Rituals to Simplify Your Life Without Decluttering

Imagine you are living in a house for rent in cyberjaya and you find your life hectic and complicated. You decide that you need more simplicity in your life, and you start to think that it may be time to unclutter your life. You start with your belongings. Think again. Pursuing a simpler life has become synonymous with decluttering. It has become the norm that to live a simple life means living with less possessions. There is certainly a truth to that notion. Many of us begin our journey towards simplicity by decluttering, but that is certainly not our destination.

Rituals to Simplify Your Life Without Decluttering

Sometimes we get caught up with removing and editing, that we lose sight of why we are doing it in the first place. What’s more, we end up spending so much time on decluttering that we forget to see that we might still be living with complicated lives, cluttered minds and cluttered calendars.

You want to be able to enjoy life, and to experience what life has to offer to simply live. If you lost yourself in culling your belongings to actually live your live, then you’ve certainly lost sight of your way.

Rituals are the foundation upon our greatest achievements. We all need some rituals in our lives to help guide our way. Find your way by adopting these four rituals into your day. They help you keep focus on what’s important and remind you that a simple life is so much more than just decluttering.

Ritual One: Quiet

How much time do you take for yourself each day? Too little, if you’re like most people. With the busyness of the world around us, it might be difficult to imagine being able to spare any time to have a quiet moment.

Whether you are introverted or the most extroverted, everyone needs some quiet time in their day. Moments of quiet to reflect, to meditate, and to just be. Take five minutes of your day to just sit still and be quiet, just focusing on your breath.

You can do this ritual at any time of the day. However, the first thing in the morning is ideal. This way, you can start your day with peace, calm and serenity. Here’s a tip: you can set your alarm 15 minutes earlier in the morning and get this ritual out of the way as soon as you wake up.

Ritual Two: Brain Dump

A brain dump is simply the act of dumping all the contents of your mind onto some other storage and retrieval medium. Imagine it to be like how one might dump the contents of their bag onto a table. In essence, it is a mind-mapping and journaling exercise.

The idea is to spill out stressors, problems, and to-dos onto paper. This essentially releases your pent-up frustrations, nagging thoughts and pesky annoyances. Getting it all out means it no longer occupies space in your mind, enabling you to think more clearly.

It’s easy to start. Take five minutes, grab a pen and some paper and start writing. You don’t need to think too much about what to write. Just write down any thoughts that are floating around in your mind. Don’t think, just release. Let your thoughts flow freely without censor. Rather, what matters is that you spill out your thoughts, regardless of neatness, spelling and grammar.

Once you’ve finished dumping out the thoughts in your head, take a minute to look over what you have written. Identify recurring issues, pressing problems and even specific tasks. Circle those items and hold on to the paper for it will be used in your final ritual.

Ritual Three: Gratitude

Are you thankful for the things you have – both material and spiritual? The secret to being grateful is no secret at all. Here’s the secret: you choose to be grateful, each and every day. It’s that simple.

Spend 5 minutes of your day to jot down what you are grateful for daily. It can be on a scrap piece of paper, in a fancy notebook, or on a chalkboard in your kitchen – wherever – jot down a list of five things you are grateful for each day. Keep the list brief and use just a few words for each item.

This helps you be more aware of, and in turn more grateful for, the positives (and even the negatives!) in your life. Only when you know what you have, can you be grateful for what you have.

Ritual Four: Three Things List

Sometimes, our length to-do lists end up bringing us down and we end up overcommitting ourselves instead. We know that there is no possible way we can complete all X number of tasks in our day, and yet we still write them all down with the expectation that they will all be done. This essentially sets us up for failure before we even begin.

Instead, have a to-do list with only three items on it. Having a short list of three makes the list achievable, actionable and simple. This way, you set yourself up for success: the feeling of victory and the huge sense of achievement that comes when you complete your to-dos will gear you up for even more success.

Now, the three tasks come from the tasks that are floating around on your mind (from the brain dump). For example, the phone calls you need to make, appointments with people, or even errands that you’ve been putting off. List the three most pressing items from your brain dump and do these before any other task.

You might say that you have more than three things to do daily. That is a given. However, things that are a daily occurrence – such as doing your laundry, cooking dinner or even making the bed – should not make it on to your three things list. Keep this list for more important and time-sensitive tasks. Each morning, nominate three things from your brain dump and work to get those done. You can list other, less-urgent tasks, but no more than six. If you finish all of the tasks ahead of time, pick out three more from your brain dump and move on to these secondary tasks.

Four Simple Rituals For Your Day

The amazing about these rituals is that you can complete them in 15 minutes. This helps keep you from feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of thoughts and tasks from day to day life. With these four rituals, you will find your days freer, calmer, simpler and also happier!