How to Simplify Your Life: A Step-by-Step Plan

You can simplify your life with a few clear steps. But there’s no single right way to do it. Simplifying is personal, and the plan that works for you will look different than the plan that works for someone else.

Below, you’ll find a worksheet to help you build your own plan. Further down the page, you’ll also find a curated collection of outside articles, apps, courses, and books on the topic, in case you want more ideas.

Start by setting aside some quiet time. Answer the questions in the worksheet below honestly. Some of them take a bit of thought, so don’t rush through them. Once you’ve answered them, you’ll have a clearer picture of where to focus first.

Simplifying My Life: The Worksheet

Print the table below, or copy it into a document, then fill it in by hand or by typing.

Question	Your Answer
What would a simple life look like for you?
What do you want from your life?
What’s draining your time and energy?
What’s important in your life?
Where is there clutter in your life?

Below is a sample worksheet, filled in, to show you what this can look like.

What Would a Simple Life Look Like for You?

Example: I wake up in the morning looking forward to the day. I have a cup of coffee and check the news before getting ready for work. At work, I enjoy my job — I like contributing to the company’s success and working with my team.

After work, I spend time with my family. If they’re not around, I’ll run a few errands, watch some TV, or just relax, because I have that freedom.

What Do You Want From Your Life?

Examples: I want to be a successful manager. I want to be there for my family. I want to enjoy the “here and now” of each day, instead of counting down to the weekend. I want the freedom to do what I want, when I choose to.

What’s Draining Your Time and Energy?

Examples:

My job demands a lot of effort and energy
Keeping up with duties at home, like yard work and maintenance
Keeping up with my monthly bills — I barely have money left until the next payday
My obligations to friends, co-workers, and relatives. I offer to help all of them, even though I’m always short on time

What’s Important in Your Life?

Examples:

My family
Ethics and morals
My workshop
My home office
My computer

Where Is There Clutter in Your Life?

Examples:

My shed is full of stuff
My computer desktop is full of documents and folders
My basement has rooms full of items I’ve stored away
My email is cluttered with folders and subfolders
My garage has more in it than I need

Now it’s your turn. Take the time to answer the same five questions for yourself. When you’re done, you’ll have solid information to work with.

Once you know what you want and what matters to you, you can start putting more energy into those things and cutting back on the rest.

Here’s where you can get creative. Notice that in the sample above, the home wasn’t listed as something important. That opens up a bigger question worth walking through.

Suppose you decided to sell your house and rent an apartment that includes utilities. That’s a real option worth thinking through, even though it’s a decision you’d need to make together with your family.

If you sold your house and moved into an apartment, you’d stop paying for several ongoing costs:

Property insurance
Property taxes
Home repairs and maintenance
Mortgage payment
Heating costs
Electricity costs
Yard maintenance

With just rent left to pay, you’d likely have more money left over each month. That extra room in your budget could let you take a job you enjoy more, even one that pays less than your current one.

Moving to an apartment also means less space for everything in your basement, shed, and garage. That makes it a good time to donate items or hold a yard sale.

Getting rid of belongings isn’t always easy. But holding on to a lot of things you don’t use can add stress without adding much value.

When deciding what to keep, ask yourself a few questions. Will I use this again? How often would I need it? Does it have real sentimental value? Could someone else use it more than I can?

Most people find that once the excess is gone, it’s a relief rather than a loss.

Selling a house and moving to an apartment is a big change, and it’s not right for everyone. But it shows how one decision can simplify several parts of your life at once — your budget, your space, and your possessions.

You can apply this same thinking, on a smaller scale, to other areas of your life.

How To Get More Organized at Work Using These Simple 21 Tips

Resources

Below is a curated collection of outside articles, apps, courses, and books on simplifying and organizing your life. Browse the sections that interest you most.

Key Points and Facts About Simplifying Your Life
Why a personal plan matters

Simplifying your life is not one-size-fits-all — the right plan depends on your own goals, habits, and clutter
A short worksheet of five questions can surface where to focus first

Common areas that drain time and energy

Work demands
Home maintenance and yard work
Monthly bill management
Obligations to friends, co-workers, and relatives

Getting outside help

Professional organizers are a real, paid service, not just a do-it-yourself task
Search for a member of NAPO, the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, if you’d rather work with someone directly

Action Steps for Simplifying Your Life
Step 1: Answer the worksheet

Print or copy the worksheet table and answer the five questions honestly
Keep it somewhere you can refer back to

Step 2: Identify what’s draining you

List the specific obligations, costs, and habits pulling at your time and energy
Separate what you can change from what you can’t

Step 3: Decide what to change

Put more energy into what you listed as important
Cut back on or remove what isn’t

Step 4: Consider bigger changes if needed

Look at major decisions, like downsizing your home, if smaller changes aren’t enough
Talk it through with anyone the decision affects before acting

Checklist for Simplifying Your Life

Answer the five worksheet questions
- What a simple life would look like, what you want, what’s draining you, what’s important, where the clutter is
List what’s draining your time and energy
- Job demands, home upkeep, bills, obligations to others
List what’s important to you
- People, values, spaces, and things that matter most
Identify where clutter lives
- Physical spaces (garage, basement, shed) and digital spaces (email, desktop files)
Decide on one change to start with
- Something small (a closet) or something bigger (housing) — pick one and start

FAQ: Simplifying Your Life
How long does it take to simplify my life?

There’s no fixed timeline. Answering the worksheet honestly may take a sitting or two, but the changes themselves — decluttering a home or changing your living situation — can take weeks or months.

Do I need to make a big change, like moving, to simplify my life?

No. Big changes are one option, but simplifying can also come from smaller steps, like decluttering a single room or cutting back one obligation at a time.

What if I can’t decide what to get rid of?

Ask whether you’ll use the item again, how often, whether it has real sentimental value, and whether someone else could use it more than you can.

Should I hire a professional organizer?

It’s optional. Some people prefer to work through the worksheet and declutter on their own; others prefer hands-on help from a professional organizer, such as a NAPO member.

References: