8 Things That Will Simplify My Life This Year

Today, I’ll talk about all the tiny things that have helped me or will help me to simplify my life in 2023. 

For some of them, it’s been proven that they already simplify my life, and I will continue to use these techniques in 2023. But I will also start some of them in 2023. 

Over the years, I tried as much as possible to simplify my life. I tried minimalism, and it helped a lot! I decluttered my closet, and I tried meal planning and meal prepping. I tried digital minimalism and so on. And as you saw in my previous blog post about my habits for 2023, these simple ways will be slightly different. And the goal is to decrease decision fatigue and mental clutter as much as possible. 

So let’s get started!

Asking for help

Yeah, I’m telling you this right now. 

I always tried to do everything by myself and never asked for help. So I have a huge mental charge, and because of that, I can’t do whatever I want during the day. I’m always thinking about what we’ll eat if the apartment is clean, if I didn’t forget a birthday, or whatever. Some morning I planned to film a video, and eventually, I ended up having a phone call with an after-sale service or with someone from my family or even cleaning something in my apartment. 

It’s not sustainable anymore. And it doesn’t fit with my new goals and habits. So this year, this needs to change. 

So I already asked my boyfriend to be more involved in the dinner preparation when I’m at work so that I don’t need to think about it after a long day of work. 

I also plan to ask for help for my business. You know that I’m struggling with my social media, so I plan to hire someone, even for 1 or 2 hours a week, to help with this part. 

Asking for help could be a huge relief. Even if it’s to ask your kid to clean their rooms, hire someone to clean your house, or even try delivering meals for a week is a great way to simplify your life. Okay, it can cost you a little bit, but it helps you have more time for yourself or the people you love, and this doesn’t have a price. 

Meal planning and prepping

It’s something I have done since 2020 and it really helped me a lot. Cooking every single day is really a burden. I don’t like it at all. 

So cooking for 2 hours but for the whole week is so great. It was difficult in my previous apartment because the fridge was so small that it was complicated to store everything for a week in it. So I prepped for about 3 to 4 days, which was life-changing. 

Because we decided to eat better this year with more protein and vegetables, it would be easier to plan and prep everything twice a week so that we know what we need to eat and we won’t end up in the fast food just next door. 

It also helps me when I need to go to work because I know what I need to eat too, and I don’t spend money on my lunch each week. 

Meal planning really helps you to delete the decision fatigue and save a ton of money. 

I also like to prep my yogurt for the week and also do my protein banana bread for breakfast. I think in the long term, it’s more ecological, and I save a lot of money.

Turning off my notifications

I realize that in 2022, I spent so much more time on social media. I could spend like 2 to 3 hours a night just on reels, scrolling mindlessly. And as things progress, with so much more apps, I spend a lot more time on my phone for nothing. So for some apps, I already had no notifications like Instagram or TikTok. So for 2023, I deleted many apps like Facebook and news apps. I really want to be on it for like 30 minutes to one hour every day, depending on if I have someone from my family I have for a phone call or if I need to plan my posts on social media. I now have notifications for my text messages and Whatsapp, so I don’t have a lot of them.

I also set up a time limit for certain apps, especially Instagram actually. I decided to only spend 30 minutes on it every single day. After that, the app is blocked. Obviously, I can deblock it, but I’ll try not to do it. 

And finally, about my phone, I really want to try the technique of putting it on the next side of the room. So that it’s easier to wake up early and not scroll on something just before going to sleep. Tell me in the comments if it’s something that you do and if it works for you. 

Having fewer things

I thought that with the new apartment, we’d tend to accumulate a lot or we’ll buy a ton of things, but finally, we continued on our minimalist path. 

I continue to declutter things that are useless in this new space. I continue to declutter some of my clothes and my beauty products from time to time. And I buy a lot less than before. 

I know that with Christmas and because we need things, we will have more, especially in the kitchen, but there are really things we need. We thought about them long ago, and we know they won’t be useless. 

I thought that I would need a lot of new things with this new space but what we already bought like the couch, the dining table and so on are really what we needed, and even if I think it will be better with a little bit of decoration, it’s already great. And if I need to add something new, I’ll think about it several times before purchasing it. 

Having less helps us to spend less time decluttering or cleaning the space.

With 3 more times spaces, I thought I needed to spend 3 more times cleaning but not at all. In the previous space, I had a lot of things on the ground and a lot of things to move to clean. Here it’s a lot easier because there aren’t crooked corners or things to move. We wanted to simplify as much as possible so that it’s easier to clean. When we decided to buy a new piece of furniture, we could think about if it would be practical to clean. 

Having a system

It’s one of my huge goals for this new year. I need to create systems and habits to be more effective when I need to create something, when I need to write a script for a video or when I need to create posts for my social media. 

Every year, I try to find new strategies for my social media or Youtube channel, but I need a system that works for me. I don’t need to copy exactly what works for another person. I now need to practice so that I know what works for me. 

The previous years, my systems didn’t work for me, and that’s why I didn’t achieve my goals. 

Having a system helps you to stop second-guessing and delete the decision fatigue, and most of the time, I told myself, ok, what do I need to do? And I ended up doing nothing. 

I already invest in a template for my Notion to have everything in the same place. Now I need to practice to know what works and what doesn’t. 

That brings me to the next point. 

Having habits.

I finished Atomic Habits by James Clear for the second time, and this book was here when I really needed it. The end of the year was a huge mess for me. I was sick, I was busy but not productive, so I ended up doing nothing. 

In my previous video, I talked about habits I want to build for 2023.

And I think habits help you to simplify your life. It’s like a system, and it helps you stop second-guessing to know what you need to do every day without asking questions.  

So since early December, I’ve tried to add habits in my life, like preparing my workout clothes every night or taking a product out so that I think about it. 

Having a small wardrobe/capsule wardrobe 

I realize that what helped me to simplify my life also helped me to save a lot of money. So the number 7 is to create a capsule wardrobe. 

I was the girl who spent too much time thinking about what I would wear the next day. Really too much time! And I had so many clothes that didn’t fit or were aligned with my style. So when I heard about the capsule wardrobe, I knew it was something for me. So I created mine, and it’s so much easier now. It fits, and I feel comfortable in every piece I have. 

It’s straightforward; it will simplify your life and save you a lot of money. 

Lower my expectation for certain things. 

It’s totally ok to eat something twice in a row. It’s totally ok if you miss a day at the gym. It’s totally ok if your shower is not bright and clean. 

With social media, you have a vision of perfection when it’s not really the case. When you see a spotless house, you don’t see the mess behind the camera. When you see someone starting a diet, you don’t see that most of her or his meals are the same. 

I put myself under a lot of pressure to eat something different every single day or that we need to clean our house every single week, but you know what? I don’t want to put myself under this pressure anymore. 

And by asking for help a lot more, I also need to lower my expectations. Perhaps when my boyfriend cooks for me, I’ll need to lower my expectation about the mess in the kitchen. But it’s okay! 

Tell me in the comments below if you have any other ideas on how to simplify your life in 2023. 

See you, 

Anna