One Tiny Step Towards Simple Living Could save You Multiple Days of Wasted Time and Energy
I hate to be so cliché, but the little things count for a lot
Welcome to the Friday mailout! Friday’s essays and recommendations are free for everyone, but Simple and Straightforward is now a thrice-weekly publication. Paid subscribers get access to 8-week simple living courses (one lesson sent out every Monday) and waste-reducing recipes sent out every Wednesday. Join the fun for $5 a month or save 20% with a yearly subscription and help support an independent, ad-free publication.
This week, I wrote an article called 15 one-minute things you can do to simplify your life right this second. Once it was out in the world, it got me thinking about how tiny little actions can have a huge impact on our lives.
It’s a truism done to death:
It’s the little things that count. A little goes a long way. Enjoy the little things in life.
We hear these phrases so often, they’re almost devoid of meaning.
But just because they’re clichéd, doesn’t make them any less true - particularly when it comes to crafting a simpler life. After all, it’s the small things that we brought into our life that made it so complicated in the first place.
Think about it. Your life didn’t become overwhelming and busy overnight, you probably didn’t even realize it was happening.
We all start with zero stuff (there or thereabouts) when we move into our first place - the stuff gets added to bit by bit.
Perhaps you started adding extra social events to your calendar here or there which compounded as you met more people (many of us collect colleagues and acquaintances as we go along, not to mention all the extra social events that come with being a parent).
If the little things in life have made it complicated, it’s the little things that can make it simple again.
***
A great example of this small things make a big difference schtick is the entryway to your house.
Take a minute to think about how yours looks.
A friend of mine in London’s entryway is filled to bursting with coats and shoes, many of which I know haven’t been worn in an age. There is so much filling that space that the coats and shoes that are frequently worn don’t even end up there - coats will find their way onto chairs in other rooms, shoes will be kicked to the side in the kitchen.
If that person took 20 minutes to sort out that entryway - jettison shoes and coats that are never worn, perhaps put away seasonal outerwear like winter boots and coats during the summer - that entryway would be a calmer, more organized space.
This might not seem like that big a deal but it feeds into a wider theme. If the first thing you do when you enter your house is add to your silent to-do list - mental notes of chores that are never written down (in this case “I must sort out my entryway sometime”) it adds to your mental load before you’ve even gotten in the door.
And if your entryway is cluttered, that means seeing clutter every single day. Clutter means more anxiety, less focus, less sleep.
In other words, organizing those shoes means so much more than just organizing those shoes.
Keys is another good example. We spend a staggering 2.5 days a year looking for items. The top five? Keys, wallet, glasses, TV remote, and phone.
I was visiting a friend in Finland last week who has the most incredible apartment. It’s small and pretty non-descript in terms of the way it’s built, but she’s made it gorgeous inside. What struck me more than anything was how everything had its place - including her keys and wallet that sat in a little box by the door. Every time we entered the apartment, both items went into the box. On our way out, she knew exactly where to find them.
It’s such a small thing but it’s not something I am not always very good at. At any one moment, my keys are in my coat pocket, my purse, the kitchen table, or the coffee table and I never know which. But if I had a single spot for them - and routinely kept them there - that could save me up to 60 hours a year of searching.
That’s nearly 2 working weeks’ worth of time, saved right off the bat, just by having a home for my keys, wallet, glasses, remote, and phone.
Paid subscribers might recall that one of my big tips in our current Dejunk Yourself course is that everything should have a place in the home. The reason I believe this so strongly is that a big part of living simply is about safeguarding our time. If small things like finding a space for our keys will save us that time, it goes to show - a little really does go a long way.
***
Small things making big differences are most keenly felt I think when it comes to simplifying your diary. Social lives have a habit of spiraling and as I said at the beginning, I hear with kids, it spirals even more. Not only do you have your own social engagements but you have all your kids’ too.
The trick I always suggest is to cut out the next social engagement you hate the sound of:
a leaving event for a colleague you hardly know
a party for someone in your kid’s class who your kid is pretty lukewarm about
a baby or wedding shower with a ludicrous minimum gift spend on the register
So many of us get stuck in what I call the politeness loop. We’re too polite to say no - because our social constructs tell us it’s rude to decline an offer if you don’t have a genuine reason to - so we attend an event. The more we do this, the more we’re thought of as someone who will “always come through,” who is unlikely to turn down an invite, so we get invited to more. We say yes again and before we know it, we’re stuck in the hellhole that is boring-ass events with boring-ass people sucking up all our time and energy.
Saying no - even just once or twice - breaks that loop. Suddenly, you’ve got more time on your hands. And that’s not just the time spent at the event. It’s all the time you spend leading up to it (you might not do much that day to save your energy for the evening) and after (you’ll probably be tired the next day).
A few hours out on a Saturday night could in fact take up most of your weekend.
So say no, even just once. And watch your spare time exponentially grow.
I promise I’ll stop with the gratitude at some point…
…but not just yet. So it’s another huge THANK YOU to everyone who has upgraded to a paid subscription for Simple and Straightforward this week. Paid subscribers had front-row seats for the first week of S+S’s first course, Dejunk Yourself, as well as a recipe for salsiccia con polenta - sausage and polenta - with 18 different iterations to fit what’s in your storecupboard.
If you’re on the fence about upgrading, remind yourself about all the kickass benefits you’ll receive here.
Setting up your weekend
3 articles from my collection (paywall free)
3 of the best pieces of content I’ve consumed this week
Instagram - Brian Bilston - I just found this dude last night and he had me in stitches with his humorous look at life through poetry. If you want a laugh, this is yours today. His ‘thirty rules for mid-life rebellion’ is a gem.
Article - How Much Leisure Time Do the Happiest People Have? - a fascinating study into how much free time is the “ideal” amount.
Article - 10 Minimalism Quotes That Will Inspire You to Live with Less - Julia Ubbenga puts together a nice set of quotes here. My favorite? Decluttering tip: Instead of asking - what if I need this someday - ask - what if someone else needs it more today?