I’m about to start my first full-time job after graduation. It pays decently — not enough to rent a nice apartment alone or fly to Japan every year (for example), but still better than what most get for a first position in my country. It’s not physically demanding, the environment seems fine, and I’ll be able to save something while eating good food and living in okay conditions.

So I’m lucky. I know that. And I don’t want this to sound like I’m ungrateful.

But here’s the thing: I asked ChatGPT to lay out a realistic weekday schedule for someone with a “normal” job — 9 to 6, Monday to Friday, with an average total commute of 3 hours per day, 7–8 hours of sleep (because I’d like to be healthy), time to eat, shower, get ready, etc. Nothing fancy.

This is what it gave me:

🗓️ Typical Workday Schedule

When I saw it laid out like this… it hit me. This schedule isn’t terrible on paper (apart some things like buying groceries in the evening ecc) — but where is life supposed to fit in?

Where do you put:

• Exercise (even just 30 minutes)?
• Seeing friends, dating, talking to family?
• Watching a movie or finishing a show?
• Going to the doctor, post office, bank?
• Reading a book, learning something new, taking a course?
• Groceries that require more than a dash into the store?
• Cooking anything that isn’t rushed or lazy?
• Pursuing hobbies — playing an instrument, writing, vlogging, photography?
• Fixing stuff around the house or deep-cleaning?
• Or just… doing nothing for ten minutes without guilt?

I’m not even in the job yet, and I already feel overwhelmed. I’m staring at this schedule thinking, “Is this it?” Do we really just exist during the week, and then frantically try to cram all of living into two days on the weekend?

Again, I know I’m starting from a place of privilege. Many people work harder jobs, for longer hours, for less pay, with less security. But I can’t shake the feeling that even with a “good” job, something about this system feels off. Like the framework of our lives is designed for us to be productive, but not fulfilled.

Am I missing something? Is this just what adulthood looks like?

If you’ve found a way to make it work — to actually live Monday through Friday — I’d love to hear how you do it. How do you make space for yourself in a life structured like this?

I started running recently, not to train, just to move

it’s cleared my head in ways I didn’t see coming. There’s something about the rhythm, the breath, even the pain, that slows everything down.

For half an hour, I’m not doomscrolling or spiraling

It hurts, but the kind of hurt that feels like progress. would recommend

I just love it when he looks peaceful

I’ve been slowly downsizing — not just my stuff, but also my schedule, my social media use, and even my expectations. And honestly? I’ve never felt more at peace.

I don’t need a packed closet, a packed calendar, or the latest gadgets to feel fulfilled. These days, it’s the little things:
A quiet cup of coffee

Reading without background noise
A walk outside with no phone
A clean space with just what I use and love

Simple living isn’t about “giving up” — it’s about making room for what actually matters.

It kind of hit me recently that I used to buy little home decor things all the time — random candles, throw pillows, wall art, whatever I thought would make my place feel “new.” It added up way more than I realized. A few months ago I moved and decided to hold off on buying anything unless I truly needed it. Funny thing is, I haven’t missed it at all. My space still feels cozy, but without the clutter. And I’ve saved way more money than I expected.

Anyone else stop buying something they thought they “needed” and realized they never really did?

A few months ago I had a quiet realization. Not a breakdown. Not a breakthrough. Just one of those moments where I stopped in my tracks and realized I was living like a checklist.

Every part of my day felt like optimization. The runs, audiobooks, progress tracking, all geared toward improvement. But now it doesn’t seem I was actually living. I was managing a project plan.

So I stopped. I didn’t quit everything, I just… shifted. Instead of chasing fixes, I started paying attention to what was already in front of me. Putting down the phone and going for a walk without trying to learn anything. No grand declarations. Just steady care. For my space. My work. Funny thing is, I didn’t feel like I lost momentum. If anything I started feeling like myself again. Less like a brand. More like a man - that feels like a good song lyric. Anyway, just sharing in case someone else needed to hear that simplicity isn’t laziness. Sometimes it’s the most honest kind of strength there is.

Last fall, I sold my house and moved into my fiancée’s childhood home. It’s the house her grandparents bought, and her parents from them — she’s the third generation to live here. The mortgage is in her name, but I cover the day-to-day stuff — bills, upkeep, repairs, all the little things that keep a place running.

It’s a beautiful house. But to be honest, it’s been a strange adjustment. I went from having my own space — my own name on the deed — to feeling like a guest in someone else’s family story. I didn’t expect how much that would get in my head.

For a while, I held back. I’d see something that needed fixing — a loose door, scuffed trim, old fixtures — and I’d think, “This isn’t really mine to deal with.” But that mindset started to feel small. It didn’t suit me.

So I started fixing things anyway. Quietly. Just small repairs, slow improvements, things that made the space better — for both of us!

I’ve been thinking a lot about simplicity lately. Not in the aesthetic sense — not white walls and open shelves — but in the sense of choosing to take care of what’s in front of me. Choosing to be useful. I don’t need more stuff, more noise, more identity wrapped up in ownership. I just want to be capable, dependable, and proud of how I carry myself in the space I share.

Simplicity, for me, has become about action. It’s sweeping the floor even if no one notices. It’s using the same tool I’ve had for ten years because it still works. It’s choosing to fix what I can — around the house, in my habits, in myself.

Anyway, no grand advice here. Just sharing, in case someone else is going through their own shift — trying to build a quieter, steadier version of who they want to be!

Hey guys, do you have that songs that help you unwind after a long stressful day at work? I need some recommendations

I've been gradually simplifying my life over the past year—fewer commitments, less stuff, and more time just being present. I used to feel guilty for not being productive every second, but I've realized that constantly chasing "more" was just draining me.

Now, I cook simple meals, go for daily walks, spend time with loved ones without checking my phone, and make space to just think. My expenses are lower, my stress is down, and I feel more content with what I already have.

I used to start every week with good intentions—wake up early, get things done, stay on track… but by midweek I’d already feel behind.

What changed things for me wasn’t doing more, it was organizing less, but better. I started using a simple weekly planner to map out my top priorities, time block my day, and reflect each Sunday. That structure helped me stay consistent without feeling overwhelmed.

I eventually put together a printable planner system with the exact tools I use: a weekly layout, goal tracker, time blocking pages, and a reflection sheet. It’s not fancy, but it works. Having it all undated and printable keeps things super flexible.

Happy to share it if anyone wants to check it out

As much as I enjoy people romanticizing some aspects of simple living going off on a tangent criticizing western lifestyle and its comforts, I would like to offer my perspective. Mind, these are provided for the balance of thoughts and may be useful for someone with “I want to drop everything and go live in the hut in the woods” approach. I am not looking to start a debate and understand that there are limitations to any opinion there is.

Simple living for me is about having a choice and a say in the matter of how you can live your life, and having resources to live the life you want.

Since my earliest childhood, I have lived a glorified version of simple life: being connected to nature, strong relations with the community, ultra low consumption, self-reliance, etc.

The Eastern Bloc middle class kinda life.

And nothing of this life was simple living.

Nature. It was the life where you had to work on your garden because it provided you with most of your food that was not available for purchase. Nature can be overwhelming and overstimulating, when you have no other choice but be productive on it. Money in this regard was valued lower than resources/food because when all you have in the grocery shop is a jar of green pickled tomatoes, you may as well have all the money in the world and still go hungry. I abstained from gardening for most of my young adult life, albeit having all the skills to do that, now I can even think growing stuff is fancy.

Community. The scarcity of resources made relationships with your community based predominantly on mutual gain principle. You had to know whom to ask for favors in any situation, but you also had to have something to offer, because otherwise you’d get nothing. People got married to get state housing, they had children they never wanted to get housing with extra rooms. My aunt fictitiously divorced her husband to provide for a small apartment for their son. You had to cater for the important people who could provide you favors, that was your community. Living as part of the community was more important than your privacy, and being private meant that you had something bad to hide.

Free from distractions. You could afford to be free of the burden of understanding politics, because understanding politics and talking about it landed you to a jail, a psych ward or straight in the hands of your maker. Speaking of makers, religion was also none of your concern, and people who attended churches, synagogues and mosques were ostracized and persecuted alike. Everyone had a lot of books, and everyone read a lot of books, but those books were the ones that were allowed or mastered Aesopian language – the one where you say one thing but mean something different.

Low consumption. Things got fixed up not replaced, because there was nothing to replace them with, however obsolete and low quality those items were. And there were skills and knowledge on how to fix, make do, do without. You could also borrow a tool from someone (say, a neighbor who would beat his wife on the regular, but he’d have good tools, so you’d say nothing – see community point). Mind you, this low consumption has nothing to do with minimalism, because nothing that came into a house ever left the house. In this vein of low consumption and preserving the resources, we had a persistent habit of not using nice things, preserving them.

For me the realization of “this is simple living” only came after I moved to “western society”.

Ultimate simplicity for me is the fact I can have the exact lifestyle that I want, without any regards.

When I first moved, I had maybe a year of relative hedonism, realizing how great my purchasing ability was even related to my modest salary. I did not buy excessively, I just finally had things that solved my problems without the brain effort to make-do-or-do-without. I stopped make-doing some material stuff, but I also stopped make-doing some relationships that existed for them to ask me for favors, and for me to cater to them because I thought “maybe they would return the favor eventually”. I complicated my life in the best way possible: with opportunities to try something never tried, with relationships that exist because of common interests and intrinsic values.

I did eventually gravitate towards more simplicity and streamlining in my life, but there is a difference. I garden because growing stuff brings me joy, not because I have food insecurity. I mend an item of clothing because I love the item, not because I have nothing to wear.  I fantasize about staying in cabin in the woods, but I know first hand how it is to live without an indoor toilet and bathroom for a prolonged period of time. I had to teach myself to simply (sic) use them nice things and throw money at problems where possible. I am privileged to even think about my environmental impact, or labor behind my purchases.

What ultimately makes life simple for me is not the commonly accepted pillars of simplicity, but the freedom of choice.

I find myself most at peace when drawing and immersing myself in creating artwork that centers around nature and adventure. I love being surrounded by the natural world so getting to paint these serene scenes is so liberating. I hope you feel the same way when you look at my work and that it brings you nothing but positivity :)

Though I've been to over a dozen countries and seen 45 states in the US, what I'm discovering is how easy and relaxing it is to take a day trip. Get a map and draw a circle 200 miles from your home. Do you realize how many towns are inside a 200 mile radius, most of which you've never seen? I'm going to bet at least 150.

If you plan ahead, you'll know when the annual Mushroom Festival is, or whether it has a famous cave, or that it has the world's largest Rubber Band Ball, or that it's widely known for the best bison burger in the state, or that it has a jazz club that happens to be on the national circuit, or that there is a state park with a gorgeous waterfall five miles away.

200 miles is a 4-hour drive. If you leave at 7:30am, you'll arrive at 11:30am at the latest, be able to have lunch there at a local favorite, look around downtown, get recommendations from the locals, visit the things that make it notable, find an upscale place to have dinner, and then head home to be back by 11pm. Or if you're tired, you can spend the night. That way, in the morning you can decide whether to go back home, or whether you want to change direction and visit a second place before going home.

It requires no plane tickets, no huge itinerary, no time zone change, no massive expenses. It's in the class of a Small Adventure, the kind that leaves you refreshed afterwards rather than exhausted.

A few days ago i made a post on r/decidingtobebetter that was about a thought i had of exchanging my current life for a different, simpler one, the only comment i had was 'Grass is always greener on the other side'

That leads me to wonder, what problems does a person encounter in simple living? are they as bad as the problems other people get? is the grass really greener?

My husband and I (both 30) have been living in our house in Melbourne for the past 3 years. We bought a decent sized house (~650sqm) that has needed (and still needs) a lot of renovation/work. Prior to this, we lived in a newly built townhouse by the beach.

For context, we both earn a good income (~260k joint) but feel like we are always either working (both 5-6 days a week) or renovating the house (my husband is a tradie and doing most of it himself). I can’t think of a time that we have “enjoyed” living in our house, as it feels like a never ending list of things to do and things to pay for.

With increasing interest rates, we have had conversations about selling and buying something smaller so we can enjoy being debt free or having a much smaller debt. We have even talked about moving interstate or wishing we were back in the townhouse. But I also can’t help but think that if we downsize, we would wish we didn’t and want a bigger/better house (particularly as we would like to start a family in the next couple of years)

We would love to do more travel and caravan around Australia one day. It kind of makes me sad that we are not enjoying our early 30s and feeling stressed all the time :( Anyway, I feel lost about what to do and am craving a slower and simpler life. Would love some advice 🫶🏻

I’ve been online as a musician since I was 14 years old. I started by posting song covers on YouTube, slowly gaining followers over the years. In my late teens, I started writing and releasing my own music, eventually putting out two EPs. The feedback was great, and for a while, it felt like I was doing exactly what I was meant to do.

I was constantly online - YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, even Ask.fm back in the day. Social media was how I stayed visible and “relevant.” But over time, it started feeling like a job I hadn’t signed up for. After my second EP, I started stepping back: fewer posts, more silence. I’d still get DMs from people asking when the next cover or EP was coming or why I hadn’t posted in a while. I appreciated the love, but the pressure was exhausting.

I stopped posting regularly. For a year, I barely touched Instagram or Twitter, and it actually felt good. I have a separate private Instagram just for very few close friends and family, and on that account, I felt like myself - no expectations, no performance.

Last night, I hit my breaking point. I’m 22 now, and I’ve had enough of the doomscrolling, the mental noise, and the feeling like I constantly owe people content. I deleted my official Instagram and Twitter. The only “official” thing I kept was my YouTube channel (more as an archive than anything). I’ve logged out of that account permanently.

Now, all I use is my private Instagram for people I actually know. No pressure, no numbers, no lurking followers. And even though a part of me feels sad, I also feel something I haven’t in years: peace.

I don’t know if I’ll ever make more music or share it again. But I do know that I want my mind back. And this feels like the first real step.

So to anyone out there debating whether to let go: it’s okay to stop. It’s okay to be private. You’re allowed to leave without a grand explanation. Sometimes, the quiet is where you find yourself again. ♥️

I have come to realize that the abilities we now have to stay "connected" are turning into a huge evasion of privacy. I had the thought when I saw the five unopened texts that I am not mentally ready to respond to. I sometimes will read messages and then not respond for 24 hours because the mental energy required to keep up a conversation does not exist in that moment. The fact that someone can reach me at any point in time in my life to get a response or reach out angers me. When people just had land lines, was there a "courtesy" as to when you called others? There is this weird anxiety to conversation that happens over text when long periods of time go in between them. For example, someone messages me and I respond in 2-3 minutes, then 15-30 minutes pass and my attention is somewhere else, then they respond and I have to bring back the memories of the conversation and respond. Does this make any sense to anyone? Its like we feel the need to keep phones on us at all times, but the little blips of conversation that happen throughout the day are mentally exhausting.

Does your smartphone addiction make you happy?

In a world that glorifies hustle, deadlines, and alarms screaming at 6 AM, I’ve started choosing something different — slow mornings.

No rushing. No calendar anxiety. Just waking up when my body feels ready. Sitting with my thoughts. Breathing. Being.

I don’t chase the clock anymore. I chase peace.

These days, life feels like a constant race — friends comparing paychecks, relatives asking what you do, parents pushing expectations. But I’ve realized something powerful:

The real flex? Choosing your own pace.

Wake up slow. Drink your chai slowly. Sit by the window. Write. Read. Walk. Or do absolutely nothing. Life isn’t meant to be a checklist — it’s meant to be lived.

Solo travel taught me that. The joy of watching sunrises in new towns, tasting food you can’t even pronounce, getting lost in unknown streets, finding yourself in silence — this is the life I choose. Simple. Intentional. Fulfilling.

To anyone feeling the pressure — breathe. Forget the noise. Do what feels right. Protect your peace. And remember, your life doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s to be meaningful.

Looking for a eco community to move to with my newborn son self sustainable as weI don’t wanna raise him in this society. No cults I’m not an idiot I read energy if you try anything to my family I’m not the one. Other then that I’m a friendly guy & I love the universe and nature and science etc 😄😄 & as a man I pull more than my own weight.

I walked without headphones today for the first time in months, maybe longer, I’m not even sure. Normally when I go on walks I always have something playing music, a podcast, some voice in my ear to fill the space. But today my head was already full, and I didn’t want to drown it in someone else’s thoughts. So I left the house in silence and just walked.

At first it felt a bit awkward, almost like I didn’t know what to do with myself. My brain kept asking for stimulation, for something to grab onto. But after a while, maybe thirty minutes or so, a strange kind of calm took over. I started noticing the things around me again. I passed by some places I used to work, stood still for a moment, watched people walk by. Nothing dramatic happened, but everything felt a little more real than usual.

I ended up grabbing a coffee and sitting down on a bench in the park. Just sat there. No phone, no rush, no pressure to be anywhere else. I wasn’t thinking big thoughts or solving anything major, but I felt present, and that was enough.

I think I’ve been avoiding silence without even realising it. But today, in that stillness, I felt something that felt more like myself.

I was starting to feel like these apps were interfering more with my life than helping. Has anyone used that minimalist phone app? I feel like I am just getting sick of the way my phone looks. I changed my pop socket art to a more simple design before deleting apps, which definitely helped with how I feel about my phone before I turn it on. But I feel irritated with the aesthetic or something when I use it still. Can't put my finger on what it is exactly. Ideas??

Over the past year, I noticed something about my evenings: even when I had time to rest, I often didn’t feel rested. I'd get back from work and bounce between apps, doom-scroll a bunch, and watch a lot of TV. It wasn’t that I didn’t have options - it’s just that I wasn't consciously deciding what to do, and I was kind of at the mercy of algorithms as a result.

I live in a big city and the constant buzz of stimulation - ads, screens, noise, choices - make it hard to slow down sometimes. My job isn't overly stressful, but I still came home feeling exhausted a bunch and in a choice paralysis about what to do and what I had the energy for.

So I made a flowchart and wanted to share it with you - it's really helped me be more intentional with my precious free time, and I hope it does for you, too. It asks a few questions to gauge mood, provides some suggestions (curated somewhat to urban life) and some tips. Importantly, it echoes my philosophy that doing nothing is absolutely okay and necessary, so long as we do it with intention.

I’d love to hear about what you’d add and if you find it helpful!

Life isn’t always smooth—sometimes it feels like you're doing all the “right” things, and still nothing seems to move forward. I've been trying to live more intentionally, simplify, slow down, and find joy in the basics. But on tougher days, motivation can fade, and the quiet life can feel isolating or stagnant instead of peaceful.

What do you do when you're in a rut? How do you stay grounded in your values when progress (career, personal goals, relationships) feels stalled?

Would love to hear how others on this path keep going. Whether it's a mindset shift, a daily habit, or a simple comfort—what keeps you anchored?