Our problem is that we have managed to by mostly durable stuff and take care of it. We have furniture that is easily 40 years old, has made 7 moves and still looks and functions well. We keep cars more than 10 years they are always garaged when not in use. We have owned 5 since 1974. I have had one watch my entire adult life. Etc.
We still have way too much stuff.
I do think the author has absorbed a bit too much ‘class struggle’ thinking, but on the other hand, like Marie Kondo’s books, there is some useful wisdom that grandma or grandpa would have thought of as ‘common sense’, except for the fact that few folks of that generation had the problem(s) of ‘too much’ stuff in big houses.
From the same website:
“Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.” —Thomas à Kempis
Simplicity brings balance, freedom, and joy. When we begin to live simply and experience these benefits, we begin to ask the next question, “Where else in my life can i remove distraction and simply focus on the essential?”
Based on our personal journey, our conversations, and our observations, here is a list of the 10 most important things to simplify in your life today to begin living a more balanced, joyful lifestyle:
1. Your Possessions – Too many material possessions complicate our lives to a greater degree than we ever give them credit. They drain our bank account, our energy, and our attention. They keep us from the ones we love and from living a life based on our values. If you will invest the time to remove nonessential possessions from your life, you will never regret it. For more inspiration, consider Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life.
2. Your Time Commitments – Most of us have filled our days full from beginning to end with time commitments: work, home, kid’s activities, community events, religious endeavors, hobbies… the list goes on. When possible, release yourself from the time commitments that are not in line with your greatest values.
3. Your Goals – Reduce the number of goals you are intentionally striving for in your life to one or two. By reducing the number of goals that you are striving to accomplish, you will improve your focus and your success rate. Make a list of the things that you want to accomplish in your life and choose the two most important. When you finish one, add another from your list.
4. Your Negative Thoughts – Most negative emotions are completely useless. Resentment, bitterness, hate, and jealousy have never improved the quality of life for a single human being. Take responsibility for your mind. Forgive past hurts and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
5. Your Debt – If debt is holding you captive, reduce it. Start today. Do what you’ve got to do to get out from under its weight. Find the help that you need. Sacrifice luxury today to enjoy freedom tomorrow.
6. Your Words – Use fewer words. Keep your speech plain and honest. Mean what you say. Avoid gossip.
7. Your Artificial Ingredients – Avoid trans fats, refined grain (white bread), high-fructose corn syrup, and too much sodium. Minimizing these ingredients will improve your energy level in the short-term and your health in the long-term. Also, as much as possible, reduce your consumption of over-the-counter medicine – allow your body to heal itself naturally as opposed to building a dependency on substances.
8. Your Screen Time – Focusing your attention on television, movies, video games, and technology affects your life more than you think. Media rearranges your values. It begins to dominate your life. And it has a profound impact on your attitude and outlook. Unfortunately, when you live in that world on a consistent basis, you don’t even notice how it is impacting you. The only way to fully appreciate its influence in your life is to turn them off.
9. Your Connections to the World – Relationships with others are good, but constant streams of distraction are bad. Learn when to power off the blackberry, log off Facebook, or not read a text. Focus on the important, not the urgent. A steady flow of distractions from other people may make us feel important, needed, or wanted, but feeling important and accomplishing importance are completely different things.
10. Your Multi-Tasking – Research indicates that multi-tasking increases stress and lowers productivity. While single-tasking is becoming a lost art, learn it. Handle one task at a time. Do it well. And when it is complete, move to the next.”
I can’t really say too much bad about any of those points, to be honest.
I very much believe that there is a push to make collecting a thing of the past. decluttering, simple living, ridicule of hoarders, etc. It’s all a push to get people to live on/with less so that the great unwashed masses can be paid less (money just for necessities), worked harder and longer (no hobbies) Nothing extra is needed. Of course there is the human need to own stuff, but it’s being allowed in cheap trinkets that no longer have any real value or are disposable.
Look at the push to get entertainment from the web/screens. Movies and music in the cloud, buy mp3s of music instead of discs or other media.
it’s just my observation, but big long term picture is to breed out or condition people to do with less.
Guilty as charged... When I moved out from grad school, everything I owned fit in the back of a small pickup with camper shell. During my last corporate relocation in 2007, I required two semis.
That one about spending more for stuff than higher education is stupid. If you spend on higher education at all, it will be more. Otherwise, it will be less. For most people, it is less.
Moving every few years in the military, we pitched a dumpster full of stuff we didn’t want to take with us. Having retired some years ago we’ve accumulated “crap” and more “crap” .
We have one TV that we virtually never watch.
It was on for 15 mins Tues night to hear Trump’s speech, and will be on again for his state of the union speech.
Not me, I have 3 of everything, O.K.6 of everything so I can always find one.
8. The average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was nine.
Who knew there were only nine days in a month back in 1930!?
I am doing the Swedish death cleaning, every weekend I take something up to Savers.