Declutter and Simplify Your Life

One of the main struggles I hear from my readers is that they don’t have time for a yoga practice. The best way to make time for yoga is to declutter and simplify your life. In this post, I will give you 6 things you can do today, that will leave you with more time for your yoga practice.

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Declutter and Simplify Your Life

Things to Eliminate:

TV (This includes Netflix and movies)

Adults in America spend an average of 2 hours a day watching TV. 2 hours! If you cut out this one thing, you would have an hour for yoga each day, with plenty of time left over. Make TV a special treat. Instead of watching every day, only watch on Sunday evenings. Or, only watch when you are on the treadmill or stationary bike. I know it may seem hard to cut out. But trust me, once I made it a habit, I don’t miss it all anymore.

Facebook

Facebook is highly addictive for me and I’m guessing it is for you too. I can be scrolling through my feed for 30 minutes and realize that I am not even paying attention to what I am seeing. Facebook as a great way to connect with friends, but it can be (and most of the time for me) a mindless activity with no connection. I tried allowing myself once a day to check in, but I found myself checking my feed multiple times a day. What works best for me is checking it once a week, usually on the weekend. This way, I don’t miss the major things people post, and I don’t get sucked in during the week.

begin overly tired

Do you ever hit a wall at night? It’s almost as if, your body and mind say, that’s it, no more. When this happens to me, I am too exhausted to do anything, but I don’t go to bed. I end up wasting an hour or two just sitting/laying on the couch literally doing nothing. I am even too tired to get ready for bed. These times aren’t relaxing because I am just too tired to enjoy it. I found that if I get ready for bed before I hit this wall, I am much more likely to go to bed when I feel too tired to do anything. I then get a better nights sleep and wake up feeling ready to go.

things that don’t bring you joy

If you have never heard of the KonMari method, I highly suggest you check out the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. The author, Marie Kondo, gives you a step by step guide on how to transform your space into a space that is decluttered and inspiring to you. This book is life changing!

Things to Add-In:

Weekend Chore Checklist

Finding time during the week for yoga can be especially challenging. Which is why I use part of my weekend to get prepared for the week. This way, during the week, I am still able to find pockets of time for yoga.

I have a spreadsheet that I use to help me stay organized in what needs to get done on my chore day.

Obviously, you would want to tailor the list to fit you. But, seeing my list will hopefully get you started.

My list includes:

laundry

clean sheets

dust

sweep

mop

vacuum

clean bathrooms

take out the garbage, recycling, and compost

water plants

wipe down inside and outside of the fridge

give the stove a really good wipe down

wipe out the microwave

make a grocery list

grocery shop

prepare a big bowl of veggies to eat throughout the week

hard-boil a bunch of eggs

clean out my purse

plan my outfits for the week

pluck my eyebrows

do my nails

go through my budget

podcasts

I commute 20 minutes to work. When you are trying to maximize your time, this can seem like a huge waste. Which is why I love podcasts. I have several that I really enjoy; Planet Money, Ted Radio Hour, and Freakonomics are some of my all time favorites. Honestly, I feel like it has replaced watching TV for me. I took a time that seemed like a waste and turned it into something that I enjoy and that is really educational.

exercise with family and friends

Exercising is more fun with a buddy (I think). You are more likely to push yourself in your workouts if you have a buddy. Plus, it holds you accountable to doing the workout in the first place! Also, you hit two birds with one stone, a great workout and time with those important to you.

There you go! Hopefully, this will help you declutter and simplify your life so that you have time for a regular yoga practice.

If you haven’t been physically active on a regular basis, don’t go from 0 to 60 too fast. If you are interested in seeing how I increased my physical activity over time, without getting injured, check out this post.

Namaste,

Abby