{"id":40538,"date":"2016-04-20T10:59:36","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T18:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=40538"},"modified":"2016-04-22T21:22:45","modified_gmt":"2016-04-23T05:22:45","slug":"how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too? You undoubtedly have too much stuff. But are you cramming too many activities into each day as well? And are you spending too much of your life looking at a screen instead of doing things with living, breathing people?<\/p>\n

We all want to reclaim control of our lives and the 101 stories in the new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less<\/em><\/strong>, which I coauthored with Brooke Burke-Charvet<\/strong>, provide plenty of inspiration and great advice to help you do that. These five tips, from five stories in the book, will help you get started!<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Don\u2019t hold onto stuff that could be someone else\u2019s blessing. <\/strong>The question Jeanie Jacobson always asks when helping her friends organize and de-clutter is: \u201cAre you holding onto someone else\u2019s blessing?\u201d It changed one friend\u2019s whole perspective. The idea of holding onto someone else\u2019s blessing had her gleefully cleaning out her house. \u201cI\u2019d never seen anyone part so willingly with so many useful goods,\u201d Jeanie said of her friend. That inspired Jeanie to turn the question on herself when she got home. She saw dust-covered gym equipment, packed closets and full hampers of clothes. \u201cWhy did I have all this lying around when there were so many people in need?\u201d she writes. \u201cI grabbed the phone and called my favorite secondhand shop.\u201d Jeanie had a lot of blessings to donate.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Your memories live in your head, not in your possessions. <\/strong>As Amelia Hollingsworth packed up her young family\u2019s home for a cross-country move, she had a hard time letting go. So much of their furniture held special memories for her, but not everything would fit in their POD or their new, smaller home. She couldn\u2019t decide what to take and what to leave until her mother put it all in perspective. \u201cThe stuff isn\u2019t the memories,\u201d Amelia\u2019s mother told her. \u201cAnd you don\u2019t have to worry about losing the memories when you leave your stuff behind. Those you take with you.\u201d And she was right. Even though Amelia had to leave a lot of items with sentimental value behind, she doesn\u2019t miss them. \u201cWe have not lost the happy memories of our old home,\u201d she shares. \u201cThose came with us, and they were the only things we never had to box up or unpack.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. It\u2019s okay to say \u201cno.\u201d <\/strong>The \u201cshould monster,\u201d as Sydney Logan called it, ran her life. She \u201cshould\u201d always volunteer to help; she \u201cshould\u201d pick out the perfect birthday, or graduation or wedding gift and happily attend those events. \u201cFrazzled isn\u2019t just a state of mind,\u201d Sydney says. \u201cIt\u2019s a reality.\u201d With help from her therapist, she learned it was okay to say no to things she didn\u2019t want to do. \u201cIn fact, it\u2019s a necessity, because the truth is we can\u2019t do it all,\u201d she writes. \u201cNot if we want to keep our sanity.\u201d Now, she volunteers only for the things she wants to and not out of obligation. \u201cIt\u2019s not always easy, and I still struggle with feeling selfish from time to time,\u201d she says, \u201cbut I\u2019m a happier, calmer person. And that\u2019s the way it should be.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Sometimes doing nothing is everything. <\/strong>When Sally Friedman saw how exhausted her two granddaughters looked when they came for an overnight, she and her husband scratched everything they had planned. \u201cWe would do\u2026 nothing. Absolutely nothing,\u201d Sally writes. \u201cAt least it would be a novelty.\u201d They lounged in pajamas and played cards. After dinner, they sat around the table telling silly stories. \u201cI didn\u2019t rush to clean up because I\u2019ve finally learned that the dishes can wait\u2014but kids sometimes can\u2019t,\u201d Sally says. At the end of the weekend, the girls didn\u2019t want to leave. \u201cAnd I think they understood,\u201d she writes, \u201cperhaps for the first time, that doing nothing is actually\u2026 quite something.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Get unplugged to plug back into real life. <\/strong>After avoiding Facebook for years, Kate Lemery finally joined and quickly became addicted. She would get lost within other people\u2019s Facebook lives, comparing herself to them. And it started to affect her personal interactions. \u201cI got grumpy with my family for no reason other than I\u2019d been feeling bad about things I\u2019d read on Facebook,\u201d Kate shares. \u201cEveryone on Facebook seemed to be having more fun than me.\u201d Lunch with a friend one day made her realize how much time she\u2019d been wasting on Facebook, time taken away from her family. \u201cThat night I changed my personal Facebook policy,\u201d Kate says. \u201cI now limit myself to fifteen minutes a week. If anyone has anything important to say, they can tell me personally.\u201d Now she reads more books, watches more movies and takes joy in spending time with her family. \u201cTo paraphrase the great humorist Erma Bombeck,\u201d Kate says, \u201cI now cry and laugh less on Facebook\u2014and more while living life.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            \u201cChicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less<\/a>\u201d goes on sale April 19, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

            \"book<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too? You undoubtedly have too much stuff. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":40682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[12,45,32,24,210,30,34,6],"tags":[4572,5031,1701,4641,51,66,4634,4629,278,5091],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Have More by Simplifying Your Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-20T18:59:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-23T05:22:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-1.36.35-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1082\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-1.36.35-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-1.36.35-PM.png\",\"width\":1082,\"height\":709},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/\",\"name\":\"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-20T18:59:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-23T05:22:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life","description":"It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life","og_description":"It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2016-04-20T18:59:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-04-23T05:22:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1082,"height":709,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-1.36.35-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-1.36.35-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-1.36.35-PM.png","width":1082,"height":709},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/","name":"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-04-20T18:59:36+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-23T05:22:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"It\u2019s time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-have-more-by-simplifying-your-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}