For example, 59% of fathers said they feel closer to their children as the result of complying with coronavirus restrictions. That’s according to one survey by the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation. 

Many of them also told the researchers that they want to stay more engaged in the future but realize that will be challenging when they resume commuting and working long hours. 

Is the pandemic helping you to get back to basics? Try these tips for enjoying simple pleasures and doing more with less. 

Bonding with Family 

Sheltering under the same roof can be stressful, but it can also strengthen your connections. Appreciate your loved ones and treat them with kindness and respect. 

Try these techniques: 

1. Talk more. Some of the most rewarding conversations you’ll have with your child happen naturally when you’re doing things together. Give them more of your attention and time. 

2. Share responsibilities. Chores allow children to contribute to family life and prepare them for adulthood. Build their self-esteem by putting them in charge of an age appropriate task. 

3. Resolve conflicts. You’re bound to disagree sometimes. Agree on house rules and be willing to compromise. 

4. Have fun. Enjoy each other’s company. Play board games and do crafts. Find a hobby you can work on together or at least in the same room. 

Staying Fit 

Some news sources say that Americans are exercising less and gaining weight. Others say good nutrition and working out are on the rise. Whichever description fits you is really up to you. 

You can make wholesome choices with these strategies: 

1. Eat healthy. Cooking at home gives you more control over ingredients and portion sizes. Stock your kitchen with whole foods. Plan your menus and limit snacking. 

2. Head outdoors. Green spaces lift your spirits and make working out seem less effortful. Go for a run or play catch in your backyard. Research nearby parks and trails where your family can move around and keep a safe distance. 

3. Design a home gym. Set aside a space for cardio and strength training. You can do body weight exercises if you have minimal equipment. 

4. Practice self-care. Safeguard your physical and mental wellbeing. Prioritize sleep, physical activity, and nutrition. Think positive and repeat comforting affirmations. 

Finding Your Purpose 

Dealing with any hardship can be an opportunity to build character. Use your extra free time to create a more meaningful life. 

Consider these ideas: 

1. Meditate and pray. Invest in your spiritual development. Read inspirational texts. Browse online for videos and podcasts that many faith communities are offering. Start a daily meditation practice. 

2. Help others. Shifting your attention to others can help you to keep your own troubles in perspective. Ask your favorite charity about how to volunteer online. See if your elderly neighbors need groceries or an occasional phone call. 

3. Continue learning. Make a list of subjects you want to explore for your personal enrichment or career advancement. Read books and take courses online. See what your local library has to offer on their website or through curbside services. 

4. Limit screen time. Resist the temptation to binge watch TV shows and movies. Save your time and energy for activities with a greater pay off. 

You’re probably eager to send your kids to school and share a meal with friends. On the other hand, the pandemic restrictions may have introduced some positive changes that you’ll want to continue. Simple living makes you happier and healthier even when you start cutting back out of necessity. 

The post What a Pandemic Can Teach You About Simple Living appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

People equate minimalism with having as little as you can possibly stand. You might have a picture of someone eating rice and beans from the only bowl in the house while sitting on the floor. Who needs furniture when the floor is perfectly fine? 

This might be the approach of some people to minimalism, but it’s not the only approach. Instead of viewing minimalism as the minimal amount that’s tolerable, view minimalism as having the perfect amount. No more, no less. 

Let’s use an example: 

If you live alone in the suburbs, you probably only need one car. But, suppose you’re a real estate agent and also work in construction. You might need one nice car for driving around your clients and also need an old pickup truck for your construction job. Now, imagine that you also like to drag race on the weekends. That will require a third car. 

There is an ideal amount for everything in your life, and that number can vary dramatically between you and someone else. 

Consider these ideas to determine the perfect amount of everything in your life:

1. What is your life’s purpose? When you know the primary focus of your life, it’s a lot easier to determine what you need and don’t need. 

• For example, if you’re a politician and your ultimate goal is to become a senator, you might need a large home in an urban setting for entertaining. If you’re an artist, you might work better out in the country in a simple home. 

2. What do you actually need versus what do you want? There are few things you actually need. There are lots of things you want. Minimalism is about having all the things you need and putting the brakes on accumulating a lot of things you simply want. 

3. How does having more cost you? This is an important question to ask yourself. Having more than you need is expensive in many ways. Items, people, and obligations either help you to live your life more fully, or they detract from your ability to live your life at the highest level. 

• Consider your time and your life to be sacred. Carrying excess baggage slows you down. 
• Clutter is more detrimental than you probably realize. It limits your ability to concentrate and is always weighing on your mind. 

4. Minimalism allows you to accomplish more. Most of the things you desire get in the way of accomplishing your goals. For example, if your purpose is to create a software company, owning a boat doesn’t help you to accomplish that. It gets in your way by taking your time, attention, and financial resources. 

5. Minimalism speeds your success. When you’re less distracted and have fewer things cluttering your life, you can accomplish more each day. Success comes faster and easier. 

6. What is the perfect amount? Ask yourself this question constantly. What would be the perfect number of employees? What is the perfect size couch for my living room? What is the perfect number of dinner plates for my situation? 

• When you’re looking for the perfect amount or number, you’ll avoid acquiring more than you need. That’s minimalism. 

The idea of being a minimalist doesn’t appeal to a lot of people, because they think they have to limit themselves to one bowl, one spoon, sit on the floor, and stare out the window for entertainment. This is unnecessary. 

A more reasonable view of minimalism is pursuing the perfect amount of something. 

It’s not about making do with the minimum you can tolerate but avoiding having more than you need. The end result is more time, peace, money, and success. 

The post Minimalism is Having the Perfect Amount of Something appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

Simple living flies in the face of the common values of the Western world. Living simply entails stripping away the nonessential and focusing your time and energy on the things that matter the most. You’re left with a life filled with meaning, a life that is lived on your own terms. You have the time and space to pursue your interests and to create the life you truly desire.

Simplicity provides many surprising benefits:

1. Your finances improve. Sell the stuff you don’t need any more and only purchase items you love or need. Fewer things can permit living in a smaller space. If you’re spending less, your finances are bound to be on a more secure footing.

• Having an excess of financial resources eliminates a lot of the stress from life. The peace of mind you enjoy is worth the minimal sacrifice.

2. You naturally avoid overreacting. Living a simple lifestyle allows you to see the reality of the situation more easily. Your mind is less stressed because it has less to worry about. You won’t make your life more difficult by rushing to a hasty decision.

3. You strengthen your health. By focusing on what’s most important, your stress levels will be lower and your health will benefit. Stress can affect your mood, blood pressure, and mental health, just to name a few.

4. Your relationships become deeper and more meaningful. You might choose to have fewer friends, but the friends you have will be much closer. It’s easier to focus on the other person when your life is simpler. The interaction is also sincerer, since you’re free of the need to impress them.

5. Simplicity and freedom go hand in hand. The more things you own, the more responsibilities you have, the more you need to service your ego, and the less freedom you enjoy.

• Simplicity is all about focusing on what’s most important to you and letting go of the rest. A simple life provides freedom.

6. You learn more about yourself. When you’re not distracting yourself with your iPhone 27 and stressed about becoming a CEO before the age of 40, you have the time and mental space to learn more about yourself.

7. Your life is less cluttered. Fewer possessions and commitments results in less clutter. This means you’ll spend less time cleaning and organizing. Naturally, you’ll have more free time at your disposal. Imagine not having to spend so much time keeping your life organized and dealing with all the things you don’t need or want.

8. You can be true to yourself and your values. Modern society is focused on many things that don’t lead to happiness and fulfillment. A big house, fancy car, and a second home in Aspen never made anyone happy. A complex life with a lot of expenses has made plenty of people miserable, however.

• When you embrace simplicity, you’re no longer influenced by the materialistic values of society. You can follow your own conscience, without concern for appearances.

9. More free time. How will you spend all the extra time you’ll enjoy as a benefit of living a simple life? This is one of the greatest benefits of simple living. It can be hard to learn to relax when you’re used to running around trying to get everything done. But free time is a gift.

Is life running you ragged? Have you been successful by conventional norms, but feeling unfulfilled? There’s another option. You can buck convention and live by a simpler set of rules, rules that give you the freedom to enjoy your life.

The post The Beauty of Simplicity appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

Striving to live with less is counter to the common Western way of thinking. Most of us live lives of collecting the latest items, whether it be the latest cell phone, a new car, or a new appliance. Being free of the need to accumulate things brings real peace. Consider becoming a minimalist and enjoy the benefits it brings.

Minimalism places an emphasis on family, friends, relationship, experiences, and personal growth. Accumulating possessions beyond what is necessary is avoided.

Becoming a minimalist can change your life in positive ways:

1. You’ll have less debt. It’s not easy to find someone that isn’t worried about debt. Enjoying a large salary doesn’t seem to make one immune. As a minimalist, you’ll avoid the temptation to buy those things you don’t need.

• If you’re already in debt, you’ll be in a much better position to deal with it effectively.

2. You’ll have more free time. One interesting side effect of minimalism is an increase in free time. By keeping your commitments to the precious few, you’ll have more time to enjoy the things in your life that really matter to you.

3. Discover more about yourself. The whole idea of minimalism is to strip away that which is unnecessary. Focusing on learning more about yourself becomes more interesting. Without the clutter of a job you dislike, excess possessions, and non-meaningful activities to get in the way, you can discover thoughts, feelings, skills, and talents you didn’t realize you had.

4. Less stress and pressure. Living the life of a minimalist reduces the amount of stress in your life. You’ll have less debt, have fewer possessions to get in your way, and you’re free of the need to impress others.

5. You’ll avoid many of the pitfalls of chasing possessions and power. Western society is obsessed with big houses, fancy cars, beautiful people, and power. While having these things isn’t inherently inappropriate, the maniacal pursuit of them can be.

• An overemphasis on money and power are the root of many personal issues.

6. Minimalism is good for the environment. All the energy required to heat and cool large homes comes at the expense of the environment. Everything that goes in the trash impacts the environment. Luxury cars tend to be less efficient and produce more exhaust per mile. When you consume less, you impact the environment less.

7. You’ll be more focused on others. With your added free time and less need to impress others, you can start doing more for those you would like to help or spend more time with.

• Your own life will be easier to maintain, which results in an excess of resources that you can share with others, such as your time and energy.

8. You can pursue more meaningful employment. When your need for income is decreased, a whole new world of opportunity is opened to you. That lower paying job that seems so satisfying can become a real possibility.

• The more you consume, the more you have to earn just to survive.

9. Your life becomes filled with people and activities that are meaningful. Eliminating the unnecessary creates more space for the things that matter. You’ll have more time and space for relationships and activities you enjoy.

10. The items you do own can be of much higher quality. You’ll find that by limiting the number of shoes, books, tools, and other things you own, you’ll acquire items of higher quality. More isn’t better. Better is better. There’s something satisfying about owning and using a high-quality item.

Could minimalism be for you? Do you often wonder if there’s more to life? If so, you’re an excellent candidate to give minimalism a chance. Minimalism is a fundamental change in your focus. Let everyone else worry about impressing the neighbors. You have more meaningful things to consume your time and attention.

The post 10 Amazing Advantages of Minimalism appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

Life is fast moving and complicated. There’s a lot you can do to simplify your life and still get more accomplished. There’s a seemingly endless supply of “hacks” online. There are hacks for work, your love life, exercise, and everything else under the sun. Getting through all of the hacks requires a hack of its own.

Keep things simple and focus on a few powerful strategies:

1. Make a short list. The fewer things you try to accomplish, the more you’ll get done. Make a list of the 2-3 most important things you want to get done at work. Before you drive home, make a list of the 2-3 most important things you want to get done at home. Make a new list for the weekend.

• The act of making the list will force you to prioritize so you can accomplish the most important tasks.

2. Focus on one task at a time. Switching back and forth between two or more tasks is inefficient. Learn to focus on one task until it’s complete before moving on to something else. Try this for a week and notice the difference it makes.

3. Simplify your diet. The next time you’re at the grocery store, stick to the edges of the store. What do you find there? Lean protein, vegetables, fruits, and dairy. Throw in some nuts and healthy whole grains and you have a healthy diet.

• You’ll save time and money at the store and do wonders for your health.

4. Try to limit your emails to five sentences. If an email is five sentences, no one will complain that your email is too short or too long. You can maintain relationships without spending a lot of time typing a senseless email. Pick up the phone as the situation calls for it.

5. Go to bed early. Any extra time you’re awake at night probably isn’t productive. It’s probably spent watching TV while nodding off in your favorite chair. Get to bed early and get up early. You’ll get more done.

6. Sort your mail as soon as you get home. Each day, grab the mail and stand over the garbage can. Throw out the junk and sort the rest. Put it all away in the appropriate place.

• Avoid the frustration of lost bills and clutter. Save your time and energy for more important tasks than going through a huge stack of junk mail every time you need to find a bill or other important paper.

7. Work offline. It seems that more and more work must be completed on the computer, but there are pitfalls to working online – the internet. The internet is both the best and worst thing ever invented. It provides tremendous resources, but it’s also the perfect way to waste a lot of time.

• Would you rather complete the billing report for your boss or watch a video of kittens riding on the back of a goat? See how easy it is to get distracted?
• If you’re at home, pull the Ethernet cable or turn off the Wi-Fi. You can find a similar solution at work.
• One famous writer once stated that the only way he could get any work done was to glue the Ethernet cable into the port and then cut off the cable. He couldn’t control himself if he had access to the internet.

Try out these seven hacks and see how they impact your life.

What other hacks could you add? Consider where you seem to waste the most time. This is a prime area for developing a hack of your own. Keep your life simple and it will be easier to get through the day with a feeling of accomplishment.

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