Why simplify life?
When you reduce something to the essential, you gain the value of all you cut out. In other words, when you simplify, you gain all of the time, thought, and energy that went into the excess.
Simple Socks & Underwear
Growing up, I accumulated about 7 kinds of socks. I’d have to sort them and pair them up every time I did laundry. I liked some more than others, so it was weirdly stressful to play sock roulette every day. Would I have any good pairs left?
Today, I only have one type of socks. They’re made from bamboo and I love them. I don’t pair them up after washing them because I can put them all in a drawer and take any two. Simple. We wear socks every day, so while it may seem inconsequential, it’s nice to completely eliminate one daily decision and the hassle of matching socks.
Funny story: In high school home economics class, I sewed my own pair of boxer shorts. They weren’t very good, a little misshapen. I loathed the days when I had exhausted all other underwear options and had to wear the pair I created. I only have one type of underwear now, too, and the frankenboxers are in the trash.
Simple Room Purposes
My new apartment, unlike my old one, has multiple rooms. While my new and old apartment are almost identical at 1050 square feet, my new apartment is more traditional with, you know, doors. My old apartment had a “modern layout” which just means it’s one huge room.
Having one massive room needlessly complicated my should-be simple life. Mentally, I had to consciously decide whether I was working, playing, or sleeping, because it was all in the same general large area. Now I have a bedroom, a living room, and an office. Work? Office. Play? Living room. Sleep? Bedroom. It’s simple compartmentalization, and it’s made a big difference to simplify life already. Unlike before, now I know exactly when I’m procrastinating. I also sleep better and relax more when watching TV, because I subconsciously know the purpose of those rooms.
Lights
I have smart lights in my apartment. With a simple voice command, I can turn on/off most of the lights in my apartment at once. I can also program more complex light color combinations to be triggered with a voice command. Smart home technology is more complex and expensive to set up than traditional homes, but after it’s done, it can simplify life in fun ways.
Smart home technology is great because you only have to set it up once and then you can benefit from it for years.
Fashion
I don’t have very many clothes, which is especially evident when I look at the wardrobes of others. People seem to collect clothes like they’re soon to be worth millions.
Steve Jobs was famous for always wearing the same jeans and black turtleneck combination. That was one way he simplified his life so that he could use his mind for bigger things.
Personally, I am slightly interested in improving my weak fashion game, which brings me to a crucial point.
Pick Your Complications
I have a lot of technology, definitely more than I need. But I really enjoy technology and don’t mind the complications that come with it.
In the last 4 years of my life, I had no car. It was an attempt at simplification that worked a little bit too well. While I had no car payments, mechanic bills, or car accidents to worry about, I ended up staying home a lot more than I wanted to. I realized that cars complicate my life in a good way because they make me more proactive.
The problem, and the point of this article, is that it’s really easy to let everything in your life become complicated. Life in general is chaos, so when you simplify, it can be comforting to have something so well-managed, easy, and carefree. Even if it’s just your socks.
There’s no need to try to simplify everything, of course, as that would make life a little bit bland. Pick your complications and simplify what else you can.
What small areas in your life are ripe for simplification? What if you only owned clothes that you really liked? What if all of your socks matched, and thus didn’t need matching? What if you had fewer, but higher quality plates, bowls, and cups of the same design?
