Simplicity sounds divine, doesn’t it? It sounds like a lazy summer afternoon in a backyard hammock sipping homemade iced tea under dappled sunlight. Simplicity. This word might make you want to take a deep breath and exhale a long, luxurious ahhhhhhh.
But when you think about actually creating simplicity, the brain grows overwhelmed and anxiety starts to rise. Simplicity in real life means making difficult choices and you might wonder: what on earth would you cut out?
Simplicity seems like a lovely goal, but it can seem too challenging to make a reality. Before you decide that it’s only for other people, read on.
Simplify your sleep
Among its many benefits, (source—link to article from health.com: 11 Surprising Health Benefits of Sleep), sleep improves memory and focus, increases creativity, lowers stress, supports healthy weight, prevents accidents, and plays a role in lifting depression. In other words, if you were to simplify any part of your life, focusing on sleep would bring you nightly bliss and make you more resourceful during the day.
Two different ways to try
With this in mind, we offer these two specific areas to simplify—starting tonight.
Bedtime ritual
It feels so good to cozy up in bed, but getting there might be challenging. To simplify, we suggest doing a ritual of bedtime preparation. A ritual is a series of intentional actions you do at a set time for a specific reason.
For example, night owls could start their bedtime ritual at 11pm, turn on the bedside lamp, dress for bed, read for 20 minutes, then turn off the light. Or, early birds could start brushing teeth at 9:15pm, mute the phone, turn off the lights, and do deep breathing for ten minutes. The common thread in these examples is to do the same thing every night. This brings consistency, and life becomes simpler.
What would your ideal bedtime ritual include?
Morning ritual
Just like going to bed, a predictable morning routine creates simplicity. Ideally, your morning ritual would include a specific time to rise from bed and the activities you’d do immediately after. For example, you could walk, shower, dress, and review your calendar. Or you might rise, stretch, eat, read, and plan your day. You could even create a written or digital checklist to help you remember each step while you’re still groggy and waking up.
What activities would you include in your ideal morning ritual?
The bliss and simplicity of sleep rituals
Could anything be more blissful than abundant, luxurious sleep every day? Life is often so full of surprises, these simple rituals support you in getting into bed each night, and then back out again in the morning without having to think. By removing thought and choice from the equation, you get amazing results with only the barest effort.
Simplicity is possible. While you might not be completely consistent starting off, you’ll become a believer. When you’re renewed each night, you’ll be more resourceful and available to the people and projects you love—while feeling great in mind and body.
You might even discover you don’t need that hammock in the backyard after all!