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The first thing to know is that the Victorian period was solidly after the First Industrial Revolution. Life was becoming ever more terrifyingly frenetic, profit-oriented, workaholic, disorienting, confusing - just without electronics.

This question is too poorly formed to allow any real answer, sorry. First, define simplicity, please.

For example, I think there was a level of mental clarity during that era that does not exist now due to the fast paced culture we have now.

For whom. A big chunk of the population was living in abject poverty.

I think this has impacted our critical thinking skills

Critical thinking has never been widely taught, nor popularly adopted. People prefer nostalgia, for instance.

and level of focus

You'd be pretty focused too if you were worrying about where you were supposed to sleep and where your next meal was coming from.

I think you should read up more on how the average person lived in that era.

I also wouldn't call the era famous for its scientific racism and poor women's rights an era with better critical thinking.

The Victorian era was definitely an era of Industrialism! How in the world does anyone get the idea otherwise?

Novel after novel, for instance, was written about the effects of industrialization's factory work, the enclosure of agricultural, common lands, the coming of the railroads and canalization upon Britain's populations. Just for starters, North and South by Mrs. Gaskell.

The Victorian era began in 1837, the Industrial Revolution was already well in sway by that point.

“Simpler” is a hard thing to put your finger on. The things I see most often referred to as complicating life, like cars and cellphones, of course didn’t exist back then. So in that respect it would probably satisfy your criteria.

On the other hand they also had to contend with a lack of regulation, such that the bread you buy may be adulterated with things like gypsum. Of course the germ theory of disease had been neither articulated nor accepted by that point, and there was very little that could really be done for illness beyond waiting and hoping.

Aspirin did not become available until 1899. Cocaine’s uses were not discovered until 1884. Heroin was first synthesized in 1874.

At the beginning of the 19th century the field of effective medicine was very limited. To me it seems like this would complicate life greatly.

I’ve been deeply interested in the Victorian Era as of late and I’m curious to know what people think the simplicity of the every day life in that time compared to now. Also DO you think that every life was more simple than today?

During the Victorian era in the UK a lot changed for the average working person. It started living in slums that were horrific. Charles Dickens wrote novels on them. I think the infant mortality rate would have been near 1 in 3 near the start of the period and dropping towards just over 1 in 10 by the end. So the average person would have lost at least one sibling if they were born at the start of the era and likely lost a child early as well. But that started to drop as the period went on. Malnutrition was endemic, this mean lack of key nutrients were very common. Rickets from lack of vitamin D, stunted growth from lack of food during childhood were widespread. Cholera epidemics were frequent at the start of the period and the place would stink of sewage. By the end clean water was almost universally available and outdoor toilets had become common, though late night winter useage was..... for the brave. There was a huge boom in travel for the working class who could start to dream of holidays to far away and exotic locations like Brighton and Blackpool.

It would be very hard to asses mental state, life was cold, hard and death was near. Injuries meant destitution. Work hours were very long in the beginning of it, often starting work as a child. Bed bugs were endemic so I doubt sleep quality was that great. You likely would undergo the kind of traumas that would get you therapy today many times in your life, loss of a child must have been very harsh, pregnancy was a real risk of dying giving birth, so your life was filled with constant threats of loss.