zen habits

breathe

Simplicity & Slowness

311 posts

2025

August

01

Embracing a Slow Life: A Gentle Approach to Productivity

May

19

The Importance of Open Calendar Space

March

14

How to Feel More at Peace

10

Simple Meals

2024

December

13

How to Find the Balance Between Focus & Rest

06

A Guide to Creating a Beautiful Winter

November

29

A Month of Reflection

22

The Joy of Taking Care of My Life

August

08

The Surprising Value of Rest

May

03

The Chaos & Abundance of Spring

April

19

The Focus of a Monk

February

02

Slow Down to Fall in Love Again

2023

November

29

Creating a Slower Holiday Season

October

20

How Simplicity Reveals Life

July

14

The Joy of Small Comforts

June

17

The Moment of a Lifetime

April

07

We Overcomplicate Our Task Systems

March

31

The Parable of Luminous Reality

February

17

The Wisdom of Non-Effort

10

Deepen in Each Moment

03

Mastering the Art of Letting Go

2022

December

01

Working Effectively When You're Overwhelmed

October

27

When You're Overwhelmed, Simplify

August

25

Moving Lightly Through the World

July

29

Getting to the Heart of Impulse Shopping

June

16

Being Balanced in Chaos

May

06

How to Put Life on Easy Mode

April

27

Effortless Effort: Relaxing While Trying Hard

March

10

The Joy of Letting Go

03

5 Ways to Simplify Your Life

February

03

Simplifying Our Mental View

2021

September

23

Unrushed: How to Feel More Spaciousness in Your Day, Instead of Time Scarcity

May

07

Training to Be Relaxed in Stressful Situations

2020

December

04

Create a More Spacious Life

October

23

Find Freedom of the Mountain in Everything You Do

11

When Your Task List is Overwhelmingly Long

August

28

Clear Things Out

2019

November

07

The Way of Less

05

The Launch of Sea Change 2.0 (and November's Declutter Challenge)

September

23

Antidotes to Overwork

June

03

The Simplify Your Life Challenge

May

15

Buying Too Much Stuff is Driven By Uncertainty

02

Simplify Your Day to Have a Greater Impact

April

03

The Beautiful Mornings Challenge: Create a Sacred Morning Routine

February

14

Why We Struggle to Make Time for Solitude

January

22

Getting Started with Traveling Ultralight

01

New Year: The Beautiful Minimalism of a Blank Slate

2018

December

11

Simplify Technology with Limits

07

A More Deliberate Way of Living

November

23

How to Simplify the Holidays

October

25

A New Approach for When You Realize You're Overcommitted & Overloaded

September

11

How to Let Go of Any Possession

August

31

Fearlessness: How to Stop Running from Space

04

A Challenge: Create a Daily Reading Habit

02

8 Key Lessons for Living a Simple Life

July

13

Simplicity as Spiritual Practice: Declutter for Deep Personal Growth

04

The Declutter Your Space Challenge

May

24

Finding Stillness: Resting at Home in the Middle of Chaos

03

The Simple Pleasure of Clearing Piled Up Work & Chores

March

15

Becoming a Master of the Time-Scarcity Demon

12

How to Be Calm

January

03

My Depth Year 2018: The Constraints of Deep Focus

2017

December

19

The Simplicity Cycle: Returning to Paring Down to Find Your True Needs

November

09

The Key Mental Habit of Simplicity

02

Simplifying Your Digital Life

October

25

Creating the Elegance of Simplicity & Focus in Your Work Day

11

The Ultimate Productivity, Simplicity, Finance, Happiness & Weight Loss Hack

August

29

Single-Minded Devotion to a Task

July

10

5 Ways to Simplify Today

05

My New Course: Living the Simple Life

June

27

The Clean-as-You-Go Principle

March

13

The Practice of One Thing at a Time

06

Why I'm Always in a Hurry, & What I'm Doing About It

January

04

Filter Out the Noise

2016

December

16

Zen of Busy: Continual Letting Go When You're Overwhelmed

August

04

The Love of a Long Walk

July

08

The Minimalist Way to Declutter

04

A Simple Declutter Habit: Leave No Trace

June

09

All You Need, You Already Have

April

01

Fear Is Why We Have Too Much Stuff

February

23

Opt Out: A Simplicity Manifesto

January

11

Rules for Getting Organized & Decluttered

2015

December

15

31 Perfect Things

01

The Joy of Letting Go of Stress

November

25

Gratitude to Cure the Impulse to Buy More Stuff

17

How to Want Very Little

04

Living Lightly with the One-Bag Lifestyle

October

14

Redesigning Your Life's Interface

September

07

How Not to Do It All

July

30

Worried About What You're Not Doing

March

12

The Case for Caring About Your Work

02

Pare Down with the Declutter Habit

January

20

The Contentment Habit

14

In Praise of Limits

2014

December

03

5 Questions to Simplify Your Life During the Holidays

01

The Zen Habits Holiday Gift Guide

October

27

The Empty Container

24

The Realization

September

15

A Brief Guide to Overcoming Instant Gratification

August

29

7 Rules That Keep My Life Simple

July

24

Living the Simple Life

June

30

The Quickstart Guide to a Decluttered Home

09

A Call for Revolt: Advertising is the Anti-Minimalism

May

09

No Excuses: Minimalism with Kids

02

Flavorless: My Month of Food Boringness

March

28

The Cure for Your Distraction Syndrome

18

The Universe of a Single Task

14

Simplifying Is Painful

05

My Month Without a Smartphone

February

24

This Moment

17

How I Conduct My Business

14

Constant Task Switching

January

03

Stateless Mindset

01

My Month of (Almost) No Internet

2013

December

13

A Method to Find Balance

04

Struggles with My Morning Internet Fast

November

29

How I Learned to Stop Procrastinating, & Love Letting Go

22

The Necessary Art of Subtraction

04

A Month Without Sugar

October

30

12 Indispensable Mindful Living Tools

24

My Most Minimal Travel Setup Yet

07

My Pursuit of the Art of Living

September

20

The Time to Shut Down

13

Zen Mountain: Leave It All Behind

August

12

Simplify: Let Go of Your Crutches

July

29

A Month Without Coffee

22

Living the Quiet Life

01

A Year of Living Without

February

19

Walled-in: Life Without Facebook

January

17

Do Less: A Short Guide

2012

December

11

The Clutter-free Holiday Guide

November

27

The Buy-Nothing Holiday Survival Guide

23

Challenge: Buy Nothing Until 2013

September

07

A Primer on Full-Screen Living

04

Mindful Simplicity: Decluttering, Cleaning & Leaving No Trace

August

04

Eva's List: Traveling Light for Women

July

31

Tea Rituals for Focus, Health & Slowness

17

Limit Screen Time, Limit Sitting

13

Simplify.

June

29

The Wisdom of Allowing Things to Happen

22

The Zen of the Barbell

May

25

Beating the Anxiety of Online Reading

April

11

Teaching Kids to Pack Ultralight

March

16

Empty-Handed, Full-Hearted

09

A Survival Guide for Beating Information Addiction

February

17

Clutterfree Inspiration: Two Beautiful Transformations

January

27

Creating Silence from Chaos

17

Learning to Sit Alone, in a Quiet Empty Room

11

Your Top 10 Clutter Questions, Answered

09

Clearing Your Life for a New Year

2011

December

16

Sitting and Watching

November

22

The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge

11

Clutterfree, Finally

October

20

The Effortless Life: A Manual for Contentment, Mindfulness, & Flow

September

12

The Joy of Scarcity

August

17

The Quiet Theory of Influence

08

The Tao of Travel

June

27

A Simple Strategy for Simplifying

20

Living With Chaos

13

When Being Who You Are Challenges the Norms

03

The Illusion of Control

May

27

Decluttering as Zen Meditation

February

18

Create Time to Change Your Life

2010

December

20

When In Doubt Simplify

September

23

A simplified morning routine

16

Life's missing white space

09

Simplify, and Savor Life

August

18

The Wastefulness of Decluttering; or How to Make Less Count for More

April

27

Kill Your To-Do List

23

Minimalism, Rethunk

12

The Zen of Doing

02

The Lost Art of Solitude

March

29

13 small things to simplify your workday

26

The Barefoot Philosophy

22

10 Ways to Deal With the Non-Simplifying Others in Your Life

18

How I Became (Mostly) Google-free in About a Day

05

How to Reclaim Your Attention

February

19

4 Simple Principles of Getting to Completion

10

Stillness is a Powerful Action

08

On Minimalism

06

12 Classic Zen Habits Posts You Might Not Have Read

January

28

How Not to Hurry

2009

November

06

Low-Stress Ways To Move House and Declutter Your Life

October

28

The Minimalist Gmail Firefox Extension

16

Coding Simplicity: How to Avoid Feature Creep in Your Life

07

Live Simply, and Save the Drama for Your Mother

September

20

8 Ways Doing Less Can Transform Your Work & Life

16

How to Be Childlike

14

The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life

13

How Simplicity Can Help Creativity, Briefly

01

Minimalist Gmail: How to Get Rid of the Non-Essentials

August

24

How to Live a Better Life with Less

12

The Minimalist Principle: Omit Needless Things

03

Your Life, Simplified

July

28

Killing Email: How and Why I Ditched My Inbox

27

Simplicity Redefined: Be Open to What Emerges

19

Be Still

June

08

A Simple Guide to Keeping Your Counters Clutter-free

01

8 Liberating Strategies for Clearing the Queues in Your Life

May

28

The Art of Artlessness: On Living Simply and Naturally

20

How to Create a Minimalist Computer Experience

14

The Art of the Small: How to Make an Impact

April

29

The Mindfulness Guide for the Super Busy: How to Live Life to the Fullest

20

The Simplest Way to Clear Out Your Email Inbox

08

Don't Have Time for Goals? Simplify Your Commitments

01

Ultra-Simple 3-Step Productivity System for Getting Amazing Things Done

March

24

Dead Simple Guide to Beating Procrastination

09

Steps Towards a More Sustainable Life of Less

February

23

Let the World Pass You By

15

The Joys of Moving, the Comfort of Friends and Family

09

How to Declutter an Entire Room in One Go

January

28

What Would You Do If You Only Had a Short Time to Live?

15

Exclusive Interview: Leo Talks With Tim Ferriss of 4-Hour Workweek

14

Google Features I'd Like To See

12

The Lazy Manifesto: Do Less. Then, Do Even Less.

05

The Single Secret to Making 2009 Your Best Year Ever

2008

December

31

My Four Commandments

25

Free Ebook: Thriving on Less - Simplifying in a Tough Economy

22

Office Zen: Audio Tips on Focusing on One Task at a Time

21

A Minimalist's Guide to Using Twitter Simply, Productively, and Funly

07

The Essential Time-Saving Guide for Busy People

November

19

Living Simply: The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Your Clutter

October

22

Pare It Down: Cut Away the Extraneous to Leave the Awesome

05

10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life

September

14

Sound of Silence: How to Find Some Quietude in Your Life

08

The Many Paths to Simplicity

07

21 Easy Hacks to Simplify Your Life

August

25

Life's Enough: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

18

25 Painless Ways to Free Up an Hour a Day for Your Goals

July

24

Now Do This, and The Single- Tasking Philosophy

23

Reclaim Your Time: 20 Great Ways to Find More Free Time

June

15

13 Ideas to Keep Your Wedding As Simple As Possible

11

Everything You Wanted to Know About Simplifying Your Life, and Way More

April

23

Simple Manifesto: Break Free from the Tyranny of the Clock

15

The Simple Life

03

18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess

02

The Incredible Power of Contentment

March

27

Notes on Life: Mantras, Small Things, Lists, and Such

25

25 Ways to Simplify Your Life with Kids

20

36 Great Tips for Keeping Travel as Simple as Possible (and Two Poems)

18

12 Essential Rules to Live More Like a Zen Monk

02

The Zen of Tech: 12 Powerful Ways to Keep Your Online Life Simple and Peaceful

February

21

The Zen Habits Handbook for Life

05

A Simple Guide to Being Present for the Overworked and Overwhelmed

January

28

The Minimalist's Guide to Simple Housework

16

A Guide to Cutting Back When You Feel Overwhelmed

10

The Minimalist's Guide to Fighting (and Beating) Clutter Entropy

06

The Four Laws of Simplicity, and How to Apply Them to Life

2007

December

13

15 Can't-Miss Ways to Declutter Your Mind

06

Wake Up: A Guide to Living Your Life Consciously

November

18

Top 10 Resources and Inspirations for Decluttering Your Home

15

Escape Your Location: How to Become Free From the Office

01

Haiku Productivity: Limit Your Projects to Achieve Completion

October

24

15 Great Decluttering Tips

September

26

Simple Living Simplified: 10 Things You Can Do Today to Simplify Your Life

24

Haiku Productivity: Limit Your Work Week

19

Minimalist Fun: The 100 Things Challenge

12

Key Question: How Much Is Enough?

10

Haiku Productivity: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential

05

Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life

August

29

Simple Systems: Clean Your House as You Go (with an added burst)

24

Cyber Minimalist: How to Work (Almost) Completely Online

22

Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment

21

10 Odd Little Minimalist Things I Do

15

A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home

08

21 Tips on Keeping a Simple Home with Kids

06

A 3-Step Cure for Digital Packrats, and How to Know If You're One of Them

03

The Zen of Running, and 10 Ways to Make It Work for You

01

Handle Chores, House Cleaning and Errands with Simple Systems

July

25

12 Ideas for Establishing a Calming Routine

18

How to Find Peace Living With a Packrat

17

Enjoy Life Now, AND Save for Later; or, Why Delayed Gratification is a False Dichotomy

13

5 Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

11

Book review: Simplify Your Life

04

20 Ways to Get Free or Cheap Books, and Give Away Your Old Ones

June

27

A Simple Playlist for Tranquil Exercise, Productivity and Calm Living

25

A Simple Guide to Setting and Achieving Your Life Goals

21

15 Ways to Create an Hour a Day of Extra Time ... for Solitude

16

Simplify Your Eating Habits and Meals

14

The First Rule of Simplifying: Identify the Essential (or, How to avoid the Void)

07

Efficient Google Searches and a Zen-like Work Space

07

How to Drop an RSS Feed Like a Bad Habit

05

Eliminate All But the Absolute Essential Tasks

May

16

Single Best Productivity Tip

03

Streamline Your Life

April

25

Simple Way to Save $3,000 a Year: Brown Bag It

24

Turn Off the TV Week

19

6 Simple Steps to Make Mail & Paperwork Painless

17

Minimal ZTD: The Simplest System Possible

17

Zen To Done (ZTD): The Simple Productivity System

12

Edit Your Life, Part 6: A Media Fast

05

Edit Your Life, Part 5: Your Wardrobe

March

29

Edit Your Life, Part 4: Your Work Space

18

The Art of Doing Nothing

08

Edit Your Life, Part 3: Closets and Drawers

01

Edit Your Life, Part 2: Your Rooms

February

28

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - Overview

26

Are Your Days Crazy? Take Control

24

Top 10 Productivity Hacks - #5

23

Savor the Little Things

22

Edit Your Life, Part 1: Commitments

19

How NOT to Multitask - Work Simpler and Saner

14

Reward Yourself Without Spending a Lot

08

Slow Down ... to Enjoy Life

06

My Fav Procrastination Hack - 30-10

04

How I save money

January

30

Baby Makes Eight: Raising Six Kids - Part 2, organization edition

29

3 Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk

28

What is truly necessary? A guide to living frugal

28

Zen Mind: How to Declutter

24

Email Zen: Clear Out Your Inbox

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