What are some easy ways to declutter and simplify my life?

I think it may be necessay to simplify your life first ….the decluttering can come later.

Simplifying your life is primarily a mental change…with changes in behaviour to follow. You need to want to do less, with less. So you need to find the things that take up the most time and effort with the least amount of satisfaction.

I decided I will not go on holidays abroad anymore. I used to fly a lot for work and family reasons, and I gradually found the flying inconvenient...even when I enjoyed my time abroad. It was also incompatible with my sense of caring for the environment. It meant recycling a lot of my travel related stuff, kept in a couple of bags, immediately. It also meant a lot of time and money to be spent on other priorities.

As I live alone, I decided to eat fewer meals each day and cook fewer times than before. I decided these meals could be put together very simply with a few healthy ingredients that balance the nutritional elements. A lot of the equipment in the kitchen could be put away to declutter the space. You buy and throw away less waste too…a form of decluttering the environment you live in.

I decided to move all my reading and music to streaming sources…this meant I could have a hundred books and thousands of songs on my smartphone or tablet. I recycled the books and CDs to declutter. It also meant less cleaning and dusting around these collections.

I have not bought an item of formal wear in 3 years. Of course the pandemic meant working from home for 2 years but now I go to the office 2–3 days a week. I had to get rid of suits that got mildew from lack of use and did not need to replace them …so natural declutter.

I think we have all been taken in by conspicuous consumption. But in the post pandemic world, with climate change being the next important threat, it may be time for a mental shift away from consumption…this should lead to simplifying life and elimination of clutter inside and outside the home.