This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I make a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Disclosure here.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when your house is full of stuff. I may or may not have learnt this firsthand. So, in the past year or so, I’ve been on a journey to simplify my stuff, my home, and my life in general.

I’ve discovered that the biggest impact was not when I massively decluttered our garage, but rather through those tiny changes I implemented in our home. And today I’m sharing them all with you.

Here are 20 tiny changes to instantly simplify your home and your life.

Keep reading below or watch the video:

1. The 5/5 rule  

This is a challenge I came across, and it’s something you can incorporate this week. 

It goes like this: go around your home and see if you can remove five items from five rooms of your home. It might not sound like a big deal, but these tiny changes are what make a big difference.

2. Use a family calendar  

We have started doing this, especially after our second baby was born. We realized that between school stuff, appointments, and work deadlines, we actually need some way to have everything organized in one place. A place where both myself and my husband can access things easily.

We decided to use Google Calendar. My husband and I have it synced up so we can both see any appointments or anything coming up. It is a game-changer because it has really simplified our lives. We can easily see what’s coming up. So it’s just a way to ensure we don’t really miss anything, for the most part.

3. Minimize your wardrobe  

I cannot tell you how life-changing this is. Getting rid of items you don’t actually like to wear sounds too simplistic, but it makes such a big difference. 

When you open your wardrobe in the morning, having items you love to wear—items that make you feel good—means that everything in there is an option. 

It also makes laundry so much easier.

4. Have a uniform  

This doesn’t have to be strict. It doesn’t mean you can only wear a particular uniform. It’s all about finding your style and the types of items you love to wear.

For example, in the summer, my uniform has mainly been wide-leg trousers and a simple top. In the autumn, I’m all about leggings and a sweatshirt or a cosy knit jumper. 

It’s all about finding those style combinations that make you feel really good and are really easy to put together.

5. Fold the Marie Kondo way

This means folding everything upright. So, when I put things like leggings, jeans, trousers, or tops in a drawer, I try to fold them upwards. This way, I can see everything that’s in the drawer. 

It’s so, so simple, but it actually makes a huge difference. So, thank you, Marie Kondo, for that!

6. Say No  

When you say “Yes” to something, you are actually saying “No” to something else. 

For me, it took a while for this to sink in. But, for example, when I’m saying “yes” to keeping an item in my home, I’m saying “no” to creating space. I’m saying “no” to getting some of my time and energy back because now I have this extra item I have to take care of.

When I say “yes” to buying an item, I’m saying “no” to saving money. 

It really was an interesting perspective shift that has stuck with me. I learnt this from Gabe Bult’s class on Skillshare, which is also the sponsor of today’s article (*AD Disclaimer).

For the past few months, I have done a deep dive into Skillshare, and I have honestly learnt so much. I figured, since it’s back-to-school season for the kids, I might as well go back to school myself. Skillshare is the largest online learning community that has thousands of classes available on loads of topics. There are so many creative classes by industry experts. 

I’ve been particularly interested in the classes on marketing and business, obviously for my online business, and on productivity, which is a big one for me. I also dived into filmmaking because I’m constantly trying to improve my video skills for my YouTube channel. You can be the judge of that—whether it’s working or not!

Also, I loved Ali Abdaal’s productivity class using the Notion platform—that’s been a game changer for me. I’m also taking a learning path to practice my piano skills as well. I really like how all the content is on-demand, so I can watch whenever it’s convenient for me. 

I never thought building my online business from home through social media could be so life-changing. I absolutely attribute a huge part of my growth to being constantly interested in learning new skills that I can apply to my content creation.

So let me know which class you would start with and what you’d be interested in learning in the comments below. 

7. Give everything a home

When I looked around my home, I tried to create a place for everything to go.

Whether that’s batteries, which can have their drawer, or sun cream, umbrellas, sunglasses—anything like that—it needs to have a place in your home. All the paperwork the kids bring in from school? It needs a home too. 

It’s when things don’t have a home that they usually end up on flat surfaces or the floor, getting thrown around. It’s because they don’t have a specific place to go.

8. Don’t put it down—put it away

I love this habit, and I’ve been trying to keep it in mind throughout the day.

If I’ve got something in my hand, I’m not just going to put it down on a random surface. Instead, I’m going to try to take it back to the place where it belongs. It’s something that takes a few seconds to do, but it really adds up throughout the day.

9. All that stuff used to be money

I learnt this the hard way. Looking at all the clutter I’ve taken out of my home, and realizing that every single one of those items cost me money, yet I don’t need them and I’m giving them away, means I’ve wasted a lot of money. 

Of course, I might have gotten some use out of some of the items. But thinking of everything in terms of money really puts things into perspective. It’s helped me become a more intentional shopper, making sure I don’t buy a lot of clutter that I don’t truly need.

10. Whenever you go north

This is such a simple change you can make: when you go north, take with you something that belongs north.

So, if I’m going to the kitchen, I’ll look around and see if there are any mugs or anything that belongs in the kitchen to take with me. If I’m going downstairs, I’ll check if there are any clothes or other items I need to bring down. 

Doing this throughout the day makes life easier and speeds up tidying, as it prevents piles of things and avoids delayed actions and decisions.

11. Have an outbox or donation box

We have a little basket in our understairs cupboard where I throw things in. If I spot a toy my kids haven’t played with in a long time, some clothes the kids have outgrown, or my own clothes that I’m not wearing anymore, I’ll pop them in the outbox. 

Then, whenever I’m going into town and can stop by the charity shop, I’ll just take it with me. Or, if we get one of those donation bags through our letterbox, I can simply fill it up, put it outside the house, and just get those things we no longer need out of our home.

When we make decluttering easier, we’re more likely to do it.

12. Have an inbox system

This is also beneficial. It just means having a place for all of your letters and incoming mail, whether that’s letters or birthday invites. It’s really helpful to have a letter folder, which is what we have, or maybe a tray at the entrance to keep things from getting lost and thrown all over the house.

13. Recycle the junk mail straight away

I don’t need it cluttering up my home, and chances are, you don’t need it either.

14. Go paperless

I try to go paperless as much as I can, so all of our bills and everything like that are pretty much digitized. We receive them through email instead of getting a paper copy because there’s really no point.

We’ve digitized a lot of paperwork we don’t have to keep the original copies of, and that means there are no piles of paper everywhere. We have two folders for important papers that we need to keep, and that’s it. We don’t have piles and piles of papers.

15. Eye-level coat pegs for kids

This is something I haven’t thought about for the longest time. I would always put my kids’ clothes on hangers, but obviously, because they’re tiny, they’re not going to go ahead and put their coats on a hanger. 

Instead, I put some pegs at their eye level, and they’ve got their names at the top, just like they do at school. This way, my son knows exactly where his coat belongs. I’m not saying he does it perfectly every time, but this means he knows that there’s a place where that coat goes.

Using eye-level pegs for kids’ coats makes it more likely for them to actually help tidy up, and it makes keeping on top of the house easier.

16. The basket for school papers

I’ve also found it really helpful to have a basket or a tray where all of the school papers go. So, when they come back from school, that’s where it all goes; it doesn’t get thrown around the flat surfaces.

We also know where to find them when we need to address them—like when we need to do homework or read a book they got sent from school. It’s so easy when you know exactly where to find those.

17. The visual clutter

This can be a big one. Sometimes we clutter our homes and feel like, ‘Well, there’s not that much for me to get rid of anymore,’ but it still feels heavy; it still feels like there’s a lot going on. 

That might be because there’s a lot of visual clutter. 

It doesn’t mean you have to have a neutral-coloured home by any means; it doesn’t mean you need to get rid of everything you love. But sometimes, simplifying your décor just a little bit can actually reduce that visual clutter and create a more calm and relaxing space for you to be in.

Everybody’s different, and you can find the kind of balance that works for you.

18. Use a charging station

This can be a drawer or a cupboard, anything like that—where you put all of the charging stuff, all the cables. That’s where we charge our laptop, phone, iPad, my camera equipment; anything like that goes in there.

If we didn’t have that charging station, all of those charging cables would be all over the house.

19. Tidy while you cook

I cannot explain how much easier this makes things! So, when I’m cooking dinner, if I’m finished with the cooking oil, I will put it away. If I’m finished with the salt and pepper, I will put it away. I’ll give the cutting board a quick clean if I’m finished chopping the veggies. 

All of these little things while I cook mean that when we’re finished eating dinner, there’s not going to be a huge explosion in my kitchen. It’s going to be a quick tidy, and future me will thank me for that! 

20. Keep less on kitchen counters

I like to use my 5-7 rule: if it’s an appliance or a gadget that I use five days out of seven—or, you know, pretty much every day—then that means it can be out on the counters. For me, that’s the coffee machine, toaster, and kettle—things like that. 

But things like a blender, which I use maybe once or twice a week, I don’t really need to keep out. Obviously, everybody’s different, but it really helps to clear out those kitchen counters because it makes cleaning so much easier and also gives more space while cooking. 

By implementing these tiny changes, I’ve found that our home feels lighter and more organized. It’s amazing how small adjustments can lead to a big impact on our daily lives, making everything easier to manage. I hope these tips inspire you as well to simplify your space and create a home that feels calm and welcoming.