I keep seeing advice about living a simpler life lately. There are any number of ways to do this, and a few of them include slowing down, purposefully being less busy, and being intentional about what we do with screens.
So, what if we simplify the focus?
It seems that there’s just…
- Too much information.
- Too much noise.
- Too much to do.
- Entirely too much.
Here, in no particular order, are some messages that have been ironically bombarding me with info about how to make life simpler.
Slow down and savor the good stuff. What do happy people do more than others? They savor. “Savoring” means dwelling on appreciating something. Dwelling on something means taking a little time. Slowing down, if only for a second.
Next time something good happens, stop whatever you are doing, give it a second and appreciate that moment.
Old clichés like “stopping to smell the roses” and “it’s the little things in life”? They’re true.
The happiness researchers call it “Savoring.”
Eric Barker
Get un-busy. Employ useful tactics to slow down and get more done. Feeling “too busy” causes stress; too much stress is bad for health and productivity.
Some example cures:
- Work has a way of expanding to fill the available time. So we can purposefully cut back on the time we give to it.
- The media encourages us to savor disgust, which is pretty dreadful when you think about it. So we can cut down on media consumption.
Here are four of ten suggestions:
Quit work an hour earlier.
Stop watching TV, listening to the radio, and reading the newspaper.
Meditate twice a day.
Cancel all recurring meetings.
Ray Edwards
Conquer your addiction to screens. It’s way too easy to waste hours on the Internet or TV. Hop scotching aimlessly from somewhat-professionally-related item to cute cat video to troubling news story adds to a “too much” sensation that defeats productivity. Procrastination thrives on distractions. In a post called “7 Strategies for Facing Your Internet/TV Addiction,” here are the main two:
- Face the problem.
- Increase awareness.
Leo Babauta
It’s easy to take pride in being busy. Doesn’t busyness mean that we’re important? That we’ve arrived in some way? But, being overly busy is terrible for productivity and for a sense of well-being. Not only that, but we have choices. Being conscious about what we say “yes” to can make all the difference.
Resources
Post | The Simple Thing That Makes The Happiest People In The World So Happy
Book | Savoring Disgust: The Foul and the Fair in Aesthetics
Podcast | Ten Ways To Un-Busy Yourself This Week
Post | 7 Strategies for Facing Your Internet/TV Addiction
Related Posts
Post | What if Less Really Is More?
Post | Getting with the Program
Post | Bookshelf: The Procrastination Equation
Post | Breathe | Focus | Everything’s Better
Post | Bookshelf: The ONE Thing
