Life can get overly complicated very quickly. Before you know it, you're spending hours after work every day doing chores, running errands, and trying to participate in hobbies or get some exercise in. On top of that, you're expected to eat three square meals a day and get eight hours of sleep. If you've gotten overwhelmed by these daily tasks, here are some tips for streamlining and simplifying your life. 

Learn to Say No

The first and most important step to simplifying your life is learning how to say no to things. People might ask you for favors or might invite you to a lot of events. You might be asked to take on more responsibility at work, or maybe your friends want to start yet another weekly book club. These little asks might seem small, but they quickly add up.

The more you say yes, the more you'll be asked to do, and before you know it, every free minute is taken up by things other people want from you. There's nothing wrong with being an amenable person, but learning to say "no" when you'd really rather not makes a big difference in how complicated your life feels.

Outsource When Possible

If you're a fiercely independent person, you may have fallen for the lie that adults need to do everything for themselves. But there are tons of services and products out there that can save you a lot of time if you learn how to outsource. For example, a cleaning lady or a Boston grocery delivery service can handle time-consuming tasks like deep cleaning or grocery shopping. If you could come home to a clean home or a prepared meal, how much time would you get back in your day for the millions of other things on your to-do list? 

Live Minimally

Over time, you're going to accumulate lots and lots of things. These things can be physical items, like clothing and knick knacks, or subscription services, emails, and retail credit cards. It's easy to blink and suddenly find yourself knee-deep in a lot of stuff you don't remember buying or signing up for. And all this stuff can get pretty overwhelming.

A great way to start simplifying your life is by downsizing wherever possible. Is your bedroom closet full of old clothes that are preventing you from getting organized? Take a weekend to weed out what you don't need. Once you get started, you'll be surprised by how addictive it can be. 

Use Calendars

You're living in a time when it's easier than ever before to get organized. Using a tool like Google or Microsoft Calendar is a great way to see your life at a glance and stay on top of everything. If you live with another person or have kids, calendars are also a great way to coordinate schedules. By inputting any doctor's appointments, soccer games, and birthday parties you have coming up, you'll be able to see right away when you have time to get a haircut. 

Unplug Often

A big source of mental clutter in modern life comes from our devices. If you've ever felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, you know how quickly it can distract you from more important things. By turning off your devices once in a while (yes, that includes your phone), you'll give yourself a break from all the alerts and notifications. 

Create a Daily Routine

Sit down and write out your ideal day, starting from the time you wake up, and ending when you go to bed at night. Ideally, what would you like to get done in a day? Do you want to have time for reading before bed or doing some morning yoga? Having a rough outline for each day will help you decide when you can do all the items on your to-do list.

Next, you can break down each task to create systems for getting them done. If you plan to empty the dishwasher as soon as you get home from work instead of waiting until you're trying to start prepping dinner, for example, you'll find that a lot of work can be done in a short amount of time. 

Having a streamlined lifestyle requires some work upfront. But once you make those tough choices and minimize the clutter, your life will become a lot simpler.