Design Your Home for Simplicity

With home decor, the word “simplicity” may conjure images of starkly modern interiors with hard, polished surfaces and not much in the way of color. But simplicity can be a part of any design aesthetic—it’s just about the idea that “less is more.” First–clear the clutter. Clutter makes it difficult to focus, as your attention bounces around and can actually make you feel stressed. Next–ask yourself what the purpose of the room is. If it’s to relax in front the TV, start removing items that don’t add to that purpose. If it’s to sleep, maybe remove the TV and any other distracting items. Keep editing! Look at each item and remove any that don’t have a purpose. This clears floor space for ease of movement and helps you choose a few statement pieces that don’t compete with one another. So why choose simplicity? Rooms that incorporate simplicity feel more open, which can reduce stress and encourage relaxation. Spaces that are less cluttered are easier to clean, too, which means you spend less time cleaning and more time enjoying the room. An organized home also means sudden house guests don’t cause cleaning anxiety.

Dr. Visits

Skilled physicians and modern medicine can do wonders for your health, but it’s also important to remember that you are the ultimate decision maker when it comes to caring for your body. While it’s often a good idea to heed your doctor’s advice, it’s also important to listen to yourself. In these situations, the best medicine may be your own intuition. Problem: Your doctor suggests a diagnosis or treatment and you don’t feel completely confident about it. Solution: Seek a second opinion. Sometimes someone who hasn’t been invested in your particular medical situation will have a different idea on how to deal with your situation. Additionally, sometimes medical tests come back as false positives, and you reserve the right to be completely sure that what you are being told is an accurate representation of what your medical situation is. Problem: Your doctor orders several screening tests “just to be sure.” Solution: While many tests can help pinpoint a medical malady, they can also lead to costly and unnecessary diagnostic testing. Ask what tests are specifically important for you to undergo and why. Problem: Your doctor prescribes a myriad of pills. Solution: If your physician hands you a stack of prescriptions, make sure you understand what each and every one does – and what the consequences could be of taking them together. You may have other ways to manage pain (like stretching or exercise), for instance, and find you don’t need to take painkillers every day.

Bottled Water

You’ve likely heard that bottled water has major environmental consequences, but how bad is the problem? Here are a few facts from thewaterproject.org that illustrate the severity of the situation: • Approximately 80% of single-use water bottles in the U.S. become “litter,” and one bottle takes more than 1,000 years to bio-degrade. • U.S. landfills have two million tons of discarded water bottles in them. • It takes three liters of water to package one liter of bottled water. In response to the bottled water problem, some cities and businesses have banned it, but what can you do? • Skip the single-use water bottle, and invest in a reusable water bottle. If you forget it, buy multiples to keep in vehicles, the office, and your gym bag. • Drink tap water. Several studies have been done to show municipal tap water is usually just as safe as bottled water. • Refrigerate water. Cooling tap water helps remove the chlorine taste many people feel is in tap water. • Boil water if you are concerned water might be contaminated.