There was a time, not very long ago, that when the sun went down people went to sleep. There was no television, no gaming console, no cell phone. There was no one to keep up with every moment of the day, no RSS feeds to monitor. There wasn’t even a good light to read a book by. I’m not suggesting those people had it easier than us by any measure, but at least they got eight hours of sleep, generally speaking. They went to sleep at dark and often rose before dawn. Not so, today. It’s not unusual for a working person to dedicate ten to twelve hours to their vocation, one or two at home getting the children ready for bed, and then another three or four checking email and RSS feeds, watching television, working on their hobby of choice or otherwise not resting at all. Sometimes it’s a miracle if we can snatch three or four hours of sleep before the cycle starts again.
Simplicity means different things to different people. For one person simplicity might mean watching one hour less television per day, or eating 200 fewer calories—simple changes they can make for the sake of simplicity itself. But other people may aim for a more Spartan approach with stern discipline, seeking a rigorously simple, frugal, and austere lifestyle. There are no absolutes. As with most things, whatever works best for one may not work at all for another, but there are certain guidelines which can help anyone get started on the road to living a more simplified lifestyle.
Why simplify? Because property can add stress. Being surrounded by uncountable knickknacks and forgotten belongings can too. Anything that takes time away from comfortable relations with yourself and the people you love can be stressful. By eliminating the things in your life that are non-essential and spending your time doing that which is most important to you, you might not only extend your life, but increase the quality of the life you live. You’ll appreciate the change, and so will the people you love.
Simplifying your life won’t to be instantaneous. It’s something you must cultivate, like a garden. In this garden you must grow a healthier lifestyle. Where once there was a jumble of weeds and grasses, now there are fine rows of plants, all bearing the fruit you’ve planted. In this list there are a lot of ideas that might initially be considered unrealistic, but if you think in the long term, you might see that they’re not as bad as first believed.
1. Minimize your vegetative states.
This is in reference to any form of entertainment that involves staring motionless for extended periods of time. Accomplish this according to what you are willing to surrender. If you absolutely must have cable or satellite TV, get a DVR and record the shows you want to watch, and then watch them according to your own timeline. But consider that your life might be much better if you just cut the cable altogether. There’s still plenty of programming that you can get over the air, and you can still DVR your favorite shows.
Don’t forget DVDs: television shows are bunching together DVDs now for almost every broadcast program. If you truly love a show, you can always wait for the DVD to come out. If you do that, you can watch the show without commercials, which will lead to less temptation to make purchases of things you didn’t need in the first place. For ways to simplify your television diet, check out the Video Rebel series on DVICE.
Along this same vein: many other forms of entertainment can be minimized as well. Your email and RSS feeds, for instance. Restrict yourself to email to specific times of the day, keep your inbox empty and your RSS feeds few.
2. Simplify your wardrobe.
Wouldn’t it be great if, like superheroes (or Santa Claus), we had one completely-individual costume that we wore every day and we looked amazing in it? Well. I think it would be. But, seeing as that’s not really practicable, I guess I’ll stick with this plan.
Stay as basic as you can. The rules of this, as with most everything, are dramatically different between women and men. The simplest rule you’ll find is to sort your clothes by season. Keep the current season’s assortment in your closet, and stash the off-season clothing in the attic or somewhere out of the way. When you break out your clothes for the new season to put them in the closet, consider which pieces you didn’t wear last year, the probability that you won’t wear them again this season, and get rid of them if you can bear it. At the same time, while you’re putting away the previous season’s clothes for storage, do the same thing. Consider what you didn’t wear at all this year and get rid of it. After a couple of years you might be surprised to find that you have enough room in your closet for both sets of clothes.
3. Downsize your auto.
There’s never been a better time to downsize the family auto. Gas prices and the economy have SUVs from coast to coast sitting idle in driveways, their owners praying for a break in the trend. Car companies are clamoring to maximize efficiency. People are beginning to think less about what kind of car they would look best in, and more about what can get them from point to point without draining their bank account. And don’t look now, but ugly cars are rapidly becoming trendy. Remember the Geo Metro? 58mpg, yum.
The clock on the wall…If you hate your job, quit and get a better job. Haven’t you heard? People don’t stay in the same job forever any more. It’s almost expected of you to quit. Besides, employers in general aren’t exactly brimming with devotion to the working stiffs, are they? When you finally find that one thing, when you’re doing something you enjoy, or at least doesn’t make you hate waking up in the morning, dedicate yourself to doing it to the best of your ability. Don’t worry about promotions and raises, those things will come if you work hard and take care of your company. Try to work close to home, and if you can’t, move to where you work.
* The value of your life will exponentially increase if you don’t have a big commute. Shoot for a job where you can telecommute if your boss will let you.
5. Simplify your diet.
Drink only natural liquids, eat only whole foods. Coffee, tea, water, wine, milk–just look at the ingredients and if you see “High-Fructose Corn Syrup” as an ingredient, pass. As a friend of mine once said: “Coca-Cola will put the fat on the butt.” And he was right.
As for whole foods, well, we all know that’s what’s best, right? It’s best to pick your veggies and fruit right out of your back yard, yes? And we also know that in a modern, industrialized society that’s not even remotely feasible (in general. There are cases that prove this is not an absolute). But we do the best we can. A good rule of thumb is to restrict your grocery shopping to the outside aisle of the store. And always if at all possible, buy local. The most important thing is to stop buying foods that are packaged with weird ingredients listed. There are still some packaged products that are made with a few, simple ingredients.
Also: It’s a good idea to cut back on your meat intake. Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, recently stated in an interview with National Geographic that “It’s very clear that the more meat you eat, the earlier you die. Cut out as much meat as you can. Don’t cut it out completely. That’s boring. Maybe go down to twice a week. That will have a huge effect (on your quality and quantity of life).”
6. Declutter and Organize.
This is really a lot more simple than it sounds. Pick a closet, drawer or cabinet and purify it. First, declutter: get rid of what you don’t need, don’t use or don’t want any more. And then: organize. Put all your pens in one place. Put your note pads in one place. Designate a place for everything in your home and stick to it. That way if you ever need anything you’ll know where it is. Beware: your friends might start calling you a neat freak, but in this case that’s a good thing. When you finish, relish the victory, and then plan to take on another drawer, closet or cabinet soon, and keep going until you’ve purified them all. And, most importantly, keep it that way!
There is, of course, the advanced version of decluttering.
7. Downsize your lawn.
Think: pavers. Think: ground cover. Think: cut less grass. And make it happen. Here’s a nice article on making a smaller, nicer lawn. And instead of using chemical fertilizer, consider making a compost pile to sprinkle on your lawn and keep it healthy and green.
8. Downsize your debt.
It’s hard, but it can be done. I’ve done it myself. In 2002 I had over ten thousand dollars worth of credit card debt. With the level of my income, there was no way to pay this amount off quickly, so I dedicated myself to paying it off slowly. I began spending as much as I could on the debt, and in the meantime I lived as frugally as I possibly could. Everything that I needed, I bought the cheapest, off-brand version I could find, and I bought very, very little that I didn’t need. As a result, in three years of hard-scrabble work, I paid off the debt. I now have no credit cards. I do have a mortgage and one car loan, but other than that I live by what I make and nothing else.
9. Buy better.
If you want something, fine. Buy it. But don’t buy the cheap version, buy the nice version, the one that’ll last for a very long time. You spend a third of your life in your bed. Why wouldn’t you buy the very best bed you can get? And, staying true to number eight above, save up the money and buy it–don’t charge it. Take care of the things you buy. Shining and cleaning your shoes can add years of life to them, whereas if you don’t shine and clean them once in a while, you won’t be wearing them for very long. And filling your home with knickknacks won’t generate nearly as much envy or conversation as one or two inspiring, artful pieces that you cherish.
10. Downsize your home.
Once you’ve purged your belongings, you might realize how little space you actually need. If so, congratulate yourself and then buy a smaller house. Just remember, people have a propensity to expand to fit their surroundings. If you buy a big house, but don’t have enough stuff to fill it, watch out, because soon enough you’ll have so much stuff you’ll be wanting to get an even bigger place.
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Image by Brian Hathcock
