5 Things I Don't Do

In order to keep my life simple

When I first started learning about the concept of simple and slow living, I read a lot of books and blogs that talked about all the things a person should be doing in order to live a simpler life. A lot of resources suggested that you should be growing as much of your own produce as possible and that you need to be preserving the surplus. You should be making all your meals and snacks from scratch and making all your own green cleaners. You need to be sewing yourself clothes and knitting dishcloths. You should be baking your own bread and you definitely need to keep chickens for eggs.

Now, I am not opposed to any of these ideals. I have tried all of them and continue to do many of them regularly to this day. Nothing brings me more joy than picking produce from the garden for dinner or gifting someone a jar of homemade peach jam. But none of these things in isolation will make your life simpler.

In fact, it could be argued they’ll make your life more complicated.

If you are looking to simplify your life because you are tired or overwhelmed or you just want to live life at a slower pace, these lofty ideals probably won’t help you at the beginning. In fact, trying to find time to bake bread and make your own clothes detergent when you are already struggling with burnout, is a surefire way to set yourself up for a breakdown.

All of these things are lovely, but they need to come later. We can’t be adding more tasks that need doing without first taking some obligations away. Over the years I have cut lots of unnecessary stuff out, to make space for the things that truly enrich my life.

Here are just a few of the things I don’t do, in the name of keeping my life as simple as possible, so that I have bandwidth for the things that actually matter to me.

Grocery shopping in person
In an ideal world I would support local businesses and buy as much as possible at a farmers market, then fill in the gaps with a grocery top up from Aldi (because that’s the most affordable option where I live).

In reality, I don’t often have time for that. I refuse to commit to spending half one of my precious weekend days grocery shopping every week, when I could be using that time gardening, baking, making art, spending time with my boys or just having a nap. So instead, I do my grocery shopping online.

As well as saving me time, doing our grocery shopping online allows me to thoroughly check the specials so that I can stockpile items we use regularly when they are on sale. It allows me to be more organised with our meal planning and it helps me to avoid impulse purchases. I paid for Woolworth’s Delivery Unlimited upfront, which gives us unlimited free grocery deliveries for a year. We get our grocery delivered every week so for our family, this was a worthwhile investment.

Baking sourdough
I love, love, love sourdough, but in my current chapter of life I just don’t have the time or capacity to be baking bread and mothering a starter every day. I have done so in the past and I know I will again one day in the future, but today isn’t that day. Instead, I’m happy to support a local bakery and buy our sourdough. When we do fancy homemade bread and time allows, I often make this super simple (and delicious) focaccia.

Dry cleaning and ironing
I don’t buy anything that needs dry cleaning. Ever. Because I know from experience I will never get around to taking it to be cleaned, and once the item is dirty it will spend the rest of it’s life withering away in the bottom of our dirty laundry basket.

Almost all my clothes are natural fibers which can be prone to wrinkling but I have a (very simple) method to avoid ironing them. When the clothes are still wet from the wash I just give them a really good shake, then pop them straight on a hanger to air dry, where gravity lends a hand to smooth out any wrinkles. This method isn’t perfect if you’re a fan of ironing your clothes until they are ultra crisp and smooth, but it keeps my clothes wrinkle-free enough for me!

Attending extracurriculars every day of the week
We have set our son a limit of 3 nights for extracurricular activities per week. I try to keep Tuesdays and Thursdays free so that my son has some downtime after school every week (and I get a couple a days off from taxiing!) Admittedly, this one is easier for us than many other families, because we only have one child. I understand how hard it must be to juggle extracurricular schedules for multiple children, but I think if you can manage to keep a couple of days free, it is really good for kids to have some quiet afternoons during the week. Please don’t feel guilty for setting limits on extracurriculars. Downtime is essential for everyone.

Making elaborate meals on weeknights
We have a homemade dinner almost every night but our weekday meals are never fancy or time-consuming to make. We eat lots of quick things like stir fries, chicken or salmon with salad and garlic bread, spaghetti, fajitas and homemade burgers. I save more time and labour intensive meals like homemade lasagne, chicken pie, spanikopita and slow cooked curries for the weekend.

I also always keep a couple of pizza bases and some convenient options like gyoza in the freezer for nights when I just really, really can’t face cooking a meal from scratch. I feel like convenience foods are treated as blasphemous in the slow living world, but no one wants to cook 365 days a year. Everyone has days when they are sick, exhausted or just plain fed up. Having a couple of simple options in the freezer that I can serve with chopped fruit or veggies, saves my sanity while being cheaper and healthier than takeaway.

What are some things you don’t do, in order to keep your life simple?