14 WAYS ON HOW TO SIMPLIFY LIFE IN 2021 + GREAT RESOURCES TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE THAT!

You are worried about having too many things to juggle on your plate. Find helpful tips and resources that can help you simplify your new year and also help you accomplish more this year.

There is always a ton to get done which might often feel like a never-ending task list and mostly can be really overwhelming at times. And this past year 2020 has not been helpful at all. With no help, no schools and full-time jobs life has only gotten more tiring and exhausting.

After many months of trying to manage things around me, I finally took up a goal to simplify my life to the best possibility. I started this initiative with decluttering, writing down three to-do tasks daily in my five-minute journal, meal planning which was such a big saviour and many other small steps on my end which really helped me relax and get more done without losing my mind.

And the good news is that in a few seconds, I am going to show you a few tricks and introduce you to great resources that can help you simplify your life in 2021, that was helpful to me.

Also, if you haven’t yet set up your goals for this year, make sure to check out how to set up successful goals that are both realistic and achievable (step by step process).

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Set up automatic payments

Managing money is not always the easiest thing to do. We’ve all got a lot of bills to pay every month. From utilities to rent or to credit cards, keeping track of all this can feel like a full-time job. And imagine in between trying to juggle all your bills and payments, you accidentally miss on a credit card payment and watch your credit score drop. Phew!

One of the easiest ways to handle this situation is to automate your payments. Link your checking or direct deposit bank account directly to your credit cards, utilities, and savings and just watch them get deducted automatically every month.

I personally use a money management app called HoneyMoney and absolutely love it. HoneyMoney is one of the most well-known personal finance apps that provides your complete financial picture in one place. It helps you track your future expenses and monthly expenses on a big monthly calendar. You can keep track of your bills and spending and create a budget you can stick to.

Also, Personal Capital is another great tool that focuses primarily on investing. Unlike HoneyMoney, Personal Capital can be used for planning for future financial goals such as retirement, savings toward college, buying a house, etc. Personal Capital has the tools to analyze your investments and tell if you’re on track.

Become debt-free in 2021

This is my biggest goal in 2021. Solving your money matters does simplify life (from my personal experience) and I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to be able to come close to achieving this goal.

This past year I have been educating myself a lot on how I can achieve these goals at the earliest and I now have tools and resources at my disposal that give me a clear picture of as to where all my money is being spent and helps me make a wiser decision.

I have recently opened up a savings account with Chimes to keep a close track on my spend. As well as some of the amazing things about Chimes is that it has zero overdraft fee, no monthly maintenance bills and no limit on the lowest balance.

Minimize time spend on social media

How many times have you felt at the end of the day you have burnt a lot of unproductive hours scrolling through your Instagram and Facebook feed and you end up tiring yourself out? Also, to top it constantly looking at the screen captivates your mind and you end up comparing your life with others which can impact your mental health negatively.

Too much social media can be costing you more than just time. To have a healthy mindset and be able to enjoy life more in the present, it’s important to minimize your time on social media platforms. You can achieve this by either minimizing the number of apps that you use on your phone, set up a time when you can go online or what I do for myself is keep my phone as far away as possible from my bed before bedtime (so that I don’t get lured into picking up my phone and wasting my time!).

Not being hooked to social media all the time can definitely simplify your life and you can find more happiness.

Maintain a coordinated calendar

My husband and I always make sure to keep our google calendars coordinated on each other’s phone. My engagements appear in green and his in blue. This way we can keep a track of what our schedule looks like before taking on any new engagements.

Declutter your life

“Less is the new More”. Decluttering is not just getting rid of old stuff lying around in your home, but it’s also about the mental peace that you can gain by living a clutter-free, organized and this does simplify life to a great extent. You can save yourselves a ton of time that goes into trying to locate things when you have a lot of stuff, can help you save a lot of money (from stuff just lying around your home that you had no idea about) and you spend less time cleaning. Overall it leaves you with a pleasing feeling!

I often use a couple of online selling stuff apps to get some money for all the unwanted stuff lying around (+ a great motivation to declutter more often!). I extensively use OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. Recently I have been also using decluttr which is a selling app for old books and CDs, DVDs, etc.

Also, another exciting resource that can help you conquer your clutter at home is this super helpful declutter bundle. Valued at $29.97, this bundle has a ton of resources that can help organize life.

Watch less TV

According to a Nielsen report, United States adults are watching five hours and four minutes of television per day on average (35.5 h/week, slightly more than 77 days per year). Isn’t that crazy! Imagine taking this time and putting it towards a hobby. It can bring you more happiness and a greater feeling of being productive.

I personally don’t have a cable connection at home. Although I do use amazon prime subscription to watch my favorite TV series but mostly I try to do that only over the weekends. Watching less TV has bought invaluable value in my life as I now get more time to spend with my family.

Use planners in life

This is something that I want to get more into this coming year and what could be a better time to start than in January. I personally use the five-minute journal every morning to plan my day.

I love writing the five-minute journal, it helps clear my mind and start the day on a positive note.

Spend a few minutes a day with yourself

Spending a few minutes, a day by yourself can help you relax and reconnect to your thoughts. I like to wake up really early in the morning around 5 AM and spend my first few minutes meditating. Just being able to collect your thoughts, does infuse a lot of positivity in your mind. I would also recommend trying out journaling when you are alone with yourself as it can help you think clearly, and you will feel more gratitude in life.

Develop a cleaning schedule

It might seem like a tedious task but honestly having a cleaning schedule in place can feel so stress-free. Having a set day & time to clean your home can take your mind off stressing over how messy your home looks and you can better use that energy somewhere else.

After having my daughter, I found myself gravitating more towards toxin-free products and try to incorporate as many of them in my daily lifestyle. I really like the product offerings at Grove Collaborative. They have a variety of cleaning supplies perfect for your home, are toxin-free, priced economically and they smell great.

Organize your life

Living an organized and planned life is achievable and all it requires is a few good habits in place. Getting organized can give you that much-needed energy boost. It can reduce stress and make you happier! There are many ways that you can use to organize your life like using planners, decluttering regularly and stop procrastinating on things (just get them done!). Whatever tool or habit you use, the key is to make sure to stick to it for at least a couple of months to help them sink into your daily routine.

One great tool that I use a lot to organize both my personal as well as my blogging tasks is Trello. Trello is a task management app that gives you a visual overview of what is being worked on and who is working on it. You can think of it like a white-board filled with post-it notes.

Chose frugal options for family entertainment

It feels amazing to explore a free park or watch a movie in an open theatre. One of my goals this year is to simplify life by not planning and waiting to go on a vacation which might take months even before it shows up. Instead, try and look for easier and free entertainment available like meeting Santa with the holiday season upon us or exploring a new Christmas market in town.

This can help you have a great family time as well as you can create some beautiful memories together!

Start saying no to things

This is a habit that can only get inculcated with time. It can really benefit your mental health to be able to say ‘no’ to things here and there. I have been pulled into many not so meaningful tasks in my life in the past as it was very difficult for me to say ‘no’ to people. I remember the stress that it would cause me and my family by putting us through these ‘not-so-important’ tasks in life.

It was only after my daughter was born that I started to use the word ‘no’ more frequently as time was a bigger constraint then. When you are asked to do something, instead of just saying ‘yes’ on the spot, take a second or two to think of what you have been asked to do, does it really make any sense or is it just meaningless. This can help you make wiser decisions in life.

Develop reading as a habit

Reading is so good for the soul is not just a saying, but it actually carries a deeper meaning with it. I love reading and must have read countless books by now. After becoming a mom, I still try and target to read one book a month (which often gets challenging, but it makes me feel so good!)

When you read something, it helps you to disconnect from the outside world and in turn makes your thoughts clearer. Reading has turned into such a rewarding habit for me, it makes me feel more satisfied and happy in life.

Create a to-do list for the next day before bedtime

So important and something that I do every day now. I have noticed writing a to-do list before bedtime for the next day helps me clear my thoughts. I use my Evernote app on the phone for my to-do list.

With this list, I know what to expect the next day, what my priorities and the most important of all it helps me sleep better with a clear mind.

All these above thoughts are from my personal experiences and a more deeper look into my life on things that we're creating the most noise and preventing me from enjoying the simple pleasures in life.

I look forward to having a simple and productive year ahead and I hope that these 14 tips can help you simplify your life in this year – new year ‘2021’ too!