Avoiding negative emotions and experiencing more happiness, peace and joy is the driving force for most human behaviour. In the search for contentment many of us are misguided, trying to find happiness in things and quick hits of dopamine from shopping, scrolling, liking and consuming. Through drastically simplifying my own life and finding joy in less, I want to share my tips on simplicity as a way to live the good life.
Generation burnout
In the last year, over 74% of people in the UK have reported feeling so stressed and overwhelmed they were unable to cope.
This has been increasingly pronounced after the simplicity of life in lockdown. We were forced to re-evaluate the way we live and what we needed to get by. Without anywhere to go we didn’t need to keep buying shoes and fancy cars.
The only thing we needed was human connection with family, friends & nature.
As a society we felt collective relief in our lives, clearing out our cupboards with Marie Kondo hitting the most watched on Netflix. Charity shop donations doubled across the UK and eBay’s shares rose by 10%. In fact, our drop in spending on more drove many clothing retailers into administration.
When your belongings start to own you
The more we add to our lives, the less time we have to take a step back and take care of ourselves. Overwhelm causes uncertainty, stress, instability, fatigue, forgetfulness and can ultimately shorten our lifespans. Many of us are suffering from decision fatigue, we make 35,000 minute decisions every day from where to sit, what tasks to do first, what to wear and what to say. If your brain is worn down, it may cause you to become more reckless with your decision making or not think things through.
More adds complexity. Owning more means needing bigger homes which we fill with more things that need more cleaning and more maintenance. A 2010 study by Princeton University researchers found that making $75,000 a year was the sweet spot for happiness but earning much more came with a decrease in happiness due to the extra liabilities people take on. You can become a prisoner to your assets.
A business with ten mediocre services will never dominate a market as well as one organisation that provides one product, really, really, well. There’s a reason Microsoft hasn’t expanded into haircare.
Simplicity in action
If we look at the world and businesses around us, so many are built on the principles of simplicity. Here are some of the best examples:
- Apple’s entire proposition was an aesthetic user-friendly interface, simple to look at and use. They’re the undisputed market leader for phones.
- Google is extremely simple, the white background with a search bar and only a few search options, which is why it’s so effective and easy to use.
- Gillette was busy adding a sixth blade to their razor when Dollar Shave Club simplified the buying process with their user-friendly subscription and their one blade razor.
- Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg simplified their wardrobes by wearing the same outfit every day, saving time and energy deciding each day what to put on.
We are bombarded with so many marketing messages (up to 10,000 a day in fact), that we have internalised ‘more is better’, but, it’s the polar opposite.
Implementing simplicity
It can be harder to let go than to acquire even more, but I’ve whittled down my method into five steps to simplifying your life:
- Remove unnecessary decision making: we make 35,000 choices each day, can you prepare your meals ahead of time, have a capsule wardrobe or pre-plan your day and tasks?
- Reduce unnecessary media consumption: only consume things that will help you reach your goals. We have a limited capacity for learning and retention each day, you could be honing your skills and learning more about your family rather than learning what’s trending on social media.
- Work for efficiency: what’s the most basic need you are looking to solve and what’s the simplest way of solving this?
- Get practical: what do you need to be happy? Remove the excess.
- Prioritise what you need to be concerned with: we can only care so much. Make sure it’s only the things and people that matter.
By way of example, we can look at the lives of successful individuals. They simplify their lives, removing the need to expend any extra energy outside of what they’re passionate about. These people don’t need validation, life for them isn’t a competition of who has the most or best, but it’s about the journey and what really matters. They have a belief in themselves.
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary may speak” – Hans Hofman, renowned artist and teacher.
