Consumption Priorities

Our lives are becoming increasingly more cluttered. The information revolution has allowed us to share information like we have never done before. As a result, our day to day lives keep speeding up to make room for more things. We sort through dozens of emails a day, keep on top of a number of topics that interest us personally (via websites, newspapers, word of mouth). What a mess we find ourselves in some days.

We prioritize our day to day activities in order to keep on top of these things. We choose how much information to take in and how many trips around the community we take. These things are all easy things to control. If you're feeling tired, you'll simply stay home. If you're intrigued by a thought then you might spend two hours surfing the internet to learn more.

Prioritizing consumption is much more difficult. We live in a world where the underlying message is to consume as much as you possibly can before you die. You need to own everything. In turn, society is a better place for all because others are able to be employed and then they too can consume products that better their life.

Take a look around your house at all of the things you own. There's probably a vehicle (or many), generations of electronics from continuous upgrades, a number of appliances and other things that you use very little. So why do we own those things?

The reality is that we don't need most of those things to be just as productive and happy in our day to day lives. Last year, for example, we sold one of our vehicles and I have been taking the bus to work every day instead of driving. One year later I'm realizing that we may not even need the one vehicle that we still own. Why not rely more on public transportation?

The information age has made the world smaller. We don't need to drive anywhere anymore. If we choose to then there are great options for us to use. We can car share, rent a car, bicycle or take public transportation.

This is only one example. You can almost infinitely challenge yourself to prioritize your consumption and therefore simplify or focus your life alot more. The more consumable clutter we remove from our lives, the more distraction we remove which means more time to spend on whatever it is that you truly love.