5 Things You Gain When You Live With Less - Life's Little Pleasures and Struggles

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When you decide to simplify your life and choose to live with less, you not only get rid of things that don’t add value to your life, but also you gain things of greater value by letting go of the unnecessary and choosing to own less. And that is the best part of simplifying your life.

When you are willing to let go of the clutter, the excess, the distractions, and the constant busyness, you gain these 5 precious things: more time, more space, more clarity, more freedom, and ultimately more peace of mind. It is important that you shift your focus to what you gain by choosing to live with less and not what you let go, because that renewed perspective will make your simplifying journey easier and your life so much more meaningful.

More Time

Wouldn’t you all like to be able to spend more quality time with your loved ones or doing the things you love to do?

A simplified life frees up more time in your schedule. When you stop focusing and spending your time on acquiring unnecessary material possessions, you are more likely to focus on what matters most to you.

Everything you own takes up some of your precious time and energy. First, you have to spend numerous hours of your life working to earn the money to be able to buy something. Once you own it, you have to spend more time and energy cleaning it, organizing it, maintaining it, looking for it (in case you lost it), repairing and upkeeping it.

The fewer things you own, the less of your time and energy are spent on managing your stuff. It’s okay to spend time and energy on the things that you love and use, and that add value to your life and make life easier. The problem arises when you live with the things that add no value and are not worth the time and energy you spend on them. Moreover, they create unnecessary distractions for you!

As you simplify your home and choose to live with less, you tend to become more mindful of your time and priorities. Then you are better able to make intentional choices about your resources and see if they are supporting your ideal lifestyle.

For example, when your home and your chores take up less of your time and energy, you have more time and energy to invest in your relationships that you truly care for! You can give your loved ones more of your time, attention, and energy because you are not busy with unnecessary cleaning or doing meaningless things.

You may even be able to reduce your work hours so you are home earlier, can take your kids to the park or local library, help them with their homework and projects, and have dinner together every night. And when you can invest your time and energy into your relationships with the people you love most, those relationships become stronger and grow deeper!

Not only that, but also when you choose to live with less, you will unearth a significant amount of time in your day. You will be free to use this new found time to engage in activities that you truly love and enjoy. You will have more white space – both in your schedule and your home to try and develop new hobbies or explore new exciting things that inspire you such as reading, learning, writing, creating, gardening, traveling, practicing self-care, and appreciating the little pleasures of life.

The opportunities are endless and the choice is yours!

More Space

When you choose to own less and live a simple decluttered life, you get rid of the unnecessary, extra stuff from your home that takes up most of your living spaces. Where there was once clutter, you will gain space that you can use for comfortable living and enjoying what you value most, instead of storing unnecessary stuff.

As you choose to live with less, you only own those things that you love and use frequently, and you free up more space for yourself and your family to make room for the things you all love to do and enjoy. Some examples are: an exercise room, a comfortable reading nook, kids’ play room, or arts and crafts room.

More Mental Clarity

Your mind has to process everything that your eyes can see and ears can hear. If your home or work environment is cluttered, and messy, and noisy, the mess and clutter results in brain fog. You can’t work effectively or live intentionally in chaos.

When you let go of the unnecessary, excessive stuff and choose to live with less, you reduce or eliminate the distractions that create mental fatigue, confusion, and doubt.

We usually have a thousand different things screaming and competing for our attention. From the morning, we start thinking about how the day will be like, what to make for breakfast, how to take care of our kids, what to eat for lunch, the dishes and the laundry that needs to be done, when to run the errands, what to prepare for dinner, so on and so forth. It’s a never-ending to-do list, and often it just freaks us out.

By choosing to live with less, you simplify your life and declutter your mind, which in return creates mental clarity. You can accomplish a lot more when you gain yourself some of the clarity that comes from creating space in your home and in your life. You can easily identify your priorities and focus more on them. So, remove the excess, the distractions, and every other unimportant, unnecessary thing. Get clear on what matters by getting rid of everything that doesn’t.

More Freedom

Deliberately living with less means less comparison, less jealousy, and less selfishness which gives you more mental freedom from being a slave to materialism. Own less, and you will experience a freedom like never before: a freedom from greed, unhealthy comparison, jealousy, obsession, debt, and overworking.

When you have more freedom, you can make choices that support your ideal lifestyle that is aligned with your core values and priorities. You can then make intentional choices about what fills your time and space, and you can spend your time and energy on things that add value to you and bring you long-term pleasures.

“Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them! There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest.” ~ Peace Pilgrim

More Peace of Mind

When you deliberately live with less, you are no longer trying hard to keep up with a fast-paced lifestyle and managing all your unnecessary stuff and commitments. Instead, you can slow down and intentionally focus more on what is most important and meaningful to you because you have the time, space, and freedom to do so. Since having less stuff significantly reduces your stress level and promotes more downtime, it will naturally increase your peace of mind.

By decluttering and reducing the stuff you own, you are able to create a calm, peaceful home where you can relax and unwind after a long, tiring day without having to worry about cleaning or organizing things. That definitely means more peace!

Now you know that when you intentionally live with less, you actually live more!