How To Simplify Your Life

it's well understood by good parents that life should only ever get so exciting for a baby after friends have come round and brought presents and made animated faces after there's been some cake and some cuddles after they've been a lot of bright lights and perhaps some songs - enough is enough the baby will start to look Stern and then burst into tears and the wise parent knows that nothing is particularly wrong though the baby may by now be wailing it's just time for a nap the brain needs to process digest and divide up the welter of experiences that have been ingested and so the curtains are drawn baby is laid down next to the soft toys and soon it's asleep and calm descends everyone knows that life is going to be a lot more manageable again in an hour sadly we exercise no such caution with ourselves we shed you'll a week in which we're going to see friends every night in which we're going to do 12 meetings three of them requiring a lot of preparation where we'll make a quick overnight - to another country on the Wednesday where we'll watch three films read 14 newspapers change six pairs of sheets have 5 heavy meals after 8 p.m. and drink 30 cups of coffee and then we lament that our lives are not as calm as they might be and that we're close to mental collapse we refuse to take seriously how much of our baby hood is left inside our adult selves and therefore how much care we have to take to keep things simple and very very calm what registers as anxiety is typically no freakish phenomenon it is our minds logical enraged plea not to be continuously and exhaustingly over stimulated these are some of the things we may need to do to simplify our lives it is theoretically a privilege to have a lot of people to see and things to do it is also psychologically speaking exhausting and ultimately therefore rather dangerous the manner of expression is a little dated and brutal and one might want to quibble over the exact timings but this point from friedrich nietzsche remains acute today as always men fall into two groups slaves and free men whoever does not have two thirds of his day for himself is a slave whatever else he may be a statesman a businessman an official or a scholar we need to recognize that what is physically possible for us to achieve in a day is not for that matter psychologically wise or plausible it may well be feasible to nip over to a foreign capital or two in a day and run a company alongside managing a household but nor should we be surprised if such routines ultimately contribute to a breakdown plenty of it of course at least seven hours or if we can't manage it we need at a minimum fully to recognize how much we are deprived so that we won't aggravate our sorrows by searching for abstruse explanations for them we don't necessarily have to get divorced retrain in a completely different profession or move country we may just need to get some more rest what we're taking in when we check our phones is perhaps the single greatest contributor to our mental ill-health for most of history it was inconceivable that there could ever be such a thing as too much news information from political circles or foreign countries was rare prized and expensive but since the middle of the 20th century News has been commodified and in the process it's become a major though still too little known risk to our mental survival every minute of every day presents us with untold options for filling our minds with the mania exploits disasters Furies reversals triumphs insanity and cataclysms of complete strangers all around our bure knighted planet always news organisations speak of a need to know and they need to know right now but what they've left out is our equally great and often even greater need not to know because we can't change anything because the stories are too violent dispiriting and sad because our minds are fragile because we have responsibilities closer to home because we need to lead our own lives rather than being torn apart by the stories of the lives of others who are ultimately as remote from and irrelevant to us as the inhabitants of the Egyptian Court of Kingston affair ooh in late 2613 bc insomnia and anxiety are the minds revenge for all the thoughts we refuse to have consciously during the day in order to be able to find rest we need to carve off chunks of time where we have nothing to do other than line bed with a pattern paper in order to think we need to consider three topics in particular firstly what's making me anxious secondly what's causing me pain and how and thirdly what's exciting me we need to sift through the chaotic contents of our minds every hour of living requires at least 10 minutes of sifting of course it might be pleasant to be extraordinary famous and world-beating but maybe it will be an even greater achievement to stay sane and kind we might opt not to conquer the world in favor of living a longer and more serene life we're not backing away from a challenge we're simply shifting our sense of what the real challenge might be and more importantly whether real rewards may lie a quiet life isn't necessarily one of resignation or flight it may constitute a supremely wise recognition that the truly satisfying things are available away from the spotlight and the big cities on modest salaries and as far as possible from the manic sleepless competition to win the professional status race as we're discovering excitement can be fun for a time but also it kills simplicity is true wisdom we may need a lot more naps do you need a detox from your devices our phone detox is designed to help give you a well-deserved break from your phone you

Channel: The School of Life

Views: 2,361,519

Rating: 4.9557643 out of 5

Keywords: the school of life, schooloflife, education, relationships, alain de botton, philosophy, talk, self, improvement, big questions, love, wellness, mindfullness, psychology, how, to, hack, minimalism, minimalist living, minimalist, mindful minimalism, mindful minimalist, how to simplify your home, how to simplify your life, PL-SELF, Cómo simplificar tu vida, कैसे अपने जीवन को सरल बनाने के लिए, 如何简化你的生活

Id: 7lECIsRif10

Length: 6min 35sec (395 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 21 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/peteyboy100]

I couldn't agree more with this. In fact, this couldn't have shown up for me at a better time. Sleep and simple living are appearing to be overtly major keystones for my mental health.

[u/waywithwords]

I have taken a late afternoon nap, maybe 20 - 30 minutes, nearly every day for the last 20 years. It doesn't work for everyone, I know, especially those who can not power nap or can't nap during the work day (my work hours make it possible), but it is such a powerful reset button for me. I am able to be alert and ready for the remainder of my day with just a 30 minute rest. If you have the time and ability to nap every day - Do It!! It'll change you life.

[u/[deleted]]

I like most of this, but I struggle with the idea that the "miserable" stories of others are irrelevant to us and not our concern. I used to consume way too much news and actively cut back for my own mental health for that very reason - it certainly becomes overwhelming to constantly consume misery and fear and poverty and injustice from every corner of the globe. But to consider it irrelevant is, I think, a terrible stance to take. It's important to know what is going on in the world. We are incredibly privileged, and as humans bound by duty to speak up for and help other humans who can't themselves. Instead of telling people to switch off from the news entirelg, encourage them to limit it to concise, trustworthy sources curated I carefully to consume at set times. Stay up to date with issues you care about and how you can help, but switch off from it as much as possible when you can't. Use the time you've saved to volunteer, protest, take action, speak up and educate.

[u/megaflan]

Really enjoyed this. Thanks for posting. Some excellent points that I plan on working on.

[u/kgriffen]

I’ve been thinking about making my reddit channels more uplifting and positive. Anyone have any suggestion besides r/aww?

[u/christswi]

I needed this thanks.