The other day, I was perusing my Pinterest feed. Among the overdone chevron print dresses and scary maternity photo ideas, I found a gem.

I’ve always been one for words, but it takes a certain caliber of quote to peak my interest. 

Quotes should be concise, but meaningful. They should be clear, but still leave room for interpretation. This particular set of words really stood out to me: Stop the glorification of busy.     

In our society, we often place the concept of being busy on a pedestal. Sure, it’s an accomplishment to go a lot of places and do a lot of things. I think the real satisfaction, however, comes at the end of a day well spent, where we use our time properly and still have a little time to relax at the end. Here are 10 ways to cut the unnecessary from your life.   

1. Be Honest. Being honest, both with others and with yourself, is one of the easiest ways to simplify your life. In the words of John Mayer, “say what you need to say.” Living in denial or in the middle of a lie is no way move forward. So, if you’ve been dying to tell someone something- do it.   

2. Go For a Run. I’ve always sworn that I would never be a runner. To me, this was my last chance to rebel against my marathon-enthusiast parents. One day, however, I decided to go and run. As it turns out, this was less of a physical activity and more of a mental catharsis. It is such a great way to clear your mind. Tune into some music, get outside, and run. Also, the rush of endorphins afterwards doesn’t completely suck.   

3. Eat Clean. There’s something liberating about clean eating. Simple, natural foods can really boost your energy, and (added bonus!) reduce your weight.   

4. Unsubscribe, Unfriend, Unfollow. There’s nothing more annoying than waking up to 17 emails in your inbox, or seeing that your camp friend from 6 years ago shared another annoying video. Trim down the number of people you follow on Twitter, your Facebook friends, and all of the junk emails that you signed up for 3 years ago.   

5. Learn To Say No. I don’t know if it’s our inherently nice nature or the fact that we don’t like to disappoint others, but we love to pile our plates with way more than we can handle. It’s okay to say no to a task every now and then. You’re not superman, and that’s perfectly okay.      

Hopefully, these ideas will help you simplify your life, de-clutter your mind, and make you feel renewed before school starts again. Together, we can take some time to ourselves and stop the glorification of busy.

Photo credit: my overly-talented photographer of a brother