How do you manage to keep life simple?

I don’t, but I know my life would be a lot simpler if I had a lot less stuff. My clutter complicates my life tremendously.

I don’t try to keep it simple… that would be boring!

Still not as well as I would like.

I have shed a lot of stuff—not enough.

I moved 3,000 miles from the demands of family.

I try to keep my time for the things that are important to me.

Staying out of family drama (if I can help it), would make my life easier. And, only taking on as much I can handle, would help. Material things, I have just the right amount of things that I love. I’m definitely not overdoing it there. “All that I have, is all that I need”.

I don’t really try to do that

I only buy stuff I actually need. I’m not trying to impress people that come over. All my stuff can fit in the back of a Volvo wagon.

appreciate the small things, of course. no matter how cluttered a life is, one should always stop to acknowledge how great some of the most simple things are.

I wish I knew.

I wish I knew, too, but I suspect it has to do with getting rid of a huge amount of stuff.

I am assuming that at least some of the stuff will disappear once the kids move out. But until they do, boy, do I have stuff!

Well, having a pissy attitude look on your face helps. People always ask me what I am pissed about when they see me. I always have to tell them, “Hey, this is my normal face, if I was pissed, you’d know it.”

Here is my simple recipe. No cable TV. No iPod. No expensive vehicles. My house is paid for, so no mortgage. Everything I own is paid for. I have easy to care for pets, my hissers don’t ask for much, and they are really easy to please. My hobbies are relatively cheap. I garden, make candles out of stuff purchased cheap at yard sales, etc., I write, I research stuff on the Internet and spend an awful lot of time on Fluther. I only associate with the people who aren’t drama queens and troublemakers. My best friend in the whole world is also my wife. And we are always appreciative of the small things in life. I saw a pretty little spider on the side of my house yesterday, and watching it crawl up the siding fascinated me for a couple of minutes. It made me smile to see it, and to know it would probably eat a few mosquitoes soon.

Life is about choices, your results may vary.

The only way to keep life simple is to die.

Not worrying about stupid stuff! Now, that wouldn’t mean that I make people worry about stupid stuff… :))

Cut the clutter, don’t over promise and over obligate yourself. Works in our house! Life is peaceful.

Little things make me happy, so life is already more enjoyable for me.
Doesn’t mean I still don’t worry, but if I worry about something…I have a reason for it, because it’s something major (like money, education, family)

I’ve not managed it yet.
But I keep trying.

Limit Fluther time.

- Not bringing my work home with me
– Exercising daily and eating healthy
– Avoiding any and all stressors whenever possible
– Listening to music for its relaxing and enjoyable benefits
– Participating in lots of fun activities with my spouse
– Staying financially secure
– Taking life one day at a time and making the most of each one of them

This is such a problem for me. I love stuff and my life is cluttered with it. I love my dogs, my woodworking tools, my art supplies, my books, my bike, my motor scooter and the list goes on and on and on.

The trouble is they all clutter my life, we live in a small house and everything is stacked somewhere. Thank goodness it is the dry so much of the equipment is outside, the sun will shine relentlessly until about November, then everything has to be packed up and stowed inside again, out of the relentless rain!

I think my solution is that when we leave here, we need a big workshop for all of my stuff to be stowed tidily, then my life will seem simple even if it isn’t.

I say this because I believe that a cluttered habitat often indicates a cluttered mind. For me, this is true somedays and somedays not!

Try hard not to piss people off.

@SirBailey no, dying means you can finally maintain equilibrium, nothing else. And death doesn’t seem like all that much fun.

I avoid buying things as much as possible, as what you buy ends up owning you.

I have been thinking about this question, and there are a lot of ways to answer it. My life as in what I do each day is so routine, it could not be any more simple, it is the same 7 days of the week, work at home, work at my job, make dinner, bed.

How exactly did you mean that question? Did you mean the clutter that we acquire, tangible things, or did you mean the clutter of our heads, emotional baggage? Or did you mean simply how we manage time to avoid stress which sort of equals “simple?”

By breaking decisions down to their very essence, then applying logical what if scenarios in an efficient, thoughtful way. This minimizes stress, maximizes positive outcomes, leading to eventual feelings of contentment. It is, as you say, simple, but can be elegant if comported in a clear,framework of mind .

Job that pays less than a third of what I’ve made in a decade, made quick work of simplification.

By implementing the advise of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Simplify-Your-Life-Practical/dp/0071433864/

See the simple things in life for what they are… changeable! It’s the really big things we have no control over so let them slide. If your spending all your day ignoring the little things then your probably not focusing on the things you have any control over and it will result in you feeling powerless in your own life let alone when something big comes along like a death or something .. .. I mean how bad are you going to beat yourself up over that If you don’t take ownership over the little things in your life.

If you can see that something small may get out of control then change it for your sake and for that of others. While if it’s small and not posing any threats now or in the future (without straining your brain) then enjoy it.

Think of positives, everything that happens i think is positive even though it may be something bad.

Is simplicity good? I kind of like complexity. I like to keep life interesting. I may complain, sometimes, about how many problems I face, but generally I enjoy it, especially after I’ve solved the problems!

Yield sometimes instead of merge.
Give sometimes instead of take.
Lose sometimes when I really want to win.
Allow myself to be wrong even when I’m sure I’m right.
Allow myself to cry instead of harbor hate.