During the summer months, many of us change our routines to a slower pace than the rest of the year. Wouldn’t it be nice to be that relaxed all the time?
I don’t have the power to make it summer all year round, but since the first week of August is Simplify Your Life Week, I’m going to share a few of the things I do to keep it simple.
- Only buy what you need. This saves both money and storage space. If you’ll only need something once, or even once in a while, consider renting it instead.
- Clean out your wallet. Do you really need all those credit cards? One for business and one for personal use should be ample. Now that the major departments stores accept Visa and MasterCard, there’s really no sense having separate cards for each store. Same with rewards cards. Keep the ones for the stores you shop at regularly, and trash the rest.
- Use an online bookmarking service like Delicious. You’ll be able to access your bookmarks no matter what browser or computer you’re using, including your mobile phone, and you can tag them with whatever keywords make sense to you, making it easy to find information when you need it again.
- Use a password manager like Roboform. It allows you to generate unique, random passwords for each of your online accounts, and stores them securely so you don’t have to write them on a sheet of paper or remember them all.
- Keep your inbox under control by unsubscribing from newsletters you don’t read. Better yet, use a separate email account for subscriptions and only check it when you’ve got the time and the desire to read.
- No matter what season it is, remember to take time to get away from your day-to-day activities, even if it’s only for a few hours.
In the comments, please share what YOU do to keep it simple. If you don’t, what’s stopping you?
I like to live by the Keep It Simple Sweetie motto. I limit my choices in making decisions. I keep my options to only 3, so it is easier to make a decision whether it is food, clothes or events. Too simple, but it works for me!
Decision-making is one of my weak points, so I’ll have to keep your strategy in mind, Ellen. Thanks for sharing!
Love your tips about cleaning out your wallet. It’s amazing. My husband’s wallet has receipts from years ago stored in there!
I have to admit that it took me a few years to finally rid myself of all those cards, but now that I have, shopping is much simpler!
That’s a beautiful photo on this post, Janet. I hope you’ll be back there again before too long.
Me too, Kathy!