lives. Life naturally comes with different kinds of complications as we grow up. But most of those complications are the results of our choices, decisions, and habits. We often make things more complicated than they need to be without even realizing that. If you are trying to simplify your life so you can focus more on what is important and meaningful, you need to stop doing certain things that can make life unnecessarily harder for you.

While trying to simplify your life, it’s important that you don’t do things that can delay the process or make your struggles harder. You need to be intentional and focused. You need to avoid all those things or habits that can create problems in the way of simplifying and creating a life that you love and dream about.

Here are some of the ways you may be needlessly complicating your journey towards simplicity:

Comparing yourself with others:

Comparing yourself with others whose exact reality you are not fully aware of is something that can create jealousy and negativity in your mind. Too often it means comparing your own messy reality with someone else’s carefully presented image. Comparing yourself to someone else will set you up for failure. Do your best, keep things as simple as you can, and improve your life focusing on your end goal.

Procrastinating:

You can take breaks from time to time, but can’t always put things off for later times when you are able to do those on time with little efforts and planning. Constant procrastination creates burden that hampers the progress you might be making in simplifying your life. It overwhelms you and makes you lose focus on what you want to achieve in your life.

Trying to be perfect all the time:

Perfectionism stalls progress and sometimes paralyzes effort entirely. We all make mistakes and mess up sometimes, and that’s alright. Always trying to be perfect in everything will increase your stress levels, and you will not be able to enjoy your life to the fullest.

Learn from your mistakes and do your best next time. Accepting that you will never be completely flawless is a step in the right direction, and will help you start enjoying every single day as it comes. Simplifying your life is all about the progress you make, it’s not about perfection.

Seeking other people’s approval:

You don’t need other people’s approval to do the things that you are doing to improve your overall well-being. Do what is necessary by carving your own path and taking the steps that will bring your goals within reach.

Not saying ‘no’ often:

Stop saying ‘yes’ to everything and learn to say ‘no’ more often. If you say ‘yes’ to every request, you will spend all your free time and energy by keeping busy with the things or people that will not leave any quality time in your schedule for yourself or for the things that matter most.

Remember that every time you say ‘yes’ to something you don’t like to do or don’t have time to do, you are saying ‘no’ to something else that you truly want/need to do. Saying ‘no’ when you need to say ‘no’ is actually one of the key habits for those trying to simplify and enjoy their lives.

Dwelling in the past or not letting things go:

Knowing when to let go is never easy. The harder and tighter you hold on to something, the deeper it hurts. In order to create a happy, meaningful life you need to stop dwelling in your past, let the grudges go, and focus on your present life. When you are trying to simplify your life for a better future, the best thing you can do is to accept your past, learn from it, embrace change, and move on.

Worrying too much:

Worrying too much doesn’t solve anything or automatically make things better. There are some things you can’t control, and you can’t change them no matter how much you worry. So don’t waste your time and energy trying to predict what can happen tomorrow. Because worrying doesn’t take away tomorrow’s trouble; it takes away today’s peace. Worry won’t stop the bad stuff from happening, and it just keeps you from enjoying the good in your life. Simplify your life by choosing joy over worry. Make the best of your present life, stay positive, and concentrate on your goal. This will surely lead to a positive outcome.

Multi-tasking:

In order to simplify your life, you have to stop multi-tasking and do one thing at a time. When you try to do more than one task at the same time, you feel under pressure and your stress level increases. It also affects your productivity, and you fail to concentrate on what you are trying to accomplish.

Ignoring your health:

You can’t simplify your life by ignoring your health. It’s possible that when you are working hard on some other important life-goals, you are forgetting about your health, or paying less attention to your physical well-being. Life will always feel complicated if you don’t take care of your health. You don’t enjoy your blessings much when you are sick or suffering from major health conditions.

So, take plenty of rest, eat healthy, and take time to move your body. Your physical well-being will help you simplify your life further.

Not paying attention to your home:

Your home is part of who you are. It represents your values, priorities, and lifestyle. You can’t simplify your life without simplifying your home. Many people, while trying to simplify their lives, forget about simplifying their physical spaces that can have a profound impact on their overall well-being.

Clutter and mess cause unnecessary distractions and stress. Start by getting rid of stuff that are neither useful nor beautiful. Make room for things that you use and that add value to your life. Declutter every corner of your home one by one, and organize everything to reduce your stress and create a space where you can relax and focus on the things that matter.

Complaining and not appreciating:

Simplifying your life is a journey. It requires you to enjoy the process and appreciate any progress you make. If you complain about everything that goes wrong, you will unnecessarily stress yourself out and make things harder for you. Instead of focusing on what’s going wrong or what you don’t have, focus on what’s going right, how much progress you have made, how far you have come in your journey, and count your blessings.

Complaining won’t allow you to appreciate your blessings and be grateful for that. And practicing gratitude is an important part of simplifying your life.

Relevant post: What Happens When You Practice Gratitude Every Day

Parting Words:

Now that you know what you shouldn’t be doing while simplifying your life, try to stop doing those one by one to make your journey towards simplicity smooth. Take it slowly – step by step, and focus on your goal. You don’t have to do everything in a single day, and changing only one thing will make a big difference.