- Introduction:
- New Resources: Highlights Of The Latest Additions To Our Resource Directory
- Information Overload: So Many Good Causes! Maybe Too Many?
- Simple Living Simplified: 10 Things You Can Do Today To Simplify Your Life
- Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth In A Sustainable Lifestyle
- Transforming Your Relationship With Money, Transformed: The New Road Map Foundation
- MTV Documentary Casting Call: True Life - Living Off The Grid
- The Answer To Closet Clutter: A Cultural Perspective
- The Refrigerator Test: The Dollar Stretcher
- Money/Life Balance In The New Millennium: The Crossover Point
Yes, spring has finally arrived here in beautiful Trout Lake, Washington. The sun has been shining full strength for the past couple of weeks. The 12-foot high piles of snow that had accumulated outside my windows are now a mere four to six feet tall. There are even a couple of places in the yard, mainly under trees, where you can actually see the grass and a few crocuses. I can hardly wait to break out the rakes and shovels and begin playing in the yard! The long winter and a severe case of Cabin Fever have finally reached an end!
I hope this spring finds you healthy and happy and enjoying the simple pleasures in life as well.
We have a lot of exciting news in this, the 63rd issue of our user supported on-line Newsletter. The most exciting and important news item for the future growth and development of The Simple Living Network is the subject of the following announcement. . . .
Alternatives for Simple Living and The Simple Living Network are now working together!
Now Alternatives members have access to The Simple Living Network's wide range of resources and user supported services. Now long-time friends and supporters of The Simple Living Network have access to well over 250 new resources recommended and produced by Alternatives for Simple Living — many of which are faith-based.
For those of you unfamiliar with Alternatives, their mission statement is:
Live Justly and Celebrate Responsibly."
If you identify yourself as an Alternatives customer by entering their new eStore through SimpleLiving.ORG, or by clicking on the "Alternatives" tab at the top of any page on The Simple Living Network, Alternatives will receive a commission on any resources you purchase. This is a great way to support both The Simple Living Network and Alternatives for Simple Living.
Visitors to The Simple Living Network are welcome to browse Alternatives Archives. By becoming a member of Alternatives, you can make as many copies as you want of the hundreds of free resources available in their Archives.
The Simple Living Network extends a warm welcome to Alternatives for Simple Living and all of its customers.
In an effort to make it easier for you to find the resources you are looking for on our web site, we recently made some substantial revisions to the structure of our Resource Directory.
Now, all resources are organized into one of the following "libraries:"
- The Simple Living Library
- The Green Living Library
- The Cookbook Library
- The Gardening Library
- The Country Living Library
- The Alternatives Library — The new Alternatives for Simple Living eStore
- Spread The Word - T-Shirts, Stickers, Posters, etc.
- Body, Mind & Spirit - Health & Healing, Meditation, Science & Spirit, etc.
- Partners - Links & information about other "simple living" groups
- Bargain Basement - Discounts on selected resources
We hope this change will make it easier for you to browse the over 1000 resources and tools we offer!
On February 1st The Simple Living Network launched its Don't Buy It! campaign — a nonviolent protest against the tax rebates the IRS will soon be sending many Americans. The campaign has been quite a hit and has become the most viewed section of our web site ever.
If you haven't visited the Don't Buy It! pages and reviewed the many suggestions for how you can put your rebate to work for positive, real change, please do! Join the thousands of others who are choosing not to spend their tax rebate in ways that support consumption as a solution, deficit spending, predatory lending, outsourced jobs, unaffordable health care, tax cuts for the wealthy, or war over oil and religious ideology.
Together we can change this stupid economy!
The Community Services on this web site — this Newsletter, the Discussion Forums, our Study Groups Database, SimpleRadio and the rest — would not exist without your support.
Because The Simple Living Network is a small, home based business operating without government, industry or foundation support, advertising revenue, or subscription fees of any kind, we rely on user support to continue offering our services.
If you enjoy and use this web site, we ask for your voluntary financial support — any amount large or small will help!
Our goal for 2008 is $20,000. These funds will be applied toward important expenses we anticipate in the coming year. Keeping up with the technology required to operate this web site is expensive! Old software is beginning to expire and must be replaced with new versions. Old equipment needs to be replaced because it is worn out or cannot keep up with the speed and storage space of this growing web site. Bandwidth charges are increasing due to the growing number of folks, just like you, using this site. (I could go on....)
Please do your part! Without your voluntary user support, The Simple Living Network would not exist!
Finally, as always, thank you to those of you who have become CyberAngels over the years. Your generous, ongoing financial contributions make all the difference.
We hope you enjoy this edition of our Newsletter!
Dave Wampler
Founder
The Simple Living Network
Copyright © The Simple Living Network. All Rights Reserved.
New Simple Living Titles
- Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth In A Sustainable Lifestyle
- Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun.
- Making Peace With The Things In Your Life: Why Your Papers, Books, Clothes, & Other Possessions Keep Overwhelming You — & What To Do About It
Resources To Help You Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
- Energy: Use Less - Save More
- Water: Use Less - Save More
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: An Easy Household Guide
- Composting: An Easy Household Guide
- Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program To Lose 5000 Pounds
- Journey For The Planet: A Kid's Five Week Adventure To Create An Earth-Friendly Life
New Cookbooks
- Fix, Freeze, Feast: Prepare In Bulk & Enjoy By The Serving
- The New Moosewood Cookbook - Highly Recommended!
- The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest
- Honest Pretzels: And 64 Other Amazing Recipes For Cooks Ages 8 & Up
- Pretend Soup: And Other Real Recipes - A Cookbook For Preschoolers & Up
- Salad People: And More Real Recipes - A New Cookbook For Preschoolers & Up
New Gardening Titles
- Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way
- Sharing The Harvest: A Citizen's Guide To Community Supported Agriculture
New To Alternatives For Simple Living
- 31 Words To Create An Organized Life: Simple Strategies & Expert Advice To Win The Battle Against Chaos & Clutter
- Composting: An Easy Household Guide
- Energy: Use Less - Save More
- Green Living: A Handbook For Living Lightly On The Earth
- It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook For Earth-Friendly Living
- The Race: A Simplicity Musical
- Serve God, Save The Planet: A Christian Call To Action
- Simply In Season Children's Cookbook
- The Power Of Enough: Finding Contentment By Putting Stuff In It's Place
- Unplugged Play: 710 Games & Activities For Ages 12 Months To 10 Years
- Water: Use Less - Save More
- We Know What You Want: The Secret Tactics That Influence What You Buy, Think & Believe
Copyright © 2008
In December, I was struck with a sense of sudden desperation about the quantity of written information flowing through my life. I made a list and not including personal information sources (i.e. email from friends or conversations with people) or actual people, I listed well over 100 things coming into my life over the course of a week, month, or quarter that demand my attention in the form of my reading them. It was mostly email or print newsletters, action alerts, that sort of thing.
I am a dues-paying member of at least seventeen organizations. All but two have a publication that I receive (though another one of them has more than one publication). Then, I subscribe to ten different magazines/journals. Then, because I'm an alum of that school or because I donate money to that organization, or because I'm a member of that electric cooperative, or because I filled out that card for a free subscription to Energy Times from the health food store (I really like that free magazine, by the way), I get an additional ten or so publications. And... I read them all (even the ones I get not by my choice, but alumni publications or whatever. I have difficulty in NOT READING. Though it sounds simple enough, this is something that is really hard for me. If it is written and I see it, I read it. For better or for worse. (Thanks to New Dream's "no more junk mail" campaign, I get almost no junk mail or catalogs, so I do not waste any time reading that kind of thing! I also do not have TV.) I read about fifteen blogs (once a week) and I am on thirty email lists. Are you starting to see a problem here? When do we draw the line at how much information we bring into our lives? Is it possible to be so full of other peoples' opinions that it becomes impossible to hear your own still, small voice within?
I began to think that it is possible. I know that when asked my opinion about something — or when sharing my unsolicited opinions — I often begin with, "I've read that..." Also, on a regular basis, I short-circuit my own brain by the coexistence of two conflicting, yet each convincing and plausible ideas or theories (particularly about parenting). My inner voices then debate, "well, this author would say..." and, "well, this one would say this..."
Yes, I am an information junkie, but the flip side is that I'm also passionate about many causes, want to be an informed citizen, and want to have evidence-based opinions. I also like to be "in the know" and I like to be a well-informed, reliable, accurate person. Also, quite simply, I LOVE to read. It is very important to me. Heck, I even have a blog exclusively about reading. The blog is about me and reading and how the two intersect to form the texture of my life (mollyreads.blogspot.com). In the course of 2007, in addition to those scads of information sources referenced earlier, I also read 150 books.
As I reflected on this sense of information overload and the creeping overlay of desperation as to how to manage it, I decided that this word-fest of my life could be viewed through two lenses:
- The depressive lens: Each of these information sources chips off a piece of my life energy and diminishes my time. Each fragments and splinters my attention, my energy, my focus, and silences my own intuition.
Or...
- The optimistic lens: Each contributes its own piece to the complicated whole of me, my life, and my life energy and helps inform my thinking, expands my worldview, and enhances my ability to be an informative resource in my own right.
Of course, there is a logical third conclusion, which is that each of these lenses could be true. To try to simplify this part of my life, I reviewed my giant list of information sources and evaluated which "lens" each was supporting. Most of those in the "chipping away" category I unsubscribed from or deleted, or decided to scan through instead in reading completely, or cancelled, or decided not to renew. I also decided to be more selective about adding new sources of information into my life (though, I confess, even as I reflected on this topic, I paid membership in yet another worthy organization and subscribed to yet another interesting e-newsletter). Additionally, I decided not to participate in any email lists in which my likelihood of face-to-face contact with the other members is slim to none. I also went "no mail" or to "digest" on my various lists to make them more manageable.
With more difficulty, I then turned toward the "optimistic" lens information sources. I had to confront the wisdom in the saying, "choose the best and leave the rest (and the rest is pretty darn good too)." There is simply more good stuff out there than is humanly possible for me to keep up with. Making these few small changes reduced my sense of overload to a more manageable hum (instead of a roar), but it is an ongoing struggle for me to "choose the best" and simplify the information stream to the point where my own voice is audible.
About The Author
Molly Remer, MSW, CCE is a certified childbirth educator, birth activist, and writer. She is on the Board of Citizens for Midwifery and is the editor of CfM News and the Friends of Missouri Midwives newsletter. She lives with her husband and two young sons in a straw bale house in central Missouri. Molly can be reached at talkbirth@gmail.com or through her website: mollyreads.blogspot.com.
Related Resources
Copyright © 2008
Editor's Note: This article is an entry from The Zen Habits blog, reprinted with permission.
Simplifying can sometimes be overwhelming. The amount of stuff you have in your life and the amount of things you have to do can be too big a mountain to tackle.
But you don't have to simplify it all at once. Do one thing at a time, and take small steps. You'll get there, and have fun doing it.
In fact, you can do little but important things today to start living the simple life.
I was criticized a few weeks ago when I published the Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life, because many people felt the list was too long. I heard this point, and this post is my response: just the 10 most important things.
And these are not 10 difficult things, but 10 simple things that you can do today. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. Today. Choose one and do it today. Tomorrow, choose another.
If you do these 10 things, you'll have made great strides with little effort.
1. Make a short list. Take out a sheet of paper and fold it into a small square, perhaps 3×5 inches. Or take out an index card. Now make a short list of the 4-5 most important things in your life. What's most important to you? What do you value most? What 4-5 things do you most want to do in your life? Simplifying starts with these priorities, as you are trying to make room in your life so you have more time for these things.
2. Drop 1 commitment. Think about all the things in your life that you're committed to doing, and try to find one that you dread doing. Something that takes up time but doesn't give you much value. Perhaps you're on a team, or coaching something, or on a board or committee, or whatever. Something that you do each day or week or month that you don't really want to do. Now take action today to drop that commitment. Call someone, send an email, telling the appropriate person or people that you just don't have the time. You will feel relief. I'd recommend dropping all commitments that don't contribute to your short list (from Item #1), but for today, just drop 1 commitment.
3. Purge a drawer. Or a shelf, or a countertop, or a corner of a room. Not an entire room or even an entire closet. Just one small area. You can use that small area as your base of simplicity, and then expand from there. Here's how to purge: 1) empty everything from the drawer or shelf or corner into a pile. 2) From this pile, pick out only the most important things, the stuff you use and love. 3) Get rid of the rest. Right now. Trash it, or put it in your car to give away or donate. 4) Put the stuff you love and use back, in a neat and orderly manner.
4. Set limits. Read Haiku Productivity for more. Basically, you set limits for things you do regularly: email, RSS posts, tasks, feeds, items in your life, etc. And try to stick with the limits. Today, all you have to do is set limits for a few things in your life. Tomorrow, try to stick with them.
5. Simplify your to-do list. Take a look at your to-do list. If it's more than 10 items long, you can probably simplify it a bit. Try to find at least a few items that can be eliminated, delegated, automated, outsourced, or ignored. Shorten the list. This is a good habit to do once a week.
6. Free up time. Simplifying your life in general is a way to free up time to do the stuff you want to do. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find time to even think about how to simplify your life. If that's the case, free up at least 30 minutes a day for thinking about simplifying. Or alternatively, free up a weekend and think about it then. How can you free up 30 minutes a day? Just a few ideas: wake earlier, watch less TV, eat lunch at your desk, take a walk for lunch, disconnect from the Internet, do email only once today, shut off your phones, do 1 less thing each day.
7. Clear your desk. I can personally attest to the amazing feeling that a clean desk can give you. It's such a simple thing to do, and yet it does so much for you. If your desk is covered with papers and notes and gadgets and office supplies, you might not be able to get this done today. But here are the basic steps: 1) Clear everything off your desk and put it in a pile (either in your inbox or on the floor). 2) Process the pile from top to bottom, one item at a time. Do not defer decisions on any item — deal with them immediately and quickly. 3) For each item, either file it immediately, route it to someone else, trash it, or note it on your to-do list (and put it in an "action" folder). If it's a gadget or office supply, find a place for it in your desk drawers (or get rid of it). 4) Repeat until your pile is empty and your desk is clear. Be sure to get rid of any knick knacks. Your desk should have your computer, your inbox, perhaps a notepad, and maybe a family photo (but not many). Ahh, a clear desk! 5) From now on, put everything in your inbox, and at least once a day, process it in the same way as above.
8. Clear out your email inbox. This has the same psychological effect as a clear desk. Is your email inbox always full of read and unread messages? That's because you're delaying decisions on your emails. If you have 50, let's say, or fewer emails in your inbox, you can process them all today. If you have hundreds, you should put them in a temporary folder and get to them one chunk at a time (do 20 per day or something). Here's how you process your inbox to empty — including emails already in your inbox, and all future incoming emails: 1) process them top to bottom, one at a time, deciding and disposing of each one immediately. 2) Your choices are to delete, archive, respond immediately (and archive or delete), forward (and archive or delete), or mark it with a star (or something like that) and note it on your to-do list to respond to later (and archive). 3) Process each email like that until the inbox is empty. 4) Each time you check your email, process to empty. Ahh, an empty inbox!
9. Move slower. We rush through the day, from one task to another, from one appointment to another, until we collapse on the couch, exhausted, at the end of the day. Instead, simplify your life by doing less (see Items 1, 4 and 5) and doing them more slowly. Eat slower, drive slower, walk slower, shower slower, work slower. Be more deliberate. Be present. This isn't something you're going to master today, but you can start practicing today.
10. Single-task. Instead of multi-tasking, do one thing at a time. Remove all distractions, resist any urge to check email or do some other habitual task like that while you're doing the task at hand. Stick to that one task until you're done. It'll make a huge difference in both your stress level and your productivity.
About The Author
Leo Babauta writes the Zen Habits weblog. He is married with six kids, living on Guam. He is a writer and a runner and a vegetarian. For more information, check out Zen Habits at http://zenhabits.net/.
Related Resources