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I had a few conversations during my Blogher trip over the weekend regarding a subject close to my heart: living simply. I actually have conversations regarding the topic often in my life whether someone spies my tattoo or I use my innate tact to tell someone, "Wow, you have a lot of crap."
"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." ~Hans Hofmann, Introduction to the Bootstrap, 1993
I really should not let someone else's unnecessary affect me... but it does. If I walk into a house cluttered with things, my anxiety rises. If I even dare watch Hoarders, my heart races. When a friend once told me that she never deletes emails and could find an email I sent her 10 years ago... I gasped. So I may sometimes... a little bit... once in awhile.. offer unsolicited advice on how to eliminate the unnecessary... but I mean well, I swear! (And a bit selfishly would like to walk into your house without having a panic attack.)
Which brings me to this unsolicited blog series on how to live more simply. I am going to give you a tip per day (not that I will post every single say, I am not that organized) with a very VERY simple tip to eliminate something from your life that you just don't need. I will also offer "Next Steps" for those people want ideas on how go a step further.
But, please just make a promise to yourself that you will try to do at least the 30 easiest ideas that I offer... I promise you will breathe easier in the end.
With out further ado...
Live Simply Step #1
Eliminate some digital clutter. A simple practice is to set a limit of emails on your inbox. (Mine is 30 emails.) And then make sure you delete, delete, delete to stay within your limit. One helpful tool is to use that handy "Unsubscribe" button at the bottom of all emails. I went through yesterday and unsubscribed from 10 mass emails.
Are you wiling to go further? Delete yourself from at least 1 social media source. I picked Twitter. Honestly, since Instagram, I'd rather stay connected to people via their amazing photos.
Even more brave? Cut down your RSS Reader. I cut my back by 25%- there were simply some blogs that do not relate to me at all anymore.
Ok, who is going to follow along? And what did you do today to start? Set limit on inbox, opt out of one social media source or cut back Reader?
Love the idea of the series and today's topic! Looking forward to the rest!
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand having emails in my inbox. To me, if it's in my inbox it means I have to do something with it. When I worked outside the home, I'd only have emails lingering in my inbox that still required my attention. The rest got filed away. I get anxious if I look at my inbox and there are more than a couple of emails there (unread).
ReplyDeleteLook forward to seeing the rest of your tips!
I agree 100%, my email inbox is my actionable list as well.
DeleteI can't stand having unread emails in my inbox. That being said, I have thousands of read emails. i don't know why I don't delete them, but I don't. I will go through this weekend and delete 1,000 emails. :) I could easily unsubscribe from twitter. I am not on there all that much anymore because of FB and Instagram....we'll see. :)
ReplyDeleteCutting back the reader!! I already delete emails as fast as I can, and I honestly am too addicted to twitter, instagram and fb to cut any of them out. But the reader? Yep. I do that!
ReplyDelete