10 minimalist habits that keep your life simple!
By: Prof. Barbara Moore
Tags: Self Improvement, Blue Insights, Design, Minimalism, Life

1. be Grateful for what you have

Being grateful for what we already have in our lives ends the constant need for more, newer, faster, better stuff. Gratitude allows us to further embrace minimalism by teaching us to be content with and appreciate what we have. We stop looking for more, recognizing what we already have is enough. Gratitude shifts our focus to what we already have, rather than what we don’t have.

If we are always looking towards new things to make us happy, we will never find lasting contentment and happiness. Once we acquire whatever it is we think will make us happy, the contentment we feel doesn’t last long. We get stuck in a cycle of buying more and wanting more, but never feeling satisfied. And we will soon be looking for the next thing to make us feel happy and content again.

2. Quality >> Quantity

Quality over quantity is a common phrase you hear these days, but what exactly does it mean? It means that quantity will never make you happy — lots of something is never a good thing. Friends, clothes, gadgets — these won’t truly make you feel fulfilled. It doesn’t matter how much of something you have; what matters is the quality of what you have. Will it last? Is it substantial? Does it fill the void that it intends to?

why do you need more clothes? The latest laptop? More friends? Really, sit back and think about why. The truth is, you don’t need any of it. Does it make you happy deep down? Probably not.

3. Digital Declutter

Digital minimalism isn’t just about deleting Facebook or learning a better way to clear out your inbox. It’s about intentionally shaping your digital life around your values so you can feel good about the apps and tools you use on a daily basis.

According to a research, they found that on average, people are likely to:

Check email and chat every 6 minutes or less

Use 56+ apps and tools a day and switch between them more than 300 times

Spend up to 4.5 hours on your phone

Multitask for at least 40% of our day

It’s hard to imagine a worse situation for deep thinking, focus, and even mental health.

Drop all ‘optional’ technologies for 30 days

Make a list of apps, tools, and services (like Netflix, gaming, etc…) that are effectively ‘banned’ for the next 30 days. Work email is not optional. Twitter — most likely — is. Write these down and put them somewhere you’ll be able to see them every day.

4. manage a To-Do List daily

Before you go to bed every night, write down the top 5 things that you’re going to do tomorrow.

At the end of the day, examine whether you have achieved your top 5 goals or not.

5. eat Simple and thus Healthier

Create staple meals

Focus on single-ingredient foods

Give preference to foods without packaging

Create very few specific rules

Keep seasonings and flavors simple

6. choose of Color is important

First, minimalist design can allow you to use colors in a relatively safe way. You can create great design with very simple color palette composed of just one or two colors. Just make sure adjust your color palette with cultural or industry norms. Otherwise, you may risk some problems. You can also create color palette based on your personality or the perception you want to create. If you are designing a website for yourself, keep all colors authentic and in harmony with your personality and brand.

When it comes to the design of your rooms, you’d like to choose white, gray, dark blue as base color. The same rule adopts in almost any other circumstances in your lives too.

7. say NO

Saying no starts with being crystal clear in what you want. Without knowing what you want, you don’t know what you’re compromising when you say yes. It sounds pretty straightforward, but it’s harder than you think. So, here are some suggestions that you can follow:

Creating your yes-list

Allocating time to my yes-list

Re-evaluate and adjust your yes-list once in a while (not everyday though).

8. forget about Brands & Labels

To me, there is no need to adhere to certain brands or buy products from certain stores. Buying things from specific or ‘famous’ brands only makes you become an advertiser of that brand. Anything that is wieldy is a good thing. We do not necessarily have to pursue products from luxurious brands. In addition, removing labels could also make the things you bought cleaner and thus creating a better visualization on them. Do you like the dishes from the below image? If yes, then forget about brands and remove the labels.

9. do 1 thing at a time — Focus

Efficiency is one of the core idea of minimalism, and to be efficient you can start practicing doing one thing at a time instead of multitasking. Studies have shown that performing multitasking not only slows down your production but also degrade your work quality. By doing one thing at a time, it is proven for people to get more things done with less stress.

10. clean your Desks, and …

This is all about focus and efficiency. Here are some benefits:

Less Distraction. A cluttered office desk is filled with potential distractions. Sticky-notes, business cards, file folders, and uncompleted projects all clamor for our attention every moment of the day. Removing them and creating a minimalist desk allows our mind to better focus on the most important project of the moment: the one you are working on.

A cluttered office desk is filled with potential distractions. Sticky-notes, business cards, file folders, and uncompleted projects all clamor for our attention every moment of the day. Removing them and creating a minimalist desk allows our mind to better focus on the most important project of the moment: the one you are working on. More Freedom. A minimalist desk grants freedom to pursue the project of your choosing. Your to-do list is not held captive by the folders on your desk. It is determined by you — even if you are getting direction from someone else.

A minimalist desk grants freedom to pursue the project of your choosing. Your to-do list is not held captive by the folders on your desk. It is determined by you — even if you are getting direction from someone else. New Opportunity. A new day brings new opportunities and the potential to accomplish something great. Walking into an office with yesterday’s work still visible immediately anchors you to the past, tying yesterday’s rope to today’s potential. But a clean desk breeds life, encouragement, and endless possibilities. Even if your new day is going to consist of completing yesterday’s project, starting again or reopening the file offers new opportunities and a new way to see a problem or accomplish a task.

A new day brings new opportunities and the potential to accomplish something great. Walking into an office with yesterday’s work still visible immediately anchors you to the past, tying yesterday’s rope to today’s potential. But a clean desk breeds life, encouragement, and endless possibilities. Even if your new day is going to consist of completing yesterday’s project, starting again or reopening the file offers new opportunities and a new way to see a problem or accomplish a task. Increased Reputation. A clean desk indicates a clean and focused mind. It makes you look efficient, accomplished, thorough, and organized. And while nothing can replace a job well done, a clear desk can only help improve your reputation among your co-workers.

If you agree with this post, please share it to your close friends and let all of us become minimalism practitioners!