Is Simplifying A Lost Cause?
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” — Hans Hofmann
Recently, I came across an article that saddened me. Over at MallosWorld, it was asked, Simplifying Our Lives: Is It A Lost Cause?. I debated commenting on the article itself, but decided I needed more room for my answer.
What Is Simplicity?
Simplifying is the elimination of things that don’t add value to your life. Having a simple life is one where the activities you engage in, the people you interact with, and the things you own and use add positive value to your life. For each person, positive value will mean something different, so one person’s simple life would be another person’s overwhelmingly complicated life.
Also, deciding what is important and adds value is not a one-time decision. It needs to be re-evaluated often and things adjusted accordingly.
Hyper-efficiency vs. Simplifying
In the article, the question was asked if instead of simplifying, we should become hyper-efficient. Should we learn stress management techniques instead of removing the causes of it? It’s a question of modern life.
In the article, three examples of things were given: television channels, RSS feed and work life/home life demands.
Television
How much television do you watch actually adds value to your life? In my case, almost none. Some sitcoms, while entertaining, do nothing to feed my brain, increase my knowledge, or help me interact in the daily world. They simply numb me out for a little while.
In the off chance that there is a show that I might want to see, I do not rely on random channel surfing to become aware of it. 99% of my television viewing is from public television. I am notified either by newspaper, or a website that there is something I might want to see.
Recently on vacation, we had hundreds more television stations to look at. After looking through all of them, we decided we would rather read.
RSS feeds
RSS feeds are a great way to get information. RSS monitors websites and blogs and allows you to see the results in one place. But how many of these feeds will actually add value to your life? For those people who rely on up-to-date information, this may be crucial to identify the sources of information and monitor them. But how many RSS feeds are truly crucial to your life? Or are they brain candy? I know almost no one whose livelihood or life depends on things coming across the web.
Work Life/Home Life Demands
Things at work and home can require a lot of attention. But again, it comes down to value added. Are you working to pay for the things that really don’t add value to your life, but either you thought you couldn’t live without, or you bought because everyone has them? When you get those things home, you then have to care for them. If you didn’t have those things, would you be able to change jobs to a less-demanding one?
How about those kid activities. Modern parents often want their children to do everything. Yet an over-packed schedule takes a toll on both the kids and the parents. How many of these activities add value to your children’s lives? Is playing three sports concurrently really adding positive value?
Summary
For some reason, knowing all that information is out there pushes people to try and consume it all. 100 years ago people were aware that there were thousands of newspapers in the world, yet they did not try to read them all. The availability of information to us is what keeps us jittery. But just because it is there doesn’t mean you should pay attention.
It’s kind of a buffet mentality. Just because you are at an all-you-can-eat buffet does not mean you should try to eat everything. You have to pick and choose what is important. Overeating at the buffet constantly will kill you.
Perhaps the consequences are not so dire for not being selective in your RSS, TV and activities, but too much of anything, even good things, can be bad.
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Thanks for your thoughts on my article. What has become apparent from people’s feedback is that though we may have vastly more choice, pressures on our time etc very little of it adds anything to our lifestyles.