Tips for a simple easy life

[emerald226]

Your tips please

Go to bed at 9:30 pm. Read at least 20 books a year. Go out for a walk in the wild nature at least once a month.

Be content with what you've got.

See, I do that because I’ve naturally figured out that’s how you get more done, but actually I find it extremely stressful and I’m now trying hard to get rid of the awful habit of doing as much as you can at any one time.

I’ve only recently realised that what matters is my happiness, how I feel, my health. Not the laundry piling up. It literally doesn’t matter. My whole flat can be cleaned in 20 mins, jeez😄 life is good

Ditto.

Don't be guilt tripped into doing something you don't want to do.
Be politely assertive. There is no need to be confrontational.
MN is full of threads from posters who are too spineless to say no to people, then tie themsleves up in knots trying to get out of their predicaments when all it needed was a polite "no, that doesn't work for me".

Understand that there is no shame in not being able to afford to do something - an expensive hen weekend for example. A simple "I can't afford it/that is outside of my budget" as soon as the invitation is issued is fine.

If you can't let it go, let it be. At times it's best not to give a shit.

Walk more, sing more, dance more.

If your budget allows, outsource the things you don't like doing. My mum is 83. She fought the idea of getting a cleaner for years. She saw it as a failure on her part Eventually she gave in. It has been life changing. Her cleaner is brilliant. Very efficient, very professional and mum admits that she does a far better job than she could do these days. She gives mum an immaculate home and it means she now has the time and energy to go out and do nice things . She said recently that she wishes she had done it years ago. She could have afforded it when we were teens and she was working 4 days a week but couldn't let herself do it .If you can afford it ,do it.

Live in a cheap part of the country and don't hang your hopes and emotions on things that come and go, like jobs. Love your children and show them. Don't get sucked into possessions and measuring your value by things. All of it will one day be sold off as a job lot when you die as a 90 year old widow, so treat it accordingly.

@missingeu - If you can't let it go, let it be

oh I do like that. I'm terrible for not letting things go .

I would say don’t have teens who do GCSE. Particularly art GCSE. ( so relieved that that has finally been handed in😭)

Most "rules" are just made up - so what if people don't eat cereal for dinner - if it works for you do it. If it doesn't work for you, stop doing it. Fuck the rules. If the only thing stopping/keeping you doing something is "other (normal) people do/don't do this" then don't worry about it.

Never cook anything that takes longer than 15 minutes on a weeknight.

Notice when you're getting lost in perfectionism and comparisons. Breathe. Come back to base. Don't forget what the bigger picture looks like.

If it takes less than two minutes then just do it when you notice it. (Not great at this but I try.)

If you're going upstairs then find something that needs to be taken up, ditto going downstairs. (I'm totally rubbish at this, I was brought up in a bungalow and lived most of my adult life in flats. I'm forever having to make another stair trip straight after the first.)

Oh and get rid of stuff you no longer want or need! Don't hold onto it forever "in case it's useful" - you can buy another one if you need it in the future. Don't hold onto stuff "because I can sell that one day" - make yourself a deadline and if you haven't sold it just donate it or THROW IT AWAY. Don't hold onto stuff because "I can't landfill it!" well don't use your home as a landfill.

Honestly life is so much more stressful when you have to constantly work around all this STUFF that you don't want or need. Do not underestimate how all the time you spend moving, cleaning, endless sorting, moving it out of the way (and back) adds up!

Know thyself, being brutally honest always. .Live within a little less than your means. Choose your friends and lovers slowly, carefully, and wisely. Learn to say 'no'. Discard all that is no longer a 'positive' in your life, and that includes people as well as 'stuff'.

I hated being single. I mean, at first it was fun and freeing, lots of time for just me. But then eventually I felt lonely and really wanted to share life with somebody. So staying single is not for everyone!

If I could wind the clock back, I’d never date thoughtlessly, without planning ahead and thinking very carefully about what I want and what I don’t want.

I could have written this, apart from 2 - flat near shops. I'm a country girl at heart who needs open fields around me. But yes to the rest. Especially having my own car and not letting myself get a stone over what is good (currently at that limit though)

Spring clean your home periodically. It lightens the mind.
Spring clean your friends periodically too. Just because you have been friends with someone since school, college,uni, your first proper job doesn't mean the friendship has to last forevermore. People come and people go. Spending time with a friend should be easy and light and fun. Or helpful and supportive if life is difficult. Let the people go who drain your soul , use you, or suck the life out of you. You can't save them and you don't need them.

But there is a connection between a clean and relatively tidy home and well-being.

Self care. Take time for you. You can't pour from an empty cup. Listen to your body, when it tells you something's wrong, it usually knows what it's talking about.

Stop giving a fuck

Give stuff away if you don't want it. You've had your use of it, and don't expect to profit. Give it away on fb marketplace and think of the time saved in recycling trip v money gained.

Comparison is the thief of joy.
Stop worrying about how you match up to other people and their lifestyles and find joy in your own.
All the negative emotions of jealousy, envy, and injustice don't add anything positive to your life and just stop you from experiencing the good bits.

My mums favourite mantra was.
"Do they pay your rent/mortgage or bills? No? Then stop giving a fuck about what they think of you.

Only buy black socks with a coloured heel if you have men/kids. Or socks with a clear difference to the others. I spent way too much time pairing different shades of black socks/ different stained white socks... Having all black with a clear colour/heel difference makes it take seconds to match up! It's the little things... 🤣

Declutter rooms AND cupboards! Then you'll never have to spend time looking for things that you need quick or ever have to worry about tidying up if someone is coming unannounced on a chill day.

Don't be with a partner who doesn't complete you. If they're hard work in the beginning, it rarely, if ever gets better. Once you're with a decent guy, it'll make you see just how bad some others are.

Don't entertain knobheads. Don't cause or take part in drama. Not your circus, not your monkeys. Look after yourself and anyone who makes time for you.

Love yourself and know your worth. Life is made to be lived to the fullest, not endured 💪

Become a Buddhist Nun

Live near your work.

Prioritise sleep. Get as many early nights as you can.

Walk or exercise outside as much as possible.

Stay a healthy weight.

Travel light.

Don’t overcommit.

Build in lots of downtime.

Do things you don’t like doing as quickly as possible.