15 Small (and kinda weird) Things I QUIT to Simplify My Life | minimalism + simple living

One of my favorite quotes of all time is a gentle reminder that clutter comes in many forms. It isn't just about the piles of stuff on your floors or your kitchen countertops. Clutter is anything that stands between you and your dream home and life. Keeping that in mind, in today's video I'm sharing 15 small and kind of weird things that I've done to simplify my life. Because the moment I noticed all of the little things that were quietly making my life harder and took steps to radically simplify them was the moment that my entire life changed for the better. Some of these things are things I no longer buy and others are things I stopped doing. But subtracting these things from my life has added so much value and joy that I don't even miss them at all. Starting with number one on this list, which is that I refuse to buy white towels. And I feel like this is one of those things that goes against all of the most popular home decor and minimalism trends of our time, but I just cannot stand white towels. Actually, just saying this out loud almost feels like blasphemy. White towels are often recommended as the best choice for people who want a clean and pristine vibe because supposedly they are the easiest to wash and maintain. But I've personally never had great luck with keeping white towels white and looking nice. We had white towels in our last furnished rental and despite me using bleach and oxyclean to remove dirt and stains, they always ended up looking dull and dingy in no time flat. Also, even though I'm a minimalist, I actually love things that add character and little pops of color to my home. So when we were buying towels for this home, I found these beautiful ribbed terrycloth ones at IKEA in a deep, rich olive greenish color that I instantly fell in love with. And not only are they cute and cozy, but they're also super easy to wash and never show dirt or stains. And speaking of laundry, the second weird thing I quit doing was I quit buying oversized laundry detergents. I used to buy those giant jugs of detergent because I wanted to save money, but I always ended up regretting it. Because once I started using them, either the nozzle would leak and make a mess or the little measuring cup it came with would leave sticky blue circles wherever I put it down. And I was like, I can't be the only one who's having this problem. So then I googled it and I found a whole bunch of life hacks that are supposed to help you solve this problem. But in the end, I decided the time and peace of mind I was wasting on those jugs wasn't worth the money that I was saving. So now I just buy regular size laundry detergent and keep my eyes peeled for sales. Next up, number three was a total game changer for me. And that was that I quit leaving dishes in the sink at night with the intention of washing them in the morning. This is one of those habits that was just normal in my family and I think is normal in a lot of families. Because when you're tired after a long day at work and cooking dinner and taking care of the kids and sometimes doing all three at the same time, let's be real here. It's totally understandable that the last thing you want to do is stand at the sink and wash dishes after dinner. But then it's also not fun to wake up to a sink full of dirty dishes and doing that was a miserable way to start my day. Because it always made me feel anxious and rushed when I was scrambling to wash dishes on top of all of the other things I needed to do in the morning, like making breakfast and getting my kids ready for school. Then one day, my husband, whose family used to own a restaurant and who prides himself on his efficiency, taught me how much easier it is to wash up dishes while you're cooking, say when the onions are caramelizing or the soup is simmering. And then by the end of dinner, the few pots, pans and dishes that are left are so easy to wash up and we can just load up the dishwasher and turn it on to run before going to bed. And we also make it a habit to do a quick kitchen reset to put away anything that's been left out on the countertops and wipe down the countertops before we close out the kitchen for the night so that we can go to bed with the peace of mind that comes with knowing that when we wake up, we'll wake up to an empty sink and a clean kitchen. Another thing I quit doing was I quit cooking lunch when it's just me at home. Now, I love to eat and I love a good home-cooked meal just as much as the next gal. But now that my husband's returned to work at an office, chopping, cooking, eating and cleaning up after making lunch for just me alone sucks up a lot of time and honestly feels inefficient and boring. So instead what I do is I'll either make sure to meal plan in advance so that I have enough leftovers for the next day or if my schedule is really busy and chaotic, I'll place an order with my favorite meal subscription service, Factor, who make cooking and cleaning up after myself a breeze. And speaking of which, I'd like to take a moment to give a quick shout out to Factor for being the awesome sponsor of today's video. Factor takes the stress out of meal planning and sets you up for success because ordering from Factor means you can skip the grocery stores, prep work and cooking fatigue and instead you'll get chef crafted, dietician approved meals delivered right to your door with over 35 meals to choose from per week including options like keto, calorie smart, vegan and veggie and more. And I also love that Factor now offers a ton of drink and snack options like breakfast, smoothies, juices, small bites and more that keep me going no matter what's on my schedule for the day. Well, it's a good thing that I ordered from Factor because both of my kids got sick back to back last week and because my husband is away on a business trip, that means that I have a ton of cleaning and work to catch up on all by myself. But knowing that I have a nice Factor meal that I can quickly pop in the microwave and heat up so that I can sit down to a nice hot meal without having to clean much up afterwards takes a lot of stress off of my plate. Get it? My plate? A little food related humor for you there. You're welcome. So if you're also in a busy or chaotic season and could use a helping hand in the kitchen, you can save yourself both time and money right now by heading to factor75.com or clicking the link in the description box below and using the code 582ZEN to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box from Factor. Again, make sure to use the code 582ZEN at factor75.com to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box of Factor. And thanks again to Factor for sponsoring today's video. Next up, another thing I quit doing was I quit having a scarcity mindset that encouraged me to stockpile and hoard things. I used to think that stocking up on things was smart and back then I used to buy too much stuff with the excuse that I wanted to save money. So for example, if I found a shirt that I like, I would buy that same shirt in three different colors or I would buy food or pantry items in bulk because they were on sale and I didn't want to miss out on a good deal. But then a lot of times what that led to was an overstock of perishable food and pantry items that would end up going bad before we could eat them. Not to mention the closets and bathroom cabinets that were overflowing with more products than I needed. And lately I've noticed that between inflation and the cost of living going up over the past few years, there are now a ton of YouTube channels who are pumping out videos that feed on our fears and encourage us to buy, buy, buy now or else. And this scarcity mindset often tricks you into believing you need to stockpile and hoard things just in case. But in reality, most of us already have more than we could ever want or need. And what we're truly doing is creating a never ending cycle of overconsumption, stress, and clutter. While healing this mindset is still an ongoing process for me, I found that letting go of my fear of scarcity has given me back so much more freedom in my life, both physically and mentally. And nowadays I try to keep only as much as my family actually needs and can use. The sixth thing I quit to simplify my life was I quit caring about having a clean home. And before you call me gross, I want you to wait and hear me out because in my opinion, one of the best life hacks of all time is that you can fake having a cleaner home just by owning less stuff. It's honestly incredible and so, so underrated. When you own less, not only do you have less stuff to clean, but your home will naturally look cleaner when it's clutter-free. Just like a bedroom will always look nicer when you take the time to pick your clothes up and make the bed. And now that we've radically simplified our home in this way, at any given moment, my house is only 15 minutes away for being guest ready. That brings us to number seven, which is that I quit feeling pressured to decorate. With the way that society and social media are nowadays, I feel like there's a lot of pressure on people, particularly women, to make sure that our homes are on trend and filled with furniture, art, and home decor that makes it look picture perfect. And not only is that hard on the average Joe, but I personally know quite a few bloggers and YouTubers who have gotten burned out trying to keep up with the latest trends and have even gone into massive debt over it. Letting go of the idea that there's a right way to decorate my home and rushing to follow those so-called rules has honestly been so freeing. And nowadays, I don't feel guilty for having no art on my walls or simple decor because I know that our home is comfortable, functional, and filled with all of the things that are meaningful to us and make our lives better. Number eight is kind of a weird one, and I'm going to call it noise bathing. And this is kind of the opposite of a concept that I picked up from reading about Japanese minimalism, which is called Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing. And so while forest bathing means getting out into nature and immersing yourself in the healing sights, sounds, and smells of the natural world, noise bathing is a word I made up that describes how a lot of us live in modern society surrounded by loud and noisy things. Such as having music or your TV playing all the time in the background while your kids are also there playing with obnoxious electronic toys. And this is something that I went into more detail about in this video that I did on things I stopped buying to reduce my anxiety because I don't think a lot of people realize how bad it is for us to be constantly immersed in noise. And after realizing how much the constant background noise was overstimulating me, I've taken steps to become more unplugged. And I noticed that once I embraced more quiet moments throughout my day, my stress levels have significantly dropped. Number nine on this list is folding all of the clothes for everyone in our family. Don't get me wrong, I still love folding certain clothes for myself and my husband, and I even find it somewhat therapeutic. But now that my kids are older, instead of folding all of their clothes and putting them away for them like I used to, what I do now is I just pile them up in a laundry basket so that they can fold the pants, hang the shirts, and put their clothes away themselves and speaking of which, be sure that you're subscribed with all notifications turned on if you haven't already because I'm also planning to do a kids closet declutter and organize video in the near future because now that the weather is good, I've noticed that they're getting a bit sloppier about keeping their clothes off the floor. You might think that big brother's side looks better if you go this way, right? But then if you go to the closet and open it up, you realize he's just a little bit better at hiding his mess. And I have some really good ideas for systems that we can put into place as parents to make sure that our kids can manage their own stuff. Okay, I have the feeling that number 10 might be a little bit controversial and that is I stopped feeling like I had to ask permission to do something. And I don't know if this is a mom thing or a woman thing or a people pleaser thing, but for some reason, I sometimes catch myself feeling like I need to ask someone for permission to go and do basic things like going to the grocery store or taking a shower. I'm not the only one who does this, am I? Please drop me a comment below and let me know if you do this as well or if you have any examples you want to share or insights as to why people do this. Sometimes I find it helpful to phrase what I'm thinking about as a question rather than a request for permission. So instead of saying, can I go to the grocery store? I might say something like, I'm going to the grocery store. Can you think of anything else we need that I might've forgotten? I do still catch myself asking permission from time to time and sometimes my husband will even call me out and remind me that I don't need to do that. But for the most part, I've tried to stop this habit and it's been so freeing. Another thing I had to stop doing was expecting people to know what I want without me having to tell them. I actually saw the perfect meme about this the other day and I saved it to share with you. And it's this picture of Lois from Family Guy. And it says, when he asks what's wrong, instead of reading your mind like he's supposed to. Sometimes I think that it's because I'm a highly sensitive person and because I'm so good at reading other people, I had this unrealistic expectation that everyone else could also know what I was thinking and feeling as well. But most of the time, expecting other people to know what you want without telling them rarely works. And so learning that I needed to communicate my thoughts and needs instead of expecting other people to read my mind has made my life and honestly, my marriage so much better. The 12th small thing on this list was that I quit buying high maintenance fabrics. So for example, while I was hunting for a couch for this home, I found a really cozy looking velvet one that I was super tempted to buy. But then everything that I read about velvet couches said they're an absolute nightmare to maintain. So instead, we ended up buying a leather sofa from Ikea that we can just wipe clean of dirt or spills. And when it comes to your wardrobe and home decor, just keep in mind that not buying high maintenance fabrics like silk, wool, and velvet can save you time, money, and stress. Instead of dealing with special washing instructions or constant ironing or expensive dry cleaning, nowadays, when I need to buy something, I make sure to hunt for easy to care for materials that look great with minimal effort. Number 13, planning instead of doing. As a type A personality, I have a deep, deep love of checklists and to-do lists and spreadsheets. But even though I love planning, I also know it's really easy to fall into the trap of endless planning and never getting anything done. Planning feels productive, but without action, it's just procrastination in disguise. And overthinking often leads to analysis paralysis that stops us from reaching our goals. So instead of endlessly planning, figure out how you can start taking small and imperfect steps because real change happens when you do, not plan. Another thing I quit was I quit paying my bills every month. Manually paying my bills every month was a mental burden. And back when my home and my life were at their messiest, that meant that I would often forget to pay bills on time, leading to expensive late fees. Simplifying my home and life also went a long way in getting my finances organized. And now that I have all of my bills set to auto pay, I hardly ever have to think about them beyond logging in every once in a while to be sure everything is getting paid out as planned without any hidden charges or surprises. And finally, the last thing I quit doing was shopping for no good reason. I used to love browsing stores just for fun, but guess what? All of that so-called fun I was having led to a messy and cluttered home that became a huge source of stress for me, not to mention a lot of wasted money. As a minimalist, I've now made it a habit to only shop for things when I actually need them. And my home and my wallet have been thanking me every day for that. I actually shared a quote the other day with my email list that is a Swedish proverb that states, he who buys what he does not need steals from himself. And I had a couple of followers who emailed me back to tell me that quote totally blew their mind and how much they wish they had heard of it earlier. And I actually used that same quote on the Notion template that I'm using to track my purchases during this low by year that I'm doing. And if you want to find out more about that or hear more tips on how you can spend less and save more, be sure to go check out one of these videos that YouTube thinks that you'll like or I'll see you next week. Until then, take care. Bye-bye.