I have always been driven by a desire to never be bored, to do more, to achieve more, and to experience all that life has to offer.
This is an exciting way to live, but it comes with a price. My never-ending quest to “have it all” has, at times, taken a toll on my mental health. Stress builds when I pull myself in too many directions.
In an effort to lead a more balanced life, I’ve been refocusing on the idea of a simple life that first fascinated me long ago when I read a story about ranchers living in the American West. There was something attractive in the simplicity and austerity of their lives and the landscape they lived in.
In my current efforts to simplify my life in the pursuit of a clear and healthy mind, several benefits are becoming clear. Many of these benefits have already been studied by researchers
Less Decision Fatigue
In 2008, a team of researchers performed four laboratory studies to measure the effects of decision fatigue on human self-control. You probably won’t be surprised to hear what they learned: The more decisions a person had to make, the less self-control they displayed afterward.Making a lot of decisions causes us to feel tired, give up quicker, put off hard things, and give in to temptation at higher rates. Knowing this about our nature, how do we set ourselves up for success? I believe the answer is to shape our lives so that we’re making fewer decisions and focusing our energy on the decisions that matter most. A simpler life naturally means fewer choices to make and more mental space for everything else.
Greater Focus on Relationships
A happy and meaningful life is filled with good friendships. And yet, somehow, we can’t seem to leave unrushed time to nurture these relationships. It’s as if we expect these things to just take care of themselves, like they might have when we were kids and spent all day in school and playing with our peers.In my experience, intentionally leading a simple life is the best way to create time for relationships. As we put less emphasis on productivity and distractions, our brain rewires itself to enjoy the slower pleasures of an unfolding friendship. Need more evidence that this is the way we were designed to live? A 2010 meta-review found a direct correlation between the quality and quantity of relationships and a person’s mental health and longevity. We are social beings, made for each other.
A Calmer Physical Environment
In an unusual study from 2010, the way people described their homes in a walking tour correlated with measurable stress levels. People who described their homes as disorganized or cluttered had cortisol profiles associated with adverse health outcomes. Is this any surprise? Of course not!Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” And while he was referring to architecture, I think the same principle applies to interior design and the organization of our homes. The fact is, most people feel calmer and more at peace in a clean, clutter-free environment.
Freedom From Digital Distractions
If you’ve ever taken an extended break from your smart phone, you know the feeling of calm this can bring. It’s strange that something we choose to use, and enjoy using, can so easily become an unhealthy addiction.A simpler life means reducing the clutter that distracts us from deeper goals. For many, their smart phone—and the apps it hosts—is a major distraction from long-term goals. By clearing away space in my day to be free of my phone, I find time and emotional freedom to dream bigger dreams.
Time for Passion Projects
In a fascinating research paper, psychologist Mihaly Cziksentmihalyi makes the case that some of our happiest experiences in life come when we lose ourselves in deeply engaging and personally meaningful work. He calls this exhilarating emotional state “flow.”When we remove distractions, we have more time to pursue projects for their own sake and more opportunity to get lost in our work. Indeed, some of my favorite moments in my day are when I’m writing and completely lose track of time.
Discovering the Power of Less
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from trying to live a minimalist lifestyle, it’s that less truly can be more. It’s a fantasy that chasing everything all at once leads to the kind of satisfaction I so deeply desire. In the real world, it leads only to stress, scattered attention, and abandoned projects.The road to simplicity is one on which you choose to focus on fewer things, but you do them well. The itch to run to something new doesn’t go away, but it does get weaker. And while there is real effort involved in saying no and choosing to pare down your pursuits, the many benefits listed here demonstrate that there is something valuable waiting for us on the other side.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
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