MY ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SIMPLIFYING + DECLUTTERING YOUR LIFE
As seen on the Time Alone podcast, we discuss systems and tips for simplifying + decluttering life, freeing up time, space and energy for what's really important.
One of my goals for 2024 is to simply + declutter my life as much as possible.
I launched a 2-part series on my podcast where I shared some systems for simplifying + decluttering life, freeing up space (mental + physical), time, and energy for the things that are actually important.
By implementing these systems, I’ve slowly started to establish a more intentional, purposeful relationship with the things I allow into my life - so that anything consuming space enhances + supports rather than overwhelms + drains.
In this mini-guide, we’ll cover tips for simplifying: health, finances, digital space, organization, shopping, the closet, beauty, and physical space.
In each category, I’ll share:
My personal source(s) of overwhelm.
A simplification system + tips for decluttering.
CATEGORY: HEALTH
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
Information overload.
Choice overwhelm.
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Limiting information intake as it relates to diet, exercise, and overall health, while trying to limit information intake to trusted, reliable sources.
Finding what “works” and sticking to it for a while. Rather than constantly jumping between different exercise regimes + diets, finding the things that integrate into my lifestyle, that I can stick to, and that I enjoy.
For fitness: I listened to my body, experimented with what felt good, and found a routine that I’ve stuck to for the last 6 months (mostly walking + a bit of light weights).
For diet: I used Cronometer to come up with some meals to cycle through that I enjoy and that meet my nutritional needs. Having a few go-to meals to choose from means I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel and come up with healthy meals every day. It also simplifies buying groceries and reduces waste, because I know what I’m buying will actually make it into a meal.
CATEGORY: FINANCES
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
Information overload.
Avoidance.
Feeling out of control.
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Systematizing, especially things that I am doing on a regular basis: paying bills, invoicing. This book I read a few years ago had some good tips on systematizing your finances that helped me to get a kick-start.
Setting up auto-payments for all recurring bills (wifi, phone, credit card, gas). It takes effort up-front, but is so worth it.
Identifying all monthly subscriptions + canceling anything I don’t use. I’ve never tried it, but a few people have recommended Rocket Money to make this go even faster.
Practicing good record-keeping for taxes, especially as a self employed person. Last year I finally signed up for Quickbooks, sat down for a couple of hours to link up all of my accounts, set up some filters for recurring business-related bills or income streams so they were automatically categorized, and then set up a system to go through things on a monthly basis.
Outsourcing. Hiring and consulting with experts where possible for things that feel overwhelming and that I don’t have the capacity or desire to learn, like investing and income taxes.
CATEGORY: DIGITAL SPACE
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
Information overload.
Comparison, jealousy, desire to over consume.
Constant sense of urgency + the need to be hyper-productive.
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Regularly conducting a digital cleanse. Just like any other space, keeping it clean and organized.
Social media cleanse: unfollowing or muting accounts that no longer interest me or that invoke unwanted feelings.
Phone cleanse: removing apps I no longer use, organizing apps into folders, using a cleaner app to delete old screenshots, duplicate images, old contacts, notes.
Mailbox cleanse: mass unsubscribing from newsletters. I use Leave Me Alone, which is $7 to use for 7 days, but so worth it to clear out my inbox of promotional mail all in one go.
Taking intentional time away. I like work on having more of a relationship with social media, where I’m going on it for a reason vs. the constant mindless scrolling. I find time away helps with this - so setting aside windows of time where I’m not using the apps. Lately I’ve been trying to stay off on weekends, but from time-to-time I’ll also do a 1 or 2 week break. When I’m doing the longer breaks, I find I have to actually delete the apps in order to avoid going on them.
CATEGORY: ORGANIZATION
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
Information overload.
Putting too much pressure on the brain to “store” information (i.e., appointments, task reminders, ideas).
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Creating a digital replica of anything that would require my brain to “store” information - tasks, appointments, ideas, reminders. This is based on the “Second Brain” premise, which says that our brains are designed to produce ideas rather than store them.
Passwords: using a password manager (I use 1Password).
Appointments + Tasks: everything that has a “time” attached to it goes into both Google Calendar + an alarm on my iPhone is set as a safeguard.
Work, Ideas + Projects: anything that pertains to work, projects, or any ideas I want to document goes into Notion. For multi-step processes, I like to use the Project Board layout, where I can quickly see where each task is in the process.
One little thing I like to think about is not getting too fixated on the time-saving method or productivity tool itself. I used to be obsessed with trying out every productivity app until I realized that pursuit was actually taking up a lot of time and energy in and of itself.
Now I like to find things that work and stick with them - until the need arises to explore something new.
CATEGORY: SHOPPING
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
The constant exposure to opportunities to consume.
An underlying feeling of “never enough”.
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Reducing exposure to marketing. Sort of like limiting information intake, but in this case specifically with the intention of reducing intake of information or content that is encouraging me to consume.
Unsubscribing From Newsletters: I used the app Leave Me Alone for this.
Ad-Blockers: I use Chrome, which is notorious for re-marketing and ads, but I use the ad-blocker plugin and also have turned off personalized ads in “My Ads Center.” There are also browsers that have built-in ad-blockers, like Brave which is what my partner Jamie uses.
Social Media Audit: I follow very few brands on social media, and if I do follow them, I usually have them muted. If I see an ad that I no longer want to see, I always utilize the “hide ad” or “not interested” features. For influencers, if I’m seeing a ton of ads I’ll usually unfollow.
Creating purchase buffers. In other words, questions to ask before making a purchase to interrupt the unconscious cycle of buying. The following are based on Allison Bornstein’s 7 questions to ask before making a purchase:
do I get a deep down full body yes when I see this item?
will this make my life easier?
do I already have something that serves the same purpose? if so, when would I use this new item?
would I be willing to give up something I already have in order to have this item?
will I have to purchase something else in order to use this item?
do I actually like this item / would it integrate into my lifestyle / personal style or is it just something that works for someone else but doesn’t actually suit me?
can I see myself using this next year?
Creating a list of all of the things I’ve purchased that have actually brought me joy or enhanced my life in some way. This list is quite short for me - which makes me realize how much of my consumption doesn’t actually add value to my life. Looking at this list helps me to also pick up any themes and see what it is what I do value as a consumer, convenience and comfort for example, which helps to better guide future purchases.
Having a no buy/low buy period. Even if it’s just a week, challenging myself to limit spending to only necessities.
Adding everything I want to buy to a cart. I don’t know why this works, but for some reason even that action gives me satisfaction on some level and then I can usually let it sit for a while and eventually forget about it.
CATEGORY: CLOSET + STYLE
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
Being out of touch with my personal style.
Choice overwhelm + clutter when I look in the closet.
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Regularly decluttering + organizing my closet. I use Allison Bornstein’s Closet Editing System from her book Wear It Well and it’s been a true game-changer. She also talks extensively about the Closet Editing System on her social media channels for a free alternative. Here’s a video I created about using the system to declutter my closet.
Defining my personal style. Again, obviously a big fan of Allison’s systems, and using her 3-Word Method helped me to connect with my personal style and have a more intentional, purposeful relationship with my style + closet. This practice has also create a little buffer for following trends and buying clothes in general, because I have a better understanding of what I feel good in, is a reflection of me, and that I want taking up space in my closet.
Creating purchasing buffers. A couple of questions (see AB’s 7 questions before making a purchase) to ask myself before buying new clothing.
CATEGORY: BEAUTY
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
Always feeling “one” product away from having the perfect skin, perfect hair, etc., leading to overconsumption of beauty products.
Clutter in the skincare/haircare/beauty cabinets (as a result of #1).
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Regularly decluttering + organizing beauty products/cabinet. For this, I follow almost the exact same system as what I described in the closet section above, which is based on AB’s Closet Editing System.
Take out all of the products I use on a daily basis (turns out, it’s very few).
Take out all of the products I never/rarely use.
Identify (1) the products I want to get rid of (I recently learned that you can search for organizations that will accept lightly used / unopened beauty products).
Identify (2) the products I want to keep for now, but maybe in a specific section of my beauty cabinet that I’m not looking at every day.
Re-organize my beauty cabinet in a way that is functional - with regularly used products being easy to see, access, and use (I love using little crate organizers for this).
Creating purchasing buffers. A couple of questions (see AB’s 7 questions before making a purchase) to ask myself before buying new beauty products.
CATEGORY: PHYSICAL SPACE
THE SOURCE(S) OF OVERWHELM
Clutter - having too much stuff in my space.
HOW I AM SIMPLIFYING
Creating “micro-tasks” when cleaning + decluttering. If I present myself with the task of decluttering my whole house, the odds are I’ll feel overwhelmed and find some excuse to avoid it at all costs. The most effective way I’ve found for decluttering and cleaning my space is to break everything down into micro-tasks. I have a checklist for each room, broken down into all of the little spaces I want to declutter or clean. For example, for the living room: coffee table, under the coffee table, bookshelf, couch, carpet. Then I just start going through one-by-one and ticking each micro-task off as I go. For whatever reason, the satisfaction of ticking something off really gets the momentum going and makes the process feel more enjoyable.
Treating de-cluttering as a self-care practice. Putting on some nice music, an audiobook or a podcast, burning a cancel or using the diffuser, even making myself a nice drink to sip on while I go.
Having the donation box close by when I’m decluttering.
Creating purchasing buffers. A couple of questions (see AB’s 7 questions before making a purchase) to ask myself before buying new things for the home.
I hope you enjoyed this guide and found it helpful! If you want an audio version, check out the 2-part series on my podcast, Time Alone.
I love how structured your blog is. My goal for 2024 is the same. I would love to know your take on relationships as a category.