Let’s solve your daily frustrations with minimalist solutions that don’t cost money.
Big changes can occur with simple ideas.
We recently presented a workshop on the topic of Minimalist Solutions to Every Day Frustrations. We broke the ideas down based on the 7 Ingredients for an Extraordinary Life (if you haven’t read our book, you can buy it here). Those 7 ingredients are Body, Mind, Work, Social, Family, Stuff, and Giving Back. Those headings are to help guide us in discovering our frustrations.
So, take 3 deep breaths and shake some part of your body.
Now, think about your daily life, your routine or lack of routine. Do you have any frustrations that come to mind?
Example: Not having enough motivation to exercise, impulsive shopping, too many activities and feeling overwhelmed, poor relations with family members, etcetera.
The acknowledgment of these frustrations is not meant to make you feel bad. Once you can identify a frustration you are then more able to take steps to eliminate them. And if you can’t think of any frustrations that’s okay too. Smile and be proud that you’re in a good place.
Scroll to the area that matches your frustration.
BODY
In order to feel well each one of us will need different amounts of sleep, food, and exercise. If one of those areas are being neglected it can leave us feeling frustrated with our Body. The following are 3 minimalist solutions to help get you back on track.
Meal Planning
Let go of stress and rushed decisions when it comes to what you eat. If you’re new to the idea start small with planning just one or two meals a week. If you are already meal planning, but feeling stuck — try some new recipes to bring back the motivation.
Learn how to meal plan here.
Night Before Exercise Set Up
Set yourself up for success and get your things organized now. When the time comes to lace up your shoes, you’ll be ready to go. When workout clothes are left on the shelf, it’s just one more barrier to keeping the motivation going. It’s okay if it takes a few attempts, you’ll get there!
Habit Tracker
If you really want to become mindful with how you care for your body try using a Habit Tracker in your journal, agenda or app. Each day you can ask yourself whether or not you are following through with your goals.
Here is a video tutorial to build your own Habit Tracker. This exercise and many more are included in our course “What the Heck Is Bullet Journaling”.
MIND
It’s a power centre and requires attention to stay healthy. Some of us need more stimulation and others require a pull at the emergency breaks.
Brain Dump or Mind Mapping
Both of these suggestions are helpful exercises for letting the brain relax. The exercise allows all those thoughts and feelings flow out onto paper. From there you can “zoom out” and reflect on what is going on inside that head of yours.
Watch a video tutorial on Mind Mapping.
Understand Your Self Care
Start doing more activities that bring you joy. Seems simple, but for many, we over-extend ourselves and are left feeling deflated. Learn more about developing your own Self Care plan here.
Vision Board
Return to the days of tape, glue, paper, and pictures. Or maybe just draw out your goals with a pen and paper. Whatever method you choose to create your vision board, it will be a good investment of time. For those of you who have made them in the past, is it time to start a new one?
STUFF
If you want to take steps to evaluate your belongings please start by reading our post on decluttering.
FAMILY
The best minimalist suggestion we have for you is to communicate. If face-to-face visits are challenging or physically impossible then we recommend writing letters, making phone calls, or a digital version of both. Also, preserving memories can be a very healing and happy experience.
Improve Your Communication
John Roche is a local writer and therapist in Kitchener Waterloo. Every time we read one of his articles it’s like a light bulb goes off. He tells you how to improve communication in 4 steps. Read it now.
Photo Organizing
Recently, Samantha inherited her grandmother’s photo album. She wanted to create a smaller album and digitalize the photos, so she recorded her experience. You can watch it all here.
SOCIAL
Take a moment right now and ask yourself, “Do I need more social activities or less social activities?” There is no magic number, everyone needs different amounts of social engagement. The following suggestions will help you be accountable and have some fun.
Ideal Week Exercise & Activity Jar
Everything you need to know about how to create your ideal week and make getting social fun is in this video we produced for the Kitchener Public Library’s Spring challenge. Watch it now.
WORK
A vast majority of us will spend a good chunk of our time on work. Whether you work 9 to 5, shift work, or are seeking a new position our suggestion remains the same.
Clear a Work Space
Now don’t let the title fool you, your workspace doesn’t have to be empty of items, but you need a clearly defined space in which to work. Your space can change from day to day, but when you feel inspired, you’ll get your best work done if there is a dedicated and distraction-free place in which to do it. Listen to a podcast on this topic.
Focus on the priority
Multi-tasking is not the best way of accomplishing your greatest achievements, just try this exercise and see if you still disagree. There is a lot of great content out there about finding your focus. We recommend reading Greg McKeown, Julie Morgenstern, or Simon Sinek.
GIVING BACK
The final area. An area of your life that should come when you feel you are ready to give your energy away. We don’t recommend jumping into this when you aren’t feeling able to look after yourself. Avoid burn-out or compassion fatigue by making sure your cup is full before Giving Back.
We believe that this can be one of the most rewarding areas of your life. The easiest way to be able to do it often and with intention is by looking after yourself and trying to stay away from frustrations in your own life. Also, giving back is a great way to gain perspective, maybe even feel a bit more gratitude.
If you’re currently not in a position to give back consider accepting help from someone around you. Accepting help can be a great way to catapult yourself into feeling well again, which will then put you in a better position to give back to others. Do you see? It’s a beautiful ripple effect. So the only minimalist solution for this area of your life is to look after yourself so that you’re then able to look after others.
Cure your clutter, live your life
Receive our weekly newsletter for support and tips for getting organized.
Hit "JOIN" to add your name and email
15,356 Students are already changing their lives by watching our online courses. Join the most empowered group of learners today!
We offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so joining is Risk-Free.