1. What's in the box? Whatever itis must be pretty important, because I've traveled with it,moved
it, from apartmentto apartmentto apartment.
Soundfamiliar?Didyouknowthatwe Americanshave aboutthree timesthe amountof space we did50
yearsago? Three times.Soyou'dthink,withall thisextraspace,we'dhave plentyof roomforall our
stuff.Nope.Sowe've gottriple the space,butwe've become suchgoodshoppersthatwe needeven
more space.So where doesthislead?Lotsof creditcard debt,huge environmental footprints,and
perhapsnotcoincidentally,ourhappinesslevelsflat-linedoverthe same 50 years.
Well I'mhere to suggestthere'sa betterway,thatlessmightactuallyequal more.Ibetmostof us have
experiencedatsome pointthe joysof less:college-- inyourdorm, traveling -- inahotel room, camping
-- rig up basicallynothing,maybeaboat.Whateveritwas foryou,I bet that,among otherthings,this
gave you a little more freedom,alittle more time.SoI'mgoingto suggestthat lessstuff andlessspace
are goingto equal asmallerfootprint.It'sactuallyagreat wayto save yousome money.Andit'sgoingto
give youa little more ease inyourlife.
So I starteda projectcalledLife Editedatlifeedited.orgtofurtherthis conversationandtofindsome
great solutionsinthisarea.Firstup:crowd-sourcingmy420 sq.ft.apartmentin Manhattan with
partners Molopoand Jovoto.com.Iwanteditall -- home office,sitdowndinnerfor10, roomfor guests,
and all my kite surfing gear.Withover300 entriesfromaroundthe world,Igot it,my ownlittle jewel
box.By buyingaspace that was420 sq.ft. insteadof 600, immediatelyI'msaving200 grand.Smaller
space is goingto make forsmallerutilities -- save some more moneythere,butalsoasmallerfootprint.
Andbecause it'sreallydesignedaroundaneditedsetof possessions -- myfavorite stuff -- andreally
designedforme,I'mreallyexcitedtobe there.
So howcan you live little?Three mainapproaches.Firstof all,you have toeditruthlessly.We've gotto
clearthe arteriesof ourlives.Andthatshirtthat I hadn'tworn inyears?It's time forme to letitgo.
We've got to cut the extraneousoutof ourlives,andwe've gotto learntostemthe inflow.We needto
thinkbefore we buy.Askourselves,"Isthatreallygoingtomake me happier?Truly?"Byall means,we
shouldbuyandown some greatstuff.Butwe want stuff thatwe're goingto love foryears,not juststuff.
Secondly,ournewmantra:small issexy.We wantspace efficiency.We wantthingsthatare designedfor
howthey're usedthe vastmajorityof the time,notthatrare event.Whyhave a six burnerstove when
yourarelyuse three?So we wantthingsthat nest,we wantthingsthat stack,and we wantit digitized.
You can take paperwork,books,movies,andyoucan make itdisappear -- it'smagic.
Finally,we wantmultifunctionalspacesandhousewares -- asinkcombinedwithatoilet,adiningtable
becomesabed -- same space..
So I'm notsayingthat we all need to live in420 sq.ft.But considerthe benefitsof aneditedlife.Gofrom
3,000 to 2,000, from1,500 to 1,000. Most of us, maybe all of us, are here prettyhappilyfora bunchof
dayswitha couple of bags,maybe a small space,a hotel room.Sowhenyou go home and youwalk
throughyour frontdoor,take a secondandask yourselves,"CouldIdowitha little lifeediting?Would
that give me a little more freedom?Maybe alittle more time?"
