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Ask HN: How have you successfully simplified your life?

29 pointsby biastoactover 7 years ago
I’ve read that the likes of Barrack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg built daily uniforms for themselves. Others have moved into Tiny houses, or moved to all cash to limit spending, or eliminated political news consumption, etc. I’m curious what ways you’ve successfully reduced and simplified in your life.

15 comments

zapperdapperover 7 years ago
Too many things to list.<p>Some examples: eliminated social media, never watch, read or listen to live TV or news, don&#x27;t own a smartphone, own very few personal possessions, have very few clothes, only own electronic books (with a couple of exceptions). Never read, watch or listen to anything with adverts. Moved from a large, expensive house into a rented cottage in the countryside (which had the side effect of freeing up enough money to live almost indefinitely without work, and absolutely until my pension kicks in), changed from permanent to contract-only work, reduced time worked dramatically, simplified diet, simplified health and fitness, and on and on...<p>The key turning point really is the understanding, actually the revelation, that debt-fuelled consumerism will never give you happiness and contentment. It&#x27;s like a curtain was lifted and you say &quot;Oh my God, I wasn&#x27;t expecting THAT!&quot;. The trouble is most people don&#x27;t believe it. Like the Matrix - you have to see it for yourself - one day it will happen.
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bernardinoover 7 years ago
I have done several things:<p>- I have stopped consuming (news, politics, articles, videos, etc) and have started creating more (drawing, writing, building, etc)<p>- I have adopted the idea of digital minimalism, using only the essential applications, not participating in social media (hi, hn!), no roaming the internet&#x2F;using the internet less, etc<p>- Also, physical minimalism, again only the necessities: comfortable bed, desk, chair, bookshelf, simple and fashionable clothes and shoes, etc<p>- Food minimalism? Eat only well-cooked, healthy food, also fruits and vegetables, drink only water, fruit drinks and wine&#x2F;beer on the special occasion<p>- Taking time to reflect and being consciously aware of what I consume and whether I ought to stop or continue consuming x and y<p>- Exercise&#x2F;proper sleep (hiking, swimming in the ocean, cycling rather than driving, etc), the backbones of my life<p>- Again, doing away with non-essentials: television in your bedroom, unhealthy food, fancy materialistic items, etc<p>- More of the natural things and less of the artificial things: more: sitting in my backyard and watching the night sky, walking in the morning, etc less: roaming the internet, using my mobile device, having headphones in when there are people who I can talk to around me, etc<p>- Most importantly: less thinking, no worrying, no comparing, no using labels and identifications, no judging, no interpreting every experience I experience, more just being with no interpretation, natural mind &gt; cultured mind, etc
TheAlchemistover 7 years ago
+1 for the elimination of news. I&#x27;ve found one useful tip for that on HN - never read an article when you click on a headline - bookmark it, so if you really want to, you will read the next day. Probably 90% of stuff I was reading before, fall in that category.
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deusumover 7 years ago
Phone specific:<p>Delete as many apps from your phone as possible. If you can do it on a computer, ditch it.<p>Turn off notifications. Check apps when you&#x27;re ready, not when it tells you it needs attention.<p>Personal hack, using Tasker, the phone stays in monochrome except for a few apps. HM and websites feel more like newspapers. Simpler in a cognitively relaxing way.
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pwasonover 7 years ago
Get rid of as many things as is possible. Imagine that you&#x27;ll need to grab your closest family and friends, a bunch of survival gear, and the 10 things you value the most, and escape to a remote region. If you can&#x27;t carry it, don&#x27;t bring it. If you haven&#x27;t used it in the last year, sell it.
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owebmasterover 7 years ago
Eat one meal a day simplified and improved my life in a way that I can only explain it as a &quot;lifehack&quot;. I guess it is the dirty little secret of a lot of people.
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thatsheelpatelover 7 years ago
I&#x27;ve committed to telling the truth, even when it&#x27;s difficult or unpleasant. I no longer have to keep track of what I had said or what I should say and I know nothing&#x27;s going to come back and bite me later.<p>It means at times I deal with the unpleasantness but I&#x27;d rather that than fearing whether it will come out later. This book by Sam Harris was a large influence <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.samharris.org&#x2F;lying" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.samharris.org&#x2F;lying</a>.<p>This wasn&#x27;t an easy change to make, because we all know it can be really easy to lie and move past an issue at times, but the trust that builds over time when people know you will be truthful is incredible and freeing for both parties.<p>One of the other benefits that stemmed from this is I no longer feel as though I&#x27;m robbing people of the information they need to make a conscious decision.
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SirLJover 7 years ago
FY money - it is amazing how easy is to live free and can do whatever you want...
dominotwover 7 years ago
blocked all social media(except HN) and news sites. It truly changed my life, I am not it continuos gloom and doom mood, my mind is in a clam exploration mode rather than some sort of media induced frenzy. I am unable to access some good links to medium from HN but I am willing to pay that price.<p>I&#x27;ve done this for over 8 months now, never going back to reading &quot;news&quot;.Ignorance is bliss.
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fenierover 7 years ago
When I don&#x27;t want to do something, I say No.
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rufiusover 7 years ago
One monitor - reduce distractions that weren’t ever really helping.<p>Paper&#x2F;physical books - reduce distractions and interaction friction from medium in reading on.<p>Taking notebooks to meetings and when I’m out. This helps especially when I just need to jot an idea or thought down without getting myself hit with a million notifications.
roryisokover 7 years ago
Recently I stopped keeping lists, using todo list managers etc. It&#x27;s destressed me a lot. Time crucial stuff gets noted on a paper calendar, but that&#x27;s all.<p>Another +1 for dropping social media. Nothing anyone posts on Facebook is going to change your life
codegladiatorover 7 years ago
Delete FB, reset phone. Maintain todo list. Keep discussions limited to ideas and opinions. Get a not so nice phone.
conorgil145over 7 years ago
One thing that drastically simplified my life and removed an incredible amount of stress was getting rid of my car. Since graduating college in 2010, I have moved apartments ~13 times and lived in 4 different cities (Baltimore, D.C., Denver, Breckenridge, and ~NYC). Initially, I needed a car to drive to work, but then I got a new job which allowed me to walk to work. I still kept my car because it was already paid off, but it was an incredible source of stress for a bunch of reasons:<p>- What day of the week is it? Do I need to move the car for street cleaning today? (If I get this wrong, I get a parking ticket).<p>- Did I remember to lock the car and put all of the windows up? (I once thought that all of the windows were up not realizing that one of the back windows was open a few inches and my car was broken into).<p>- What do I have to do to register my car in this new city? How much will it cost and when can I take an entire day off work to go do it? Can I even complete all of the required steps in one day?<p>- The car is making a strange sound. I better get it to a mechanic. How do I find a good mechanic? How much will it cost to get it fixed? That feels like a really high price, should I get a second opinion? Where do I find a second mechanic? When am I able to take off work to bring the car to the mechanic?<p>- I have to fly out of town for work&#x2F;pleasure. Where do I park my car while I&#x27;m gone. Parking at the airport is really expensive, but maybe the best option? Can I leave it parked on the street? What are the parking rules for my neighborhood?<p>- Car insurance. Am I getting a good deal? Do I have to do anything when I move addresses and&#x2F;or states? Am I covered if a friend borrows my car? etc, etc<p>- Costs associated with gas, insurance, maintenance, loan...<p>I had a huge amount of anxiety from constantly worrying about the cost associated with owning a car and the required time to maintain it. Eventually, my car got old enough that I couldn&#x27;t justify putting more money into it and I sold it for a nominal amount to CarMax. I should have done it sooner. It was an interesting transition to not owning a car, but was overall incredibly liberating. I had removed an entire source of stress from my life and haven&#x27;t looked back since. I don&#x27;t plan to buy another car anytime soon.<p>To get around now, I rely much more heavily on public transportation, biking, walking, and Lyft&#x2F;Uber, Car2Go, non-profit carshare programs, etc. I also don&#x27;t hesitate to rent a car from Enterprise&#x2F;etc if I need one for an errand, vacation, etc. Being able to give the car back when I&#x27;m done with it and literally not having to worry about anything is quite amazing.<p>Disclaimer: I realize that some people need a car to get to work or for other important reasons. I&#x27;m not saying that owning a car is bad or encouraging anyone else to go sell their car to CarMax tonight. I&#x27;m just sharing my story about removing a source of stress that I had in my personal life.
online2offlineover 7 years ago
Keep thinking.
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