10 Ways to Simplify Your Life

These easy tips will instantly make you feel better--even on the most stressful mornings.

CHOCOLOVE Organic chocolate bars // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

1. Be a Chocoholic

"Dark chocolate is the ultimate superfood," says integrative medicine specialist Jeffrey Morrison of N.Y.C. The high concentration of polyphenols helps protect your body from free radicals and can reduce the chance of heart disease and cancer. Your daily dose? "One ounce of dark chocolate (with 77 percent cocoa content)."

CHOCOLOVE Organic chocolate bars, $3 each; at Whole Foods.

Video: Benefits of chocolate >

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BENJAMIN MOORE Natura paints // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

2. Avoid the Fumes

That "new-paint smell" you're used to is actually the scent of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being released into the air. Opt for a zero-VOC paint and you won't even have to air out a room before you can enter it. Benjamin Moore's new Natura line is VOC-free and available in more than 3,000 hues.

BENJAMIN MOORE Natura paints in Erin Green, Poppy, Purple Rain, and Mozart Blue, $50/ gallon; 800-672-4686 for stores.

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SIGG Silver Traveler bottle // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

3. Get on Tap

Trade in that plastic water bottle for a reusable aluminum one. Research suggests filtered tap water is just as good--plus there's one less container to be recycled.

SIGG Silver Traveler bottle, $22; mysigg.com.

Video: BPA health risks with plastic >

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Spider plant // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

4. Bring the Outside in

Houseplants do more than just pretty up a room. They breathe in carbon dioxide and churn out oxygen, making indoor air that much cleaner. No green thumb? Try a low-maintenance spider plant.

Video: Can House Plants Clean Polluted Indoor Air? >

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Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing mask // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

5. Purify Your Skin

To remove toxins slather on a clay mask. "Clay draws out impurities and makes your skin look fresher, younger, and more vibrant," says Annie B. Bond, a green-living expert in Rhine-beck, N.Y. Masks made with moisturizing white clay are especially effective on dry skin; those with oily complexions should look for red or green clay.

Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing mask, $22; kiehls.com.

Video: Be more beautiful and healthy with skin fixes >

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CONAIR Deluxe fabric steamer // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

6. Clean, then Steam

Perc, the solvent used to dry-clean clothes, is toxic, so try an alternative method of laundering. Most fabrics can be hand-washed or run through the washing machine on a delicate cycle. For a professional-looking finish, invest in a home steamer.

CONAIR Deluxe fabric steamer, $100; at Sears.

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ECOTOOLS Sustainable Softness body lotion // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

7. Check the Ingredients

When choosing body lotions, try to avoid parabens. Some studies suggest that high doses of these synthetic preservatives can disrupt the functioning of the endocrine system. "They're more of a concern in body products because of the amount of surface area involved," says N.Y.C. dermatologist Macrene Alexiades. Two paraben-free lines we love: Ecotools and Origins Organics.

ECOTOOLS Sustainable Softness body lotion, $8; at Walgreens.

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Berries // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

8. Go Organic

A good rule of thumb when buying produce: If you are going to eat the skin, choose organic. If not, opt for locally grown ingredients that are in season, says Jeffrey Morrison. When you do buy non-organic fruits and vegetables, always scrub them with a natural cleanser like Veggie Wash ($4; drugstore.com)--a mix of citrus, corn and coconut--to lower pesticide residue and clean off bacteria.

Video: Is organic food worth the extra green?>

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Pillow // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

9. Freeze Out Dust

Get your beauty rest in a bed that's as pristine as it is plush. Once a year leave pillows and duvets on a tarp in a freezing cold garage overnight. For apartment dwellers, pillows or sheets can go in the freezer, on the terrace, or in your car trunk. "This literally freezes the allergens to death," says Danny Seo, author of the Simply Green book series. For even more protection from dust, zip impenetrable cotton encasement covers (available at allergyclean.com) around pillows and duvets.

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Shoes // "10 Ways to Simplify Your Life"

10. Kick Off Your Heels

You'd be surprised at how much muck we trudge into our homes on our shoes (up to 80 percent of all indoor dirt, according to experts--eww). The easy solution is to check your shoes at the door. Even better, rest them on a pile of newspapers--the paper, designed to absorb ink, also soaks up moisture, odor, and all sorts of other nasty stuff.

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6Comments

Best

Apr 26, 2012 9:21AM

What to simplify your life for the better? Easy. Ditch the iCrap. And the cell phones. (Remember? people got along fine for centuries without pocket-sized techno-annoyances.) Read a damn book, printed on PAPER. Look at paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Listen to a river, and the wind. Take a walk. Touch a tree. Eat a steak that has no sauce on it. Smoke some weed. Open your car's windows. Turn off that A/C and drive.

Previous replies

Qlue

Apr 26, 2012 11:58AM

10 Ways to Simplify Your Life.. Really... I only see one or two things that would Simplify my life, the rest provide MORE work.

I agree with "not you854" and the sad thing is I work for the Geek Squad, and if I could get away with it, I would not have ANY mobile device. You would be surprised how much more free time you get, when you don't spend 2-5 hours a day talking with people on the phone, answering emails, listening to voice mails, responding to texts. I went for almost 2 years without a phone (including home phone), but now I have to carry one for work. What I would do to not have a cell phone or email at all.

1. Drop the mobile life.

2. Take off your shoes at the door.

3. Setup all of your bills to auto pay.

4. Stop wasting time reading/responding to articles like this.

Previous replies

Connie Barajas

Apr 26, 2012 2:04PM

And how did someone come up with the title? These things have really nothing to do with simplifying life.

Previous replies

drmdrd

Apr 26, 2012 12:37PM

This list makes life more complicated and you have to spend more money to do it. This is dumb. I agree with Notyou854.

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Where Has All The Talent Gone...

Apr 26, 2012 12:17PM

I read the 10 simplify how-tos and had to laugh. Have the American people gone SO far off the track that they must continue to mindlessly spend on highly discretionary nonsense even in this economy? And so many of the suggestions were just the nuttiness of paranoids: Freeze your bedclothing. Really? Kill each killer microbe and allergen in your midst you special, sensitive, entitled dufus. Really? This list was good for a morning laugh.

Except for one thing not you854 has a terrific list below (and probably even the smoke might be terrific, just never having tried one wouldn't know; and as it is on a no-smoke list in the current extremist enviroment probably best to just say no). Back to authentic nature is a great idea. And a look back to the way people lived their lives in the pre-tech area will give some really great ideas.

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cinjim

Apr 26, 2012 3:51PM

I am not at all concerned about US grown non-organic produce residues which are very minute. The materials used by our growers are so regulated by the FDA as to have miniscule effect, if any. (Do I really care about 1 part per billion? NO) I am however very concerned about produce grown in Central or South America where they have used products banned to US farmers. Buy US grown fruits and vegetables and wash produce if you have concerns!

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