Unabashed

This article is a work in progress, or will be for a bit longer. Feel free to critique it, because I’m writing it for my company and I’m not really a specialist in this field, although I do practice several of these concepts. But they all make sense to me, so.

The Simple Life Manifesto

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. No one to keep up with every moment of the day. No RSS feeds to keep up with. 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. 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 shoot for a more Spartan approach with stern discipline, seeking a rigorously simple, frugal, austere life. Whichever works best for you is the right answer, but there are very few people who couldn’t use just a little hint or suggestion on making the transition. Sometimes we just need someone to knock us on the head and tell us to give up one thing or another. I’m not knocking you on the head, though, I’m just giving you a few hints.

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 they might sound at first.

Staying true to the rule of simplicity, here are the ten best ideas for simplifying your life (–I always find it odd that, when speaking of simplicity, a writer will invariably list 100+ items to be mindful of. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the list?).

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 TiVo 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 TiVo your favorite shows. Don’t forget DVDs: television shows are bunching together DVDs now for every season that is released. If you truly love a show, wait for the DVD to come out, buy it and watch it without commercials, which will lead to less temptation to make purchases. 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. 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. Personally, I don’t think we’re going to see gas prices go back down much, ever again. Car companies are clamoring to build a more efficient car, but in the meantime it may be best to just make do with what we’ve got right now. We may be drawing close to the end of the age when people bought cars based on what kind of message it sends about them. 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.
4. Be satisfied with your job. 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. Employers have become less and less loyal to their employees, while expecting loyalty from them. If that’s the case at your job, get another one and turn in your notice. 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, find a job close to home then 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. Beware that a self-starting mentality is a must for telecommuting, though. I’ve been a telecommuter for almost ten years now. When I get up in the morning I shower and get dressed, even if I’m going to be in my home office all day; I dress like I’m going to work. I treat the day just like a person who’s going to the office, except when lunch rolls around I walk downstairs and open the fridge.
5. Simplify your diet. Drink only natural liquids, eat only whole foods. Coffee, tea, water, wine, 100% juice (some will say that beer and whiskey are natural, and they are, too. Just take them in moderation, right?). As a friend of mine once said: “Coke 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 for most people that’s not even remotely feasible in our society today. But we do the best we can. Just stop buying foods that are packaged with weird ingredients listed. Did you know the original Frito’s corn chip has only three ingredients? Corn, corn oil, and salt. Get healthier.
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. Dedicate yourself to using this always. If you come home with a pen, don’t just drop it in a drawer in the kitchen, put it where it belongs. 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.  
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. Take care of the things you buy. Shining 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.

written by Matt Mitchell \\ tags: declutter, enjoy life, Entertainment, job, living better, organize, play, simple life, simplicity, Television, wardrobe, work, zen