Doing without unnecessary stressors can help you allocate your energy towards the things that truly matter
Stress is one of the major contributors to a weak immune system, weight gain, and serious cardiovascular issues. A minimalist lifestyle can positively impact your overall health because you can effectively manage stress by simplifying your day-to-day activities and tasks.
Doing without unnecessary stressors can help you allocate your energy towards only the most critical tasks. You can prioritize spending time on what matters the most—health, relationships, personal growth, and learning.
Imagine living in peace without worrying about health problems, financial struggles, relationship issues, work overload, social pressure, and unnecessary house clutter—that’s what embracing a minimalist lifestyle can bring.
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Applying minimalist living
Here are the questions you need to ask yourself before pursuing an activity or spending money on something:
- Do I need this?
- Does this align with my values, passions, and goals?
- Can this enrich my relationship with my loved ones?
- How will this affect my health emotionally and physically?
- How will this affect my time and energy for my other responsibilities, which are extremely important?
- How will I feel after purchasing this (considering its effect on my mental health, financial stress, and health goals)?
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Devote time to your most important tasks and with the most important people:
- Reflect on how much time you spend on sleep, work, exercise, self-care, eating, food preparation, household chores, personal growth, recreational activities, errands, and quality time with loved ones.
- Allot time on things you need and value the most. It can be seven to eight hours of sleep, eight hours for work, and the rest for the other things previously mentioned.
- Identify the constant activities (cake and coffee hour, window shopping, eating out, etc.) that eat a lot of your time and don’t contribute to your health and life goals, purpose, and values.
Simplify with a minimalist lifestyle and appreciate more
Eating
- Choose to drink water always
- Cut down on expenses by avoiding ultra-processed foods and instead spend money on whole foods.
- Make your meal simple yet satisfying by adding color through vegetables, experimenting with herbs and spices, and applying different textures done the healthy way (baked, boiled, steamed) using the oven, air fryer, and non-stick pan. Avoid too many sauces, breadings, and oils for deep-fried foods.
Exercise
- You can always start with simple exercises. Sometimes, overcomplicating them can lead to non-compliance and discouragement. Focus on consistency first, then progress to longer duration and more intense routines.
- Instead of spending an hour or more going to a fitness facility because of traffic, save time and money with at-home workouts or get a personal trainer to train you online or visit your house.
- Appreciate nature and relax your mind by walking or running outdoors while listening to uplifting podcasts or audiobooks or talking with a friend.
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Recovery and leisure
- Prioritize sleep. Getting enough sleep is the cheapest yet most essential way to recover. Invest in getting good quality sleep—a good bed and bedsheets, and a peaceful bedroom with a pleasant temperature.
- Walk around your garden and water your plants while you feel relaxed about the sound and texture of nature.
- Start meditating for five minutes in your most quiet time by just observing your breath, letting go of worries, and feeling thankful about life.
- Be a minimalist traveler. Challenge yourself to pack light. Instead of shopping, spend more on new wellness experiences like picking out healthier food options and engaging active escapes like yoga, hiking, biking, and walking.
Environment
- Keep a clutter-free environment to lessen chores. Get rid of things you don’t need anymore.
- What if you only have one hour to devote to chores? Accept that you can’t do everything.
- Before you open your online shopping app, ensure that the things you purchase are highly needed and won’t add clutter to your space. Always stick to your budget.
Relationships
- Filter your friends. Instead of trying your best to keep up with superficial relationships, spend more energy with supportive and genuine people.
- Think of ways to spend quality time with your loved ones at home instead of going out. Prepare special home-cooked meals, watch movies, exercise, and play games together.
READ: How to start a fitness journey with your partner outside of gifts and date nights
Personal growth
- Do not overcomplicate things due to information overload, which often leads to confusion and many unaccomplished tasks. Evaluate if your new learning and enrichment inclination matches your goals and values.
- Invest in learning in a particular field of interest or resolving life issues by getting coaches to help improve your life instead of always trying to fix things yourself. Expert guidance resulting from years of experience and education will always help you save time, money, and energy.
Work productivity
- Evaluate your current job and work setup. Does it match your passion, strengths, and dreams? Try to be more assertive in communicating your needs (flexible work hours so you can focus on mental and physical health, a modified job description, or a less stressful work environment) to your superiors.
- Don’t let social media eat most of your time. Maximize your gadgets and technology to save time and energy for work productivity.
Email the author at mitchfelipe@gmail.com or follow/message her on Instagram @mitchfelipemendoza