How to simplify your day

Our days fill up so fast and are so rushed and filled with distractions that they seem to be bursting.

It’s a huge source of stress for most people, and stress is perhaps the most important factor determining whether we’re healthy or sick.

So how can we simplify our days? It’s not incredibly hard, but I’ve found it’s best done in steps.

These are the steps I followed, though of course calling them “rules” means we should test them and break them as needed. No rules should be followed blindly. I’ve found these to work really well, though.

See below for my tips to help you implement a simpler day:

1. Know what’s important. The simple version of simplifying is, “Identify what’s important, and eliminate the rest.” So take time to identify the (up to five) most important things in your life, and then see what activities, tasks, projects, meetings, and commitments fit in with that list. Also take time each day to identify up to three top-priority tasks, at the beginning of your day—or the night before, for the next day.