世上本无事,庸人自扰之

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."Confucius

“世上本无事，庸人自扰之。”孔子

"The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity."Ludwig Wittgenstein

“事物中于我们最重要的方面都由于它们的简单和熟悉而隐蔽不见”路德维希·维特根斯坦

I love simplifying my life.

我喜欢简化自己的生活。

It makes me more effective and life less stressful. It makes me calmer, more energetic and happier.

简约的生活能给我减压，让我更适于工作。我会因此变得更冷静，更有活力，更快乐。

So today I'd like to share 42 ways to make your life simpler. I hope you'll find something inspiring and helpful among these tips.

因此，今天我要分享简化生活的42个办法。希望大家能在这些办法中找到一些能激发你的有用建议。

1. Mix things up. Try the opposite. Have the vegetarian dish if you always go for the meat. Walk away from a stupid conflict instead of making it worse. Let one thing go if you often cling to things. Make a habit of mixing things up to grow your life in small or bigger ways. And to make it easier and simpler to step out of your comfort zone in general when you really need to.

1.换个套路试试。去尝试下与你习惯相反的事物，如果你老是吃肉那就试试素食；不要持续无谓的冲突，趁事情变得更坏之前立即停止；如果经常抓着事情不放那就让它过去吧。在成长的过程中要养成这种习惯，能用各种不同方法去解决问题。同时要不断简化解决办法，提醒自己要步出习惯舒适区。

2. Get up 20 minutes earlier. This will help you to reduce stress in the morning and during the rest of the day.

2.提前20分钟起床。这将有助你在整个清晨和白天都减少压力。

3. Be 10 minutes early for meetings and appointments. This will help you to make your time of travel a time of rest and relaxation instead of stressful. And you will not be late.

3.提前10分钟到场参加会议或赴约。这会使你的行程有一段休息放松时间，否则你可能会感觉紧张。而且你也不会迟到。

4. Single-task. You be more focused, less stressed and get to done more quickly. So do one thing at a time and do it with your full attention.

4.一次只做一件事。这样你会集中精力去完成，而且不会背负压力，完成速度更快。因此一次只做一件工作，并且要全力以赴。

5. Ask yourself: am I keeping things extremely simple? If not, figure out how you can do that in the situation you are in.

5.问问自己：我是在简化这个问题吗？如果不是，找出在这种情况下你怎样才能简化问题。

6. Ask yourself: will this matter 5 years from now? Or even 5 weeks from now? Do this to avoid making mountains out of molehills.

6.问问自己：这件事真的有那么严重吗？或者根本没你想的那么可怕。这样做可以避免小题大做。

7. Buy things with the money you have earned and saved. Avoid getting into debt.

7.用你的存款或薪水去购物。这样不会负债。

8. Learn a few recipes and cook. You'll save money and probably eat healthier.

8.学样新的食谱。这会给你省钱而且让你吃的更健康。

9. When you cook, cook more than you'll eat. This will help you to spend less time on cooking and washing dishes. And you'll have an extra dinner or two to just reheat when you don't have time or energy to cook.

9.如果做饭的话，那就多做一点。这将有助于你不必花那么多时间做饭和洗碗。当你没时间或者没精力做饭的时候，热热饭菜来顿加餐就行了。

10. Write things down. Pretty much everyone's memory is leaky. So help yourself. Write down what you need to do or shop for today. Write down what your top 4 priorities in life are and post that note where you can see it every day.

10.把事情记下来。几乎每个人都有忘事的时候，那么帮帮你自己，当你今天需要购物或者做什么事的时候记下来写在本子上。把你生活中最先要做的4件事写在便利贴上，贴在你每天都容易看到的地方。

11. Remember that life is larger than you may think it is. You do not know everything and you are not always right. Remembering this makes it easier for me to learn things, to accept other viewpoints, to create changes and to stay more open.

11.谨记生活比你想象的广阔。你不一定懂所有的事情，你也不会总是对的。谨记这个，可以让我愿意去学一些新的东西，接受别人的观点，做出改变，保持坦率。

12. Risk making mistakes. Learn from them. Then do again with that helpful new experience and knowledge in mind.

12.敢于冒出错的风险，然后从中吸取教训。当你有了有用的经验和知识以后，就可以重复这项工作了。

13. Do what YOU really, really, really want to do. Do not get stuck in trying to live someone else's dream.

13.做你真正，真正，真正想做的事情。不要为了实现别人的梦而痛苦的活着。

14. Go grocery shopping once a week. You'll save money and time if you make the effort to plan for a week and to shop for it all at once.

14.一周去一次杂货店。在去购物前如果你能列出计划，在购物时一次买清将为你节省时间和钱。

15. Go grocery shopping when you not hungry. You'll buy more healthy food instead of impulse buying yourself through the store.

15.趁还不饿的时候去杂货店。这时候你会买更健康的食物而不是冲动性购买。

16. Enjoy the simple pleasures. An apple, the latest episode of your favorite show, fresh and clean bed sheets, a hug and kiss, holding hands, the sun and blossoming nature after a long and cold winter.

16.享受简单的乐趣。一个苹果，你心爱的电视剧集更新，刚换的干净床单，一个拥抱一个吻，牵手，漫长的严冬过后温暖的阳光和充满生机的大自然。

17. Have a glass of water. Instead of eating when you are bored or when are having a craving have 1-2 glasses of water. This will help you to keep to those cravings away until the next meal and to maintain your health and weight.

17.喝一杯水。当你烦闷或者想吃东西的时候不要立刻吃东西，试着喝一两杯水。这将帮助你赶走食欲，直到正餐时间。这样有利于你保持苗条和健康。

18. Eat slower. Make your lunch time a time of relaxation rather than a time to just add to the stress of your morning. Try putting down the fork between bites to slow down the eating.

18.慢食。把你的午饭时间变成一种放松和享受，而不是整个忙碌早晨的延续。试着在夹菜和咀嚼的过程中放下叉子，这能让你减少吃饭速度。

19. Be kind. Be kind to other people and especially to yourself.

19.善意待人。善意对待别人，特别是自己。

20. Write shorter emails. 1-5 sentences is often enough.

20.写封更短的信。1到5句话就足够了。

21. Write emails only once a day. Batch and process them all at once all the way to an empty inbox.

21.一天只回一次邮件。批量处理邮件，一次回复所有的邮件。

22. Learn about ways to keep stress down and try them out. Examples would be mindfulness, setting human standards for yourself and saying no. A few such habits can help you to drastically cut down on the stress in your life.

22.学习减压的办法，尝试把压力赶走。榜样能让你注意到这些。可以为自己找出一些人物模范，并对压力说不。这样的一些小习惯能帮你彻底摆脱掉生活的压力。

23. Give everything its home. Then you know where to put the item when you have used it. You'll know where to find it when you need it again. And you'll reduce the clutter in your home or work space.

23.让每样东西各归其位。这样在你用过之后就知道下次能在哪儿找到它了。同时也使房间更整洁。

24. Slow down and enjoy and pay attention what is actually happening today. Instead of just rushing through the day and always on to the next thing.

24.放慢速度，享受生活，留心每天都发生了什么。不要一味地向前冲，急于奔向下一个目标。

25. Spend more time with people who make life simpler. And less time with people who make life unnecessarily complicated.

25.和生活简单的人多在一起。尽量少和那些把生活搞的非常复杂的人在一起。

26. Exercise every week. This will reduce stress, up your energy levels and in my experience reduces negative thoughts.

26.每周做运动。运动会为你减压，提高你的能量水平，而且会减少你的消极思想。

27. Declutter. Declutter your life of the things that aren't really that useful or meaningful for you anymore. Give that stuff away to someone who needs it. Or throw it out. A question that can help you to know if it is time to declutter something out of your life is: have I used this item in the last year?

27.收拾杂物。丢掉那些没用或者对你不再有意义的东西。把那些东西送给真正需要的人们。或者直接丢掉。这有一个帮你辨别某样东西是否有用的办法，那就是想想：我最近一次用它是去年吗？

28. Look for advice from people who have been where you are. Learn from people who have been in the situation you are in and had the challenge you are having.

28.向和你处境相似的人寻求意见。想那些和你处境相同，或者和你一样面临着相同挑战的人学习。

29. Stop trying to please everyone. There will always be people who you don't get along with or that do not like you for some reason.

29.不要试图取悦所有人。总会有那么一些不能和你融洽相处，甚至不喜欢你的人。

30. Break a task down into smaller and actionable pieces. Single-task that first piece until it is done. Then do the same with the next piece. And so on.

30.把一项工作分成小的，可执行的部分。一次只做一部分，完成后进行下一部分。事皆如此。

31. Stop trying to do things perfectly. Go for good enough instead and when you are there you are done. Get things all the way to done this way and then move on to the next thing.

31.不要苛求事事完美。全力以赴去完成一件事情，当你做完的时候你就成功了。抱着这样的心态去做所有的事情，然后着手下一步。

32. Take a minute and just breathe a couple of times a day. This will help you to reduce the stress and overwhelm of your day. It will help you to reconnect with the present moment, to create a habit of living more mindfully and to focus all your attention on what is happening right now.

32.每天花一分钟深呼吸几次。这样能帮助你减压，忘掉白天的纷纷扰扰。让你的思绪回到当下这一刻，形成谨慎生活的习惯，把你的注意力集中到此刻发生的事情上来。

33. Spend just 20% of your time on dwelling on a problem and 80% of your time focusing on a solution. Instead of the other way around.

33.完成工作的时候要用20%的时间细想问题，80%的时间找出解决办法。而不是反过来。

34. Focus on a few priorities in your life. Keep things simple to be able to put enough effort, attention and energy into those most important things. Rather than becoming spread too thin, rarely finishing things and being distracted by all those many other things you want to do or that feel you need to do too.

34.集中考虑生活中需要优先完成的事情。简化问题，让你能够投入所有的努力，注意力和能力来解决最重要的问题。而非把问题扩展成无穷小的部分，或者几乎不能完成的事情，继而被许多其他需要你去完成或者你想做的事情弄的心烦意乱。

35. Keep a journal. By writing the facts and your thoughts and feelings down in a journal it becomes easier to work through a challenge and to find a good solution. You can also use a journal to track your actual results instead of guesstimating how your life is going. And to better remember all the things that you did well or that went well if you worry often or have quite a bit of negative thoughts.

35.按时写日记。通过记录下事情的面貌，你的想法和感受，可以帮你完成挑战或者找出解决办法。你也可以通过记日记来写下你生活的真实结果，而不是瞎猜你到底过的怎么样。这样也能记住你完成的好的事情，或者你经常担心但是没什么大碍的事情，或者一些负面情绪。

36. Stop doing what you don't like doing anymore. Life changes and so do you. If you you don't like doing something anymore then perhaps it is time to stop doing that (even if it may take some time before you can do so by for example switching jobs).

36.不要再做你讨厌做的事情了。生活在改变，你也一样。如果你特别讨厌做某事那就不要再做了（及时这将花去你一段时间，比如换工作）

37. Use a very simple workspace. My work space is just a laptop on a small black desk made out of wood. I use a comfy chair and there is room for my glass of water beside the computer. That's it. There are no distractions here. Just me, the computer and the water.

37.拥有一个简单的工作空间。我的工作间只是个木头的黑色小桌，上面摆一台笔记本电脑。我有一把舒服的椅子，笔记本旁边放着一杯水。就这些了。没有其他让我分心的食物，只有电脑，水和我。

38. Spend 15 minutes each Sunday to plan the next week. Write down your plans for the week, organize your prioritized to-do list and get ready for the week before you are in the middle of it all. This will help you to find more clarity, get more of the most important things done next week and minimize stress.

38.每个周末抽出15分钟计划下周的事情。写下你下周的计划，整理出下周优先要做的事情，并在之前做好准备。这将帮你把下周最重要的事情变明了，从而减少压力。

39. Cancel subscriptions for TV-channels, newsletters and magazines you rarely get around to watching or reading anyway.

39。退订那些你很难抽空去看或者读得电视节目，资讯邮件，杂志。

40. Ask instead of guessing. Reading minds is hard. So, instead ask questions and communicate. This will help you to minimize unnecessary conflicts, misunderstandings, negativity and waste or time and energy.

40.询问而不是猜测。读心是很难的。因此，要去询问别人并交流。这会帮你避免不必要的冲突，误会，节省你的时间和精力。

41. Make one change at a time and start small. Focus on one habit or area at a time. If you want to start running or decluttering, start with doing just a few minutes of that activity a day or week. Then gradually increase the amount of time you spend on that activity to make it easier to adopt the new habit.

41.一次改变一小点，从小事做起。一次只关注一个习惯，如果你打算开始跑步，或者收拾屋子，那么试着每天或者每周开始做那么几分钟。然后慢慢逐渐增加你花在这项活动上的时间，这样可以让你更容易的来适应这项新习惯。

42. Be lazy. By using the tips in this article you'll be able to get things done more quickly and in a simpler way. This will give more time in a regular week to simply be lazy. To just take it easy alone or with family or a friend, to not do much at all. I highly recommend spending time with being lazy every week to relax, to mindfully enjoy the small pleasures of life and to recharge yourself so that you can be effective and focused again later on.

42.偷个懒。通过使用本文中的建议，你可以更容易 ，更有效的解决问题。这样每周都会定期多出时间来。那么就和家人，朋友，或者自己放松放松，不要太过就行。我强烈推荐每周偷了懒放松自己，让自己明白要享受生活中细小的幸福，让自己充电后能更专心和有效的面临即将到来的工作。