How to simplify life and get rid of stuff : 30 things to get rid of immediately
Are your feeling your life has gotten extremely complicated and cluttered lately? today I will be sharing how to simplify life and get rid of stuff.
A Big element that contributes to making our lives complicated is useless and meaningless things that we keep holding onto;
only if we get rid of these things from our life would it be a lot simpler and more manageable!
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Why do I struggle to get rid of stuff?
Are you a big hoarder who finds it difficult to get rid of your possessions?
There is some sort of feelings attached to the things and it constantly reminds you of that. You find it difficult to throw away.
 Whereas some people find it easy to eliminate things and even people from life and others don’t.
I am someone who doesn’t find it hard to declutter and put things away.
If you struggle with getting rid of stuff, some of the reasons could be
- You are materialistic: You attach too much meaning to things and hence when deciding whether to put them away, you struggle.
- Â You don’t like wasting money: You things that the item could be used again and throwing it away would be a waste of money. Even though you may never use it but this thought keeps lingering in your mind and makes it difficult to throw it away
- You are influenced by trends: Some items are timeless where as some are trendy for time being. they go out of fashion and something else becomes trendy again. You like to fit into the trend and so you end up buying those limited trendy items and once they are out of trend you have them lying around in your closet. You do not throw it away because you are hardly used to it.
- You do not know how to start decluttering: It feels overwhelming for you to start the decluttering process and so you push it away and never actually get into doing it.
Now Let’s Read how to simplify life and get rid of stuff!
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Also, Read- 25 Ways To Simplify Your Life
How do you simplify belongings?
Understanding each point with an open mind can help give a new perspective and push for change, and only after taking action will you realize its impact and how much better and simpler your life is now.
5 tips – how to simplify life and get rid of stuff
1. Start Small
If you feel overwhelmed with so much to declutter and don’t know where to begin. Start with small things. Choose one small area of life you may find easier to simplify.
2. It’s a Journey
Simplifying your life is a long journey and a constant process. Don’t think you need to do everything in one day and everything will be sorted. It takes time and consistent effort.
3. Ask Yourself
When struggling with eliminating any item. Ask yourself simple questions
When was the last time I used it?
Is it something I need or just want to keep for pleasure?
Is this Item adding any value to my life?
4. Be firm on your why
Every time you struggle with simplifying things. go back to why, Why did you start this journey? What made you want to simplify and get rid of your belonging? Do you want to go through it again?
5. Go at a slow pace
Do not rush the process. Take it at a pace that is manageable for you.
How to simplify life and get rid of stuff: 30 Things to Get Rid of to Simplify Life
1. Negative Mindset
The first and the most important of all is our mindset; mindset is everything regarding life, happiness, career, and relationship.
To feel Fulfilled, the right mindset is essential! A negative mindset consists of scarcity, doubtfulness, losses, fear, and negative beliefs in general.
However, it is common for us to feel these emotions when faced with adversity, but eventually, a consistent outlook of negative beliefs will stop us from reaching our full potential!
The environment we have grown up in and see around has shaped us that way, which instills rules and fear that keeps us from going after things we want
What if I fail? Money is scarce, I can never do this, life is hard, happiness is not meant for everyone, and so on! What will people think?
We have heard 100s of these words that have become a part of our life, resulting in us not creating our dream life and experiencing the joys it can give us.
Whatever we think we eventually become- That’s why thoughts are powerful.
To let go of a negative mindset, first, become aware of it. Once you know the negative words you keep telling yourself, you can only choose to let them go!
Reverse them with positive thoughts.
if you have been meaning to do something in your life and are unable to pursue it because you feel you will fail or think you don’t deserve it.
Recognize that it is nothing but a belief in your head- you have not even tried it in the first place, so how can you be sure if you will fail?
We cannot see the future, but sure we can create it, hence keeping an optimistic.
2. Items you haven’t used in months or years
This is a huge one; almost all of us have things in our life that play hardly any use, but still,
we keep them in the hope that they will be helpful once! It only adds space and responsibility- nothing else!
Decluttering is extremely important! The more intentional we become of things we own, we will find how much lighter it feels!
Try to get rid of something every six months and check if you have used them in the last few months; if not, immediately put them away!
3. Caring about other’s Opinions
Growing up, all I heard from people around me was- what will society think if we do this? Society will say this or that.
Eventually, every life decision was based on the so-called society I had never met or known of!
We sacrifice so much of our happiness and dreams, caring about other people’s opinions and making them the ruler of our life.
I don’t want to live my life like this; I don’t want to spend my old age years wishing if I had done this, then I would be somewhere better,
and so, I chose not to let their opinion define my life! What will that lead to? Will you be happy in the end? Or filled with regrets wishing, if I had done this or that…
Imagine once you are dead, do you think the people- whose opinion you cared too much about will remember you?
Probably for a few minutes once they hear the news of you passing away, but that’s it!
Then why should we spend our lives fearing their opinion about our life when they are not living it?
That is why it is essential to get rid of this and start listening to our heart and what it wants!
4. Toxic People
Just like people’s opinions, there are people in our life that make it turmoil! We deal with constant drama and fights that affect our mental health and vitality.
Once you set boundaries and distance them from your life, it will be a lot simpler and healthier! There can be toxic people in various ways, and it is difficult to completely cut some of them,
Try recognizing if the person can be eliminated or not and if yes, cut them off.
We cannot wholly push away some people who could be close friends, work colleagues, or family members; we can set boundaries and limit interactions!
5. Bad Habits
When it comes to simplifying your life, Habits play a huge role. Collecting things is also a habit that when overdone makes your space cluttered and messy.
Every time, you are feeling that life has gotten messy, go back to your daily habits and check what bad habits you have started recently?
Read – Are These Bad Morning Habits Ruining Your life?
Here are 10 Toxic Habits To Quit Immediately For Better
6. Too much Planning and To-Do Lists
Another minor aspect that plays a huge role in productivity is too much planning and making long to-do lists!
A slight myth that productivity means the more tasks you can do affects your growth!
Productivity means getting essential jobs done first rather than no thousand tasks in a day! To get things done, effective planning is necessary!
Long to-do lists
Back in the day, I would make daily to-do lists and write 10 things to do every day! Like everyone else,
I would start with easy things to finish many tasks and feel productive. Still, eventually, the critical tasks were left behind, and I kept pushing them away, which ultimately led to no growth.
Over the years, I have changed it to only making a maximum of 3 crucial tasks a day and sometimes only 1.
I take the difficult one first, spend time figuring it out, and only move to the next one! This has helped me in growing and getting things done.
Excess Planning
Apart from long lists, one thing that stops us from achieving our goals is too much planning!
I have been around people who plan too much for so long that they only take action to go after it or forget about achieving it.
The time between planning and actions should be very minimal! Even if it means taking one tiny step a day, there should be action!
The more time you increase in planning rather than taking action, the more away, you will be from your goals!
Hence don’t spend too long making a plan because sometimes the strategy may fail,
No matter how good of a planner you are, unwanted obstacles tend to come in between! So, don’t waste another second and try!
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7. Multi-Tasking
A Big myth that has been going on for years is that multitasking is good! I have heard from so many people around me that one should be a multi-tasker to achieve success!
Ironically this is an area I have always struggled with- no matter how much I try, I can never multitask, due to which people would always consider me stupid.
Only in the last few years have I learned from some successful people that multitasking could be better! In fact,
it is scientifically proven that multitasking is not designed for our brains and can affect our brains negatively! –Â Read here the effects of multitasking
8. Mindless Consumption
What are you consuming every day?
Whether it is food, movies, books, tv series, images, and videos you are consuming daily.
Be more mindful and see are these things adding any value to your life, or are you just consuming them with no purpose whatsoever.
9. Chasing after Money-Success
The new ideology or trend of chasing after money and fame has added stress and rush in life!
Millionaires are running toward becoming billionaires, and the wealthiest people in the countries are running to be the richest in the world like
they don’t have enough money already And it has created a new norm of success that we common people are going after!
I recently read a book- The Psychology of Money: that showed the experiences of some of the wealthiest people who did scandals to get more money and ended up losing everything!
No matter how much you earn- it is less; more expense is added by the time you have reached income to pay current costs!
10. Cluttered Phone
We spend a lot of time on our phones, and a part of it is the number of apps and emails we have- which we don’t really need
Phones are designed to keep us active on it; the moment you put your phone down, a new notification from apps will pop up to distract us- which is why I keep all my notifications off, and you should too!
Minimize the emails and apps you are logged into; it would be much more peaceful!
11. Living in Debt
I don’t have any debt, but there are people around me who are living in debt, and I have seen it has given them stress!
They take some debt to get something, spend years stressing to pay, and once it is done, another is already added!
Living below our means is essential. If we keep spending more money than we actually make, we spend more time working in stress, exhaustion,
and fear than peace. Hence, living in debt is one of the crucial things to get rid of to simplify life!
12. Buying Things you don’t Need
Similar to the point above, one of the main reasons many people live in constant debt is to buy things they don’t need!
We spend more money on wants than needs, which clutter our lives. It makes it complicated!
It is essential to become mindful of our purchases to eliminate buying things we don’t need!
Every time you make a purchase, ask yourself, do you really need it? Will it add any value to my life or just space and headache?
Simple self-reflection questions can help you overcome this and live a simpler life.
13. Doing things forcefully
Lastly, something I have learned and trying to implement in my life is to stop doing things that I genuinely don’t want to
Saying no to people is challenging but important at the same time! For years I had spent time doing things for others because I couldn’t say no when I didn’t like doing it.
It was the constant push of my boundaries, and I felt unhappy and irritated at the end! The truth is, we don’t need to do things just because we are told to.
It is essential to listen to your body, know what it wants, and do as it says! Apart from that, when I am doing something dishearteningly.
First, the results would be great, and second, it would make me feel low.
14. Negative self-talk
Apart from Physical Things, Our minds can be cluttered with too many negative thoughts. Most of the negative thoughts consist of negative self-talk. Words we say to ourselves every day in our mind and self-sabotaging ourselves.
15. Too Many Goals
Are you being realistic when setting goals? Or have you added too many goals for a short period? Simplify your goals and keep a minimum of 1-3 goals for the year, month and week.
It helps you focus on them deliberately and bring results!
16. Products with artificial ingredients
Something I have started doing recently is reading ingredients before Buying anything. Especially food and skincare ingredients. There are so many products that contain too many harmful ingredients that can damage our skin and body.
17. Overthinking
Overthinking is another reason we are consumed with negative thoughts and feel anxious, and unhappy all the time. While it’s normal for us to overthink situations, it is also important, to make a conscious effort to minimize them.
If we continue to overthink everything, Our mental health will get worse, and so our lives.
18. Shopping Apps
Online shopping has made it easy and convenient to shop but also increases the high level of mindless purchasing of things we don’t need.
The constant notification of deals and offers makes us spend our hard-earned money on things that bring hardly any value.
Get rid of the apps simply and keep a minimum of only necessary ones.
19. Useless Email Subscriptions
I have a habit of reading emails daily as it is a part of my job, what I have found is that there are so many brands that spam you with emails and offer in it too much. Some of the companies I shopped for once and never again, and all of them send daily emails.
Even though I have my notifications off to avoid these spam emails during the day. I have made an effort to unsubscribe from the useless ones and keep only the ones I need.
20. Excess Furniture
Coming Back to our home, our sanctuary, where we spend the time relaxing and recharging. If it is also cluttered with excess furniture, it may not be very functional and feel heavy
There should be a balance between Functional items and home decor Items to keep harmony in the room.
21. Screen time
Simplify and limit your screen time. I definitely struggle with this one. What has helped me is deleting the apps once in a while. Adding hobbies and going out every now and then so I do not get to use my phone, and instead spend time in the real world!
22. Busy Schedule
Is your working nonstop? Working 9-10 hours a day and not scheduling downtime for yourself? If yes, then you might already be going through stress, burnout, or body pain because your body needs rest and to enjoy life. Get rid of your busy schedule and reset it simply.
23. Too many commitments
Stick to meaningful and essential commitments that are essential and can be completed. Making too many promises and commitments can burden you, and with time, you will lose their authenticity if you find them hard to fulfill.
24. Expired Products
Check your vanity and drawers and get rid of products that have expired. Makeup, skincare, medicines, and food products. Take time to go through all of them and get rid of them if expired.
25. Gossip
Gossip adds up mental clutter, and I find it useless. As a kid, I used to find myself – gossiping a lot in a particular group. But as I have grown with time, gossip does not excite me. I Like to know about the person I am talking to and have meaningful conversations.
Get rid of gossip
26. To much of everything
Do you have too many eyeshadow pallets? Too many lipsticks?, too many creams? Buying more and more items from different brands even though you have used up your old products adds up to huge clutter in the long term.
Stop buying too much of everything and eliminate it if you are not actively using them.
27. Forced Relationships
There are friendships and relationships that we do not deeply connect with but find ourselves meeting forcefully for the sake of friendship. This can be hurting for both the person. Be true to yourself and listen to your intuition. This is a simple way to know how to simplify life and get rid of stuff
28. Rushing
Slow living is the mantra I have been following this year, to enjoy life fully, we must live it slowly and briefly. Time passes away fast, and after years we find ourselves looking back and wishing we had enjoyed living in the moment instead of rushing toward the future.
Here is my Post on explaining The Beauty of living a slow and simple life – 17 ways to slow down
29. Distractions
Distractions cause us to procrastinate and not live in the moment. So many times, when we procrastinate and are unable to get our tasks done, it is due to distractions in our life.
Look around and notice what are the distractions, that are keeping you away from work. Eliminate them one by one.
30. Complaining
When we always complaining, we easily get in a negative headspace where we feel ungrateful for everything in our life. Get rid of Complaints and you will find so much peace inside.
Conclusion
These were the 30 effective tips on how to simplify life and get rid of stuff that I have learned to recognize! Start with one thing at a time and check how it has helped you and made you feel.
I hope you found the post how to simplify life and get rid of stuff helpful and will make changes in your life!
Let me know in the comments!
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Great list !!
Thank you!