Staying at home in quarantine mode took everyone by surprise. At a time when everyone complained about the lack of time, it seems that you don’t know what to do when all you have is time. How about taking the opportunity to rethink your life, your habits and your purpose? A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for each person. For me, living simply means eliminating the unnecessary and spending time doing what really matters. Check out the tips for following life in quarantine.
1. Identify what’s important to you
Identify what is most important to you and eliminate everything else. Stop and think if you can apply this to different areas of your life. What’s more important to you? What do you value most? What do you most want to do in your life? Simplifying starts with these priorities, how are you trying to make room in your life in quarantine so that you have more time for these things?
2. Make your lifestyle a priority
Look at everything that is happening, everything! Work, home, family, children’s activities, hobbies and other projects. Think about which one you love to do. Which of these commitments are among the most important things to you? Drop those that don’t agree with your priorities.
3. Evaluate your time
How do you enjoy your day? What things do you do from the time you wake up to bedtime? Make a list and assess whether they are in line with your priorities. If not, eliminate what’s not important, focus on what is, and reschedule your life in quarantine
4. Simplify homework
Think about all the things you do at home. Sometimes our to-do list at home is as long as our to-do list at work. So focus on what’s most important, and try to find ways to eliminate the other tasks (automate, delegate or ask for help).
5. Learn to say no
This is actually one of the top habits for those trying to simplify their lives. If you can’t say no, you’re going to be overwhelmed.
6. Limit the media
The media make our life in quarantine easier, but they also generate an endless flow of information with emails, WhatsApp, sms, cell phone, Skype, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, forums, and much more. If you’re careless, the day goes by without you realizing it. Instead, put a limit on checking your messages: set times to check your emails such as morning and evening, time to reply to Whatsapp messages, time to stay on social media, and only do it once a day and for a limited period of time. Set a time to answer phone calls. Set a calendar and stick to it.
7. Disposal
Organize one environment at a time. Walk around each room and eliminate the unnecessary. You can take the time to discard the things you don’t want. Put in boxes or garbage bags what you want to donate or discard.
8. Organize closets and drawers
It’s time to face the cabinets and the drawers. Organize only one drawer or shelf at a time to avoid chaos.
9. Simplify your wardrobe
Does your closet look like it’s going to explode it’s so full? Simplify your wardrobe and get rid of anything you haven’t really worn in a while. Try to create a minimalist wardrobe and have a simple style with neutral colors that match each other.
10. Organize your life digitally
If you have problems with too many physical files and too much clutter, consider filing everything online. This can simplify things a lot. Pay your bills online, choose to receive invoices by email, scan documents, cancel mailings and eliminate paper.
11. Limit your buying habits
Staying at home confined can help you on this journey. You can escape materialism. Set a monthly spending limit, buy only out of necessity. This will mean less stuff, less spending, less bills and less mess.
12. Simplify your budget
Many people don’t have a budget and this makes controlling finances difficult.
13. Have free time
Find ways to make time for the important things. That means eliminating the things you don’t like and making room for what you want to do.
14. Do what you love
Once you make room in your schedule, be sure to spend that time doing extra things you love. Look at your list of important things and focus on them.
15. Spend time with the people you love
Again, look at your priority list. It probably has the names of the people you love. Find time to do things with them whether offline or online (if they’re confined) and create a special connection.
16. Eat slowly
If you push food down your throat, you’re not just losing the taste of the food, you’re not chewing it healthy. Chewing food well helps you lose weight, improve digestion and you enjoy better flavors.
17. Live the present without sensationalism
Stop watching the news and seeing apocalyptic news. You don’t need to be oblivious, but living in the here and now, in the present moment, aware of life and the gift of being alive does wonders for your sanity.
18. Create a cleaning system for the house
Do the job right away, always leave it as you found it, washing the dishes while cooking makes for an efficient cleaning system.
19. Clean your desk
If you have a desk full of papers, this can be distracting as well as stressful. Always keep your table clean after use.
20. Learn to live frugally
Living frugally means buying less, wanting less and leaving less waste across planet earth. It is directly related to simplicity.
21. Live in a minimalist house
A minimalist home has what it takes, and no more. It is an extremely quiet, clean and mess-free house.
22. Know what is “enough”
We live in a materialistic society, where it seems that nothing is enough but endless consumption. Take advantage of this period, get out of the consumption cycle and find out how much is enough for you. Stop consuming meaningless!
23. Create a weekly menu
Having to think about what to make for lunch and dinner can be stressful and ordering pizza can be risky in times of coronavirus? Consider creating a weekly menu. Set a specific lunch and dinner for each day of the week, make a shopping list based on the menu. My tip is to invest in easy recipes.
24. Eat healthy
It may not be so obvious how healthy eating relates to simplicity. By eating fatty, saturated, sugary, fried foods, you can develop some preventable diseases. Eating healthy simplifies all this in the long run.
25. Exercise
In the same vein as healthy eating, exercising simplifies your life in the long run. Exercise helps burn calories, eliminates stress and makes you feel better. Here’s how to get into the habit of exercising.
26. Have a place for everything
Old advice, but having a place for every object in your house is the best way to keep things organized after disposal.
27. Find a creative activity
Writing, poetry, painting, drawing, filmmaking, dancing, whatever. We all have a need for self-expression, and finding a way to do that makes living in quarantine that much more rewarding.
28. Know how to relieve stress
No matter how much you simplify your life, you’re still going to have stress. So, after going through some stress, find your way to decompress.
29. Do unique tasks
Multitasking is complicated, stressful, and generally less productive. Instead, do one task at a time.
30. Develop patience
If every little thing that happens to you in your day makes you angry or stressed, your life in quarantine won’t be simple. Learn to filter out problems and you’ll be happier.
31. Make a to-do list each day
You should make a list of just 3 important things to do each day. Don’t start with a long list of things you probably won’t be able to accomplish by the end of the day. A simple list of 3 things will make you feel like you’ve accomplished something.
32. Create morning and evening routines
The key to keeping your life in quarantine is creating routines at the beginning and end of the day. Create rituals to be followed every morning and every night.
33. Learn to do nothing
Doing nothing is an art and everyone needs to do nothing at least once a week.
34. Fill your day with simple pleasures
Make a list of simple little pleasures like drinking coffee, drinking a glass of wine, stretching, eating chocolate, talking to someone special and do it throughout your day.
35. Write a diary
Write down what is important to you and each day write down the things you have done that have brought you closer to your goal. This will keep you within the proposal.
I hope you enjoy your time in this period we live. Spend your time on productive things and have faith that everything will get better!
