The Bare-Minimum Girl’s Guide to Getting Your Life Together (Without Trying That Hard)

By Vikki  |  25 November 2025

A funny, relatable, low-effort guide to getting your life vaguely together as a tired woman, single parent, or emotionally burnt-out human. Perfect for anyone in the UK, US, Europe, or anywhere else who wants maximum peace with minimum effort.

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Welcome to the Bare-Minimum Girl Era

This is not a productivity guide. This is a survival manual for exhausted people who are doing their best and honestly can’t be arsed with a 47-step morning routine.

You don’t need to “optimize your life.” You just need a few bare-minimum habits that quietly stop everything from falling apart.

1. The Bare-Minimum Life Philosophy

Here’s the new rule:

If it keeps you fed, semi-clean, and vaguely sane, it counts.

You’re not lazy. You’re overstimulated, under-rested, and carrying the emotional weight of ten people. Of course you don’t want to alphabetise your pantry right now.

2. Three Things That Count as Productivity Now

We’re lowering the bar to a healthy, realistic level. If you’ve done any of the following today, congratulations, you are officially productive:

• Took a shower or at least stood near one
• Put clothes into any kind of pile (basket, chair, floor – it all counts)
• Replied to one message you’d been avoiding

That’s the new standard. Anything beyond that is extra credit.

3. The “One Thing a Day” Rule

Instead of trying to fix your entire life in one day, pick one thing:

• Laundry or dishes
• Errands or admin
• Socialising or deep cleaning

Trying to do everything leads straight to burnout and lies on the sofa. One thing moves you forward without frying your nervous system.

4. The 5-Minute Chaos Clean

Set a timer for five minutes. Tidy anything:

• Throw rubbish away
• Clear one surface
• Load or unload the dishwasher

When the timer ends, you stop. Even if you’re mid-task. You’re not trying to become a domestic goddess. You’re just trying to stop the house from looking like a live crime scene.

5. The “Good Enough” Home Standard

Perfection is cancelled. You’re now aiming for:

• Duvet pulled up = bed made
• Floor mostly visible = clean enough
• Clean spoon available = kitchen functioning

Your home doesn’t need to look like a show home. It needs to feel like a place where you can breathe.

6. Small Wins Are Still Wins (Stop Dismissing Them)

You walked to the bin? That’s movement. You drank water? That’s hydration. You didn’t reply to that toxic message? That’s emotional growth.

Your brain has been trained to only celebrate big achievements. Bare-minimum girls clap for the small ones because small ones are what keep you going.

7. The Bare-Minimum Mental Health Toolkit

You don’t need an expensive wellness routine. Try this instead:

• Silence – 3 minutes with no noise, no phone
• Snacks – life is always worse when you’re hungry
• Water – the most boring miracle cure
• Sleep – go to bed 30 minutes earlier, not perfect, just earlier
• Blocking people – spiritual hygiene at its finest
• Not replying immediately – you are not a 24/7 service

8. Strategic Low Energy: Stop Giving 100% to People Who Give 10%

You are not required to be “on” for everybody, all the time. Being emotionally bulletproof doesn’t mean being endlessly available – it means being selectively available.

Save your best energy for:
• yourself
• your kids (if you have them)
• people who actually pour back into you

9. The Easiest Exit Strategy for Draining Conversations

If a chat is heading toward drama, overwhelm, or a TED Talk you didn’t sign up for, use this:

“I’ve got to go sort something, I’ll catch up later.”

No one needs to know the “something” is you lying in bed scrolling in peace. You are sorting something. You are sorting your nervous system.

10. You Are Not a Full-Time Self-Improvement Project

You’re allowed to:

• be a work in progress and still rest
• want more without hustling yourself into the ground
• take tiny steps and still be proud of yourself

Self-help culture will have you thinking you’re failing if you’re not constantly upgrading. Bare-minimum girls understand this:

Staying alive, semi-sane, and still kind is already an achievement.

The Final Bare-Minimum Girl Truth

You don’t need to “get your life together” in some dramatic, overnight transformation.

You just need:
• one small win a day
• one less energy-draining person
• one tiny habit that makes things easier

That’s how you quietly build a life that feels safe, stable, and actually yours – without burning yourself out trying to be perfect.

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Related: bare minimum self improvement, lazy girl productivity, low effort life hacks, emotional resilience for women, getting your life together slowly, burnout recovery tips, simple routines for overwhelmed women, single parent survival habits.