Why less is more

Leidy Klotz, the author of Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, says we’re wired to look for more, MORE, but that less is actually a path to happiness. Klotz got the idea when playing with Legos.

The closest thing I have to an epiphany was playing Legos with my son Ezra, who was three at the time. And we were building with these Duplo blocks; basically making a bridge as a three-year-old might. And the problem we had was that the bridge wasn’t level. And so I turned around behind me to grab a block to add to the shorter column. And by the time I turned back around, Ezra had removed a block from the longer column and had already made the level bridge.

I mean, it’s a really simple story, but right there in my living room was this example of an idea that I had been thinking about. But it brought a new insight into that idea, which was: Why didn’t I even think of this as an option? If my three-year-old wasn’t there, I would have just added the block and never even considered whether subtracting a block could have been a better way to change the structure.

We over-schedule ourselves and over-schedule our kids’ lives. Busyness is a form of addiction.

There’s a famous study by Tim Wilson. They were basically interested in why people don’t like to think, and they studied in all these different ways showing that people just didn’t like to be sitting there with their own thoughts. The nail-in-the-coffin evidence was people could either think or they could shock themselves—and a lot of people chose to shock themselves.

Busyness is a form of addiction.

There are many ways to head toward Less:

• Declutter your home. The stuff in your life takes energy. You have to maintain it, dust it, find the thing you want amongst it. If you haven’t used something in the past year, why not give it away to someone who will love it? Move to a smaller space, so you have to shed stuff you’ve accumulated that doesn’t add value to your life.
• Declutter your calendar. Overwork has become a status symbol. I’m so important because I’m so busy. But compare how you spend your 24 hours a day to what you really care about. Consider which relationships fill you with joy and which don’t. Push back against unnecessary business travel and excessive work hours. Stop reflexively binge watching Netflix and instead connect with people in your family.
• Declutter your mind. Most of us are lost in our little world, thinking about the future or the past. Yakety yak, our brain distracting us from what’s right in front of us. Meditation, yoga, a walk, listening to music, or gardening can all be restorative, helping to get your monkey mind under control.
• Want less. Advertisements tell us we should want that fabulous Viking holiday or latest tech gadget. Arthur Brooks in the podcast How to Build a Happy Life introduced the concept of the reverse bucket list. Why do we all have to go to Machu Picchu?

You say: “I might visit Machu Picchu before I die. But if I don’t, I don’t care.” That’s basically what it comes down to. In other words, it’s not a question of not visiting Machu Picchu. It’s about not caring about visiting Machu Picchu. Subtracting the attachment as opposed to subtracting the thing. That’s the distinction that I’m trying to make.

https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/10/howto-mindfulness-less-subtract-happiness-2022/671935/

“Less” can make you happier and also create less of an environmental impact. The Swedes have a lovely word for which there is, tellingly, no English equivalent: lagom. It means just the right amount. Not too much, not too little. It’s part of their culture. Why not make it part of yours?