Comments on: Decluttering a life

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 05:31:38 +0000

Hil: We’ll talk. :)

Carly: Don’t feel bad, it’s quite okay. :) Thanks for the support! Moving to a small town does sound kind of blissfully free… Mmm.

James: Agreed! Being too busy can really destroy productivity, even.

Jared: Wow, that’s a really good article — thanks! I’m particularly thinking of how it applies to dating. Brilliant.

By: Jared

Jared — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:31:52 +0000

Good luck simplifying. It does cut down on the stress.

By: James

James — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:23:13 +0000

Ben – I totally know what you mean. About a year and a half ago while I was working for IT Training, I had a dream to start my own web design business. I was taking on projects right and left, as well as going to school and working part time. I too loved to be busy with productive projects, but at the same time was feeling myself get burned out.
And it happened: I burnt out. Not like I suffered a nervous breakdown or anything, I was just like “what am I doing? This is crazy!”
A couple of things I learned:
1. Being too busy all the time makes it way harder to feel promptings from the spirit.
2. Being too busy makes it very hard to take time and ponder the state of your life and make little corrections when necessary.
3. Being too busy took me away from Meagan, so our relationship suffered.
4. I do not like to have to work when I’m at home with my family.

Good for you for cutting back!

By: Carly

Carly — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:49:16 +0000

Um, I would just like to say that I support this motion. Without (again, I don’t mean to apologize, but I still do sort of feel bad for commenting as some random, unknown person all the time) knowing you or what you do to fill your time (although from your blog posts, it seems like quite a bit), there is nothing better than being able to take a step back and re-prioritize.

I think as a people (ok, or just as myself–I don’t know if I should be speaking for everyone else), we try to do it all. And we feel bad (guilty?) that we simply cannot. And yet it isn’t about how much we can cram in, but why we do what we do and what we are becoming in the process. Despite contrary opinion, more usually isn’t more. Unless it is just more overwhelming. This idea of decluttering is one of the main reasons I chose to move to a small (and somewhat remote) town after graduating from BYU; I wanted to be able to focus without all the distractions and demands and pressures; I wanted to be able to get to know people on a more intimate level; I wanted to be able to do a really good job at what I was doing (teaching). And I just want to say that for me, a simpler life has lead–in so many ways–to a fuller life (even though I have a terrible time of saying no still :)).

Now I don’t think you have to move to a small town to do it (or to a small cabin in the woods like Thoreau or Annie Dillard), but to make the conscious decision to do what’s right for you–and to proceed to do them for the right reasons. I hope you are successful in paring down and focusing on the things that matter most to you :).

By: Hilary

Hilary — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:06:45 +0000

Don’t cut back on projects too much. I have a project that will need your attention if it is ever to succeed!!

By: Blank Slate » Slimming down

Blank Slate » Slimming down — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:55:09 +0000

[...] As I mentioned on Top of the Mountains a few minutes ago, I’m going to try to simplify my life. I’ve got too much going on, and it’s crazy. I’ve been addicted to busyness. [...]