Simplifying Your Life
by Dean Long of Coach-To-Success
biz2biz News - February, 2011

Can anyone remember when we didn’t have any of the following items of convenience? - iPhones, MP3 players, cell phones, cable television, Internet, fax machines, and microwave ovens. What was life like then? Did the word “simpler” come to mind? Yet, given the choice, would we revert back to a lifestyle without these conveniences? No, probably not! We’ve come to rely upon them in our daily lives. Ironically, as we’ve added these conveniences, our lives have become more hurried and complex.

We can simplify our lives, but, it requires a concerted effort. One way to start is to ask yourself, “Does this activity that I’m about to embark on fit within the vision, goals and objectives for my life?” This vision.....these goals.....these objectives of ours, are multi-faceted in nature. They involve our family, work, health and fitness, friendships, recreation and interests, service to others, and spirituality and religion.

When I was in management years ago, I followed a simple process for handling paperwork. For each item in my in-box, upon reading or glancing at it, I did one of the following: threw it away, delegated it, filed it, or acted upon it. I wanted to avoid setting the item aside and thus having to repeat the process.

In a similar manner, look around you home at all your belongings. Ask yourself, “Do I use this? Do I need this?” If your answer is “no”, look to do one of the following: Throw it away, recycle it, donate it, or, add it to your garage sale item pile. We have an aquarium in our home that used to have value or interest when our kids were younger. Now, it’s become just one other item to maintain. So, we’re going to donate the fish and take it down.

Another way to think of simplifying your life is to stop doing something. I don’t put as much time and effort into maintaining pristine lawn and garden areas of our property because I no longer realize any value in doing so. I could hire a landscaping company to take over, but, I choose not to. That’s just a personal financial decision.

Simplify your life, and you’ll feel more joy and fulfillment in it.

Dean Long is a Kansas City area business and career coach. Contact him at 913-825-1264, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it