Author of new book The Power of Less Leo Babauta advises readers to simplify and focus only on the essential. Today he stopped by to tell us more about his timely message.
Speaking of living with less, techie Rick Jelliffe reports on his year-long experiment of “living smaller” in 2008—a year in which he worked less, made less, and stressed out a lot less.< Jelliffe writes: I caught public transport only. I got rid of extra lightbulbs. I baked my own bread. I froze my own dumplings. I didn’t buy any gadget. I didn’t buy any CD. I didn’t get a flatscreen TV. No home phone; no home internet; no cable TV; no new art; no gin. I only took one international trip (which was quite important) and two domestic flights (to my dear parent’s 80th birthdays) but turned down several work opportunities that involved flying, even though it meant less satisfactory participation at SC34 WG1. I let my passport lapse. … This leads to a very placid lifestyle: I don’t think I have ever been less engaged with the rat race, and at the same time, less restless (outside office hours.)
While Jelliffe’s approach was pretty extreme (no home internet! or working contact lenses!) the concepts behind the experiment are solid and timely, given the current financial meltdown. Jelliffe says the experiment is over for him in 2009—he’s getting new contact lenses. 2008: my year of living smaller [O'Reilly Broadcast]
Developer Alex Payne likes his software simple and his computing experience streamlined, and he offers up a list of rules “for computing happiness” right along those lines. Many of Alex’s rules ring true to the Lifehacker philosophy—like know and use a good text editor, remove any traces of software you don’t use from your computer, and use a password manager. Others are potential holy war-starters, like his rule about using only a Mac at home, or only having a desktop computer unless you edit video or audio on a daily basis. (See more explanation about Payne’s rules using the Unclutterer link below.) Obviously these rules are Payne’s personal computing choices, but they beg the question: if you had a list of rules for computing happiness, what would they be? Post up yours in the comments. Photo by givepeasachance. al3x’s Rules for Computing Happiness [Alex Payne via Unclutterer]
