SIMPLE LIVING
Small, realistic ways to make everyday life feel a little lighter — and create more room for what you love.
Life can get very full, very quickly.
There’s work, meals, laundry, school schedules, appointments, errands and cleaning — and somewhere between all of that, we’re supposed to find time for ourselves and the people we love.
For a long time, I thought making life easier meant becoming more organized and somehow fitting even more into the day.
But lately, I’ve been thinking about it differently.
What if a simpler life isn’t about becoming better at doing everything?
What if it’s about deciding that some things don’t need to be done at all?
For me, simple living means reducing unnecessary work so there is more room for the things I actually enjoy — baking something on a quiet weekend, spending time outside, gardening, reading with my child, making something creative, or simply having an evening that doesn’t feel rushed.
Here are 10 small ways I’m trying to bring a little more simplicity into everyday life.
01
Have a Few Go-To Meals
Not every dinner needs to be interesting.
Having a handful of meals you can make almost without thinking removes one decision from an already busy day.
For us, that might mean something as simple as sheet-pan chicken and vegetables, noodles, rice bowls, soup, eggs or an easy pasta.
I still love cooking. I just don’t think I need to love cooking every single Tuesday night.
🌿 Little Z’s Simple Living Note
Save your cooking energy for the days when cooking actually feels enjoyable.
02
Choose One-Pan and One-Pot Recipes
Fewer dishes can make an ordinary weeknight noticeably easier.
Sheet-pan dinners, soups, pasta and one-pot meals aren’t exciting because they’re trendy. They’re useful because dinner doesn’t leave behind a kitchen full of things to wash.
That’s one reason simple recipes will always have a place in my kitchen.
03
Keep Fewer Things You Don’t Use
I’m not trying to create a perfectly minimalist home. I just want to be able to find the things we actually use.
If I have five kitchen gadgets that accomplish almost the same thing, four of them are taking up space — and eventually taking up my time too.
I think that’s a much more useful reason to simplify than simply wanting an empty-looking house.
04
Make Your Home Easy to Reset
I love the idea of a home that can return to “good enough” fairly quickly.
A basket for toys. A place for shoes. A small basket for things that need to go upstairs. A kitchen counter that isn’t expected to stay perfectly empty.
The goal isn’t a house that always looks ready for a photograph.
The goal is a home that’s easy to live in and easy to put back together.
05
Let Some Things Be Good Enough
This might be the most important one.
The cookies don’t need perfect decorations. The garden doesn’t need to look professionally landscaped. A child’s activity doesn’t need twelve supplies and a picture-perfect result.
Dinner can occasionally come from the freezer. And sometimes the laundry can wait until tomorrow.
There is a lot of freedom in deciding that good enough really is enough.
A simpler home doesn’t have to be a perfect home. It just needs to make everyday life a little easier.
06
Create Simple Family Rituals
Some of the nicest family memories don’t require elaborate plans.
Friday movie night. Saturday morning pancakes. An evening walk. Baking cookies together. Watering the garden. Reading one book before bed.
Children don’t necessarily need every weekend to be packed with activities. Sometimes repetition itself is comforting.
Simple rituals give us something to look forward to without requiring much planning.
07
Grow Just a Few Things
I love gardening, but even something we enjoy can become another responsibility when we make it too complicated.
You don’t need an enormous vegetable garden.
Start with basil on the windowsill. A pot of mint. A tomato plant. A few flowers that make you happy when you walk outside.
Growing three things you enjoy caring for can be more satisfying than growing twenty things that become another chore.
🌿 Little Z’s Simple Living Note
A small garden can bring just as much joy as a big one — with a lot less work.
08
Protect a Little Unscheduled Time
It’s easy to fill every available hour.
But an empty Saturday morning isn’t necessarily time waiting to be scheduled.
It can be time to wake up slowly, make breakfast, go outside, bake something, work in the garden — or decide what to do once the morning actually arrives.
I want to become better at leaving a little white space in life.
Not every hour needs a purpose.
09
Make Room for Your Own Hobbies
Becoming busy doesn’t make the things we used to enjoy unimportant.
Bake because you like baking. Grow flowers because you like seeing them. Paint something badly. Take photographs. Read a book that has nothing to do with productivity.
Do something simply because you enjoy doing it.
A simpler life should create more space for these things — not eliminate them.
10
Ask One Simple Question
When life starts feeling overly complicated, I like this question:
“Does this need to be this complicated?”
Sometimes the answer is yes.
But surprisingly often, it isn’t.
Maybe dinner can be simpler. Maybe we don’t need to attend everything. Maybe we don’t need another thing in the house. Maybe the activity doesn’t need to be perfect. Maybe something can wait.
Small decisions like these won’t transform life overnight. But together, they can make everyday life feel a little lighter.
Simple Living Doesn’t Have to Look a Certain Way
I don’t think simple living has to mean owning very little, living in an all-white house, growing all your own food, or making everything from scratch.
In fact, making everything yourself can sometimes make life less simple.
For me, it’s much more practical:
Make what you enjoy making.
Buy what makes sense to buy.
Say no to unnecessary work.
Protect time for people and things you love.
That’s the kind of simple living I want to explore here at Little Z’s Corner.
Not perfect. Not always organized. Just a little more intentional.
Simple days. Creative moments. Little joys.
Little Z’s Corner
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