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What do you think of when you envision a simple life? For me, it is slow days spent doing creative work, time with my children and husband, and a free schedule. I often envision Tolkien’s Hobbit, and imagine what life would be like in the Shire. There is good food, family and friends, and puttering around the garden. Sounds like paradise to me. But a simple life looks different for everyone. In this article, we are going to explore the basic principles of simple living, and also the variety of spins on simple living that makes everyone’s journey unique.
What Exactly is “Simple Living?”
Simple living isn’t about doing less for the sake of aesthetics or rejecting modern life altogether. At its heart, simple living is about choosing enough. Enough stuff. Enough commitments. Enough noise. It’s about intentionally shaping a life that feels grounded, meaningful, and aligned with your values.
For many families—ours included—simple living becomes a quiet answer to a loud world.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your home, your calendar, or the constant pressure to do more, this guide will help you understand what simple living truly is—and how you can begin weaving it into your everyday life in a way that feels gentle and sustainable.
Simple living is a lifestyle rooted in intentional choices. It means aligning how you spend your time, energy, and resources with what matters most to you, rather than what society tells you should matter.
Simple living often includes:
- Slowing the pace of daily life
- Reducing excess and clutter
- Living with intention
- Prioritizing relationships and well-being
- Creating rhythms instead of rigid schedules
- Being mindful about consumption
Rather than asking, “How can I do more?” simple living asks, “What can I release so I can live more fully?”
Our Journey Towards a Simple Life
Simple living has been at the heart of my family since it’s very start. We began to envision a life for our family that would include homesteading, homemaking, and homeschooling. A life centered around the home. While everyone around us was busy being busy outside the home, we were breathing life and comfort into the very place that sustains us.
As I share in The Start of Our Alaskan Homestead Journey, our desire to homestead and homeschool came from a deep longing to provide our children with a slower, more connected life. We wanted days shaped by nature instead of notifications, and learning rooted in curiosity rather than constant pressure.
Simple living gave us permission to step off the fast-moving conveyor belt of modern life and build something more intentional—one season at a time.
We begin picking up hobbies that lead us even further down the simple living path. Things like gardening, hiking, reading, cooking, and crafting gave us an appreciation for slower days. If we fell prey to a faster pace, then we wouldn’t have time for such “frivolous” activities.
These hobbies have enriched my family’s lives and have even been a huge part in strengthening our relationships. Instead of seeing my children for 4-5 hours a day, they are living and learning right beside me. Our science looks like plant identification and foraging, and our PE looks like hiking the vast wilderness of Alaska.
I’ve written about these experiences previously and you can read all about them here:
5 Great Beginner Plants to Forage with Kids
How Hiking Strengthens the Family Bond
Simple Living, Seasonal Living, and Natural Rhythms
Moving to Alaska has been the biggest lesson in seasonal living. Living in a place with such extreme seasons shapes you and it can be for better or for worse. If you don’t learn to live with each season, instead of trying to fight it, then it can crush you. Summers are a burst of intense daylight and Winters are bitterly cold and dark. Simple and seasonal living was my lifesaver.
Learning to embrace each season and live accordingly is how we not only survive, but thrive in these conditions.
Simple living pairs beautifully with seasonal living.
Living with the seasons encourages:
- Slower winters focused on rest
- Productive summers filled with growth
- Food that aligns with the land
- Rhythms that follow daylight instead of clocks
Seasonal living gently guides us back into balance and helps life feel less forced and more intuitive.
Simple Living vs. Minimalism vs. Slow Living
While these terms are often used interchangeably, they each carry a slightly different focus.
- Simple living centers on intentional living and values-based choices
- Minimalism focuses primarily on reducing possessions
- Slow living emphasizes pace, presence, and mindfulness
Simple living may include elements of both minimalism and slow living, but it doesn’t require strict rules or extremes. It is adaptable, personal, and deeply human.
Simple Living at Home: Creating Calm Through Intention
Your home is often the first place where simple living takes root.
Decluttering as a Gentle Practice
Simple living doesn’t demand a dramatic purge. Instead, it invites:
- Keeping what supports daily life
- Letting go of what no longer serves your family
- Creating breathing room in shared spaces
A calmer home supports a calmer nervous system—especially for children.
Simple Living Routines Over Rigid Schedules
Rather than strict schedules, a simple life thrives on daily rhythms:
- Slow mornings with warm drinks
- Midday work, learning, and outdoor time
- Evenings centered around shared meals and rest
These rhythms create structure without pressure and allow life to unfold more naturally.
Simple Living and the Outdoors: A Return to What’s Real
One of the most overlooked aspects of simple living is its deep connection to the natural world.
Time outdoors naturally slows us down. It reminds us of the seasons, the weather, and the quiet wisdom of the earth.
For families embracing simple living, the outdoors becomes an extension of the home.
Activities like those shared in Exciting Outdoor Activities to Fall in Love With Spring invite wonder back into everyday life—without needing elaborate plans or expensive entertainment.
Simple living asks us to step outside, breathe deeply, and remember that nature offers everything we need to feel grounded.
Simple Living Through Food and Homemaking
Food is one of the most tangible ways to practice simple living. Diet culture has given us a plethora of interesting ways of eating. The most tangible is the one your family will eat. It is the most simple. If you keep simple ingredients in your pantry/ refrigerator, you will greatly simplify your life. This looks different for everyone. For example, many folks recommend stocking up on beans. My family doesn’t really care for beans, but we love potatoes! (We’re basically just Hobbits). So we stock up on potatoes instead of beans as a carb source.
Think about the meals that your family will eat. What does everyone rave about? Find your tried and true recipes and keep a stock of those ingredients.
Aside from having ingredients on hand to simplify things, there are other ways that simple living is connected to food.
Simple living with food may include:
- Cooking more meals at home
- Choosing nourishing, familiar meals
- Letting go of complicated expectations
Simple meals ground us. They turn everyday nourishment into an act of care rather than a chore.
Eating at home removes the time and effort of finding a place to eat in town and then waiting in line to grab your food at the window. It is replaced with the time and effort to chop vegetables and prepare your meal yourself. Both take time and effort, but when you prepare it yourself, you have the invitation to cook as a family and to sit down together and enjoy the act of sharing a meal that you prepared yourself.
Simple Living for Families and Homeschooling
Simple living and homeschooling often walk hand in hand.
When learning is woven into daily life—through cooking, gardening, foraging, and outdoor exploration—education becomes relational rather than rigid.
Simple living allows children to learn at a natural pace, guided by curiosity and seasonal rhythms. When there is no bell to tell you when to stop, the learning never ends. Homeschooling invites creativity, curiosity, and a slowness to the day that cannot be mimicked in a school setting.
Homeschooling is a catalyst for many into the simple life. It was one of ours. When we began homeschooling, I was blown away by how such a simple day could make us feel. We all felt regulated, calmer, and more receptive to learning.
It is in my heart that homeschooling is a great introduction to teaching children to live simply and curiously.
Simple Living Is Not About Perfection
One of the most freeing truths about simple living is that it doesn’t require perfection.
You can:
- Live simply without living rurally
- Practice simple living while working full-time
- Embrace modern tools without guilt
We haven’t always lived exactly as we do now. Life is a journey and we’ve been through it. We’ve had seasons where we both work full time. Seasons where my oldest was in public school. We’ve lived in an apartment in the city. It is about making it work where you are at in life.
Simple living is about alignment, not appearance.
How to Start Simple Living Today
I think we have way too much social media portraying fake lives. Even if someone has it all figured out, they started from somewhere. No one wakes up one morning and has a completely simple life. It is built piece by piece, and day by day.
If simple living feels overwhelming, start here:
- Choose one room to simplify
- Create a gentle morning or evening rhythm
- Spend intentional time outdoors
- Cook one simple meal from scratch this week
- Release one unnecessary obligation
Small shifts compound over time.
The Simple Living Mindset: Slowing Down Internally First
Before habits change, mindset shifts.
Simple living begins when you pause long enough to ask:
- What feels heavy right now?
- What do I want more of in this season?
- What am I doing out of obligation rather than alignment?
This internal slowing down is often the most powerful step. When your inner world becomes quieter, your outer life begins to follow.
Why a Simple Life Is Worth Choosing
In a culture that glorifies busyness, choosing simple living is a quiet declaration that your peace matters.
Simple living allows you to:
- Build a life rooted in intention
- Strengthen family bonds
- Reconnect with nature
- Find beauty in the everyday
It isn’t about escaping life—it’s about inhabiting it fully.
A Gentle Invitation
If this article resonated with you, choose one small way to simplify today.
Simple living is not something you achieve.
It’s something you practice—slowly, imperfectly, and beautifully.
✨ Sometimes the fullest life is the one with the least noise.
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