This is post 1 of 4 in the series. You can jump to the other three posts:
Stage 1 Contents: Click a link here to jump to a section below
- An Overview of Stage 1
- Posts on Busyness, Slow Living, & The Slow Movement
- Posts on Downshifting, Voluntary Simplicity, & Simple Living
- Posts on Decluttering, Minimalism, & Digital Minimalism
- Posts on Money & Financial Independence
- Posts on Understanding & Transcending Work
- Posts on Lifestyle Design, Life Roles, & MEDS
- Posts on Habits, Picking a Path, & Making Progress
Sloww Stage 1: How do I design a lighter life?
An Overview of Stage 1
Stage 1 Key Question:
- “How do I design a lighter life?”
Stage 1 Student Focus:
- Shifters: downshifting to slower, simpler, intentional living.
Stage 1 Description:
- Life is busy and cluttered. Sloww supports slowing down in a fast world because slowing down is the gateway to all things good—which aren’t things at all. “Things” like intentionality, unbusyness, less stress, simplicity, enough, lightness, reflection, deep thinking, purpose, meaning, connectedness, centeredness, mindfulness, and awakening. Sloww encourages lighter living because more hasn’t added to our lives—we must subtract the superficial “stuff” (physical clutter and mental-emotional clutter) and shift inward where we can meet life face-to-face. This first stage is all about the initial paradigm shift: growing inwardly vs outwardly, qualitatively vs quantitatively. Slowing down and simplifying are stage 1—creating the space for all the transformation that comes next.
Stage 1 Posts (Full List)
You can see my own personal progression through stage 1 by skimming a summary of posts 1-100 on the site.
Note: Links with a lock icon (đź”’) go to a Premium post.
Posts on Busyness, Unbusyness, Slow Living, & The Slow Movement
Busyness & Unbusyness:
- Busyness 101: Why are we SO BUSY in Modern Life? (7 Hypotheses)
- Busyness 201: A Brief History of Work & BUSY in America
- Busyness 301: The Future of BUSY, Work & Leisure
- Research Says We’re Not Busy—So Why Do We FEEL So Busy?
- Too busy? 10 Tips for Slowing Down & Becoming Unbusy
- 7 Unbusy Tips for the Daily Work Grind (Reader Q&A)
- Good Busyness? A Full Life vs A Busy Life
- Why Busyness is the Current Status Symbol, According to Research
- “Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol” (Research Summary)
- Time Management for Mortals: “Four Thousand Weeks” by Oliver Burkeman (Book Summary)
Slow Living & The Slow Movement:
- Slow Living 101: What is Slow Living?
- Slow Living 201: A Deep Dive into Slow Living & The Slow Movement
- Slow Living 301: How to Start a Slow Living Lifestyle
- The Slow Movement: “In Praise of Slowness” by Carl Honoré (Book Summary) + 🔒 Premium Summary
- 3 Intentional Living Learnings from Cait Flanders: Slow Living, Being a Mindful Consumer & Mindful Creation
- 15 Slow Living Synonyms to Help You Slow Down
More Slow Living Books, Essays, & Letters:
- 13 Life Lessons from the “Slow Down” Letter the Harvard College Dean sent to all New Students
- 12 Slow Living Themes from “Slow” by Brooke McAlary (Book Summary)
- 12 Life Lessons from “Chasing Slow” by Erin Loechner (Book Summary)
- 10 Life Themes from “Present Over Perfect” by Shauna Niequist (Book Summary)
- “The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down” by Haemin Sunim (Book Summary)
- All the Ingredients from “The Slow Fix” by Carl Honoré (Book Summary)
- 5 Themes from “In Praise of Idleness” by Bertrand Russell (Essay Summary)
Slow Everything Else:
- Slow Fashion 101: What is Slow Fashion (vs Ethical Fashion & Sustainable Fashion)?
- 10 Slow Travel Tips for Your Next Adventure
- What is Slow Travel? (+ 3 Slow Travel Myths)
- Where Good Ideas Come From: The “Slow Hunch” with Steven Johnson (Short Read)
Posts on Downshifting, Voluntary Simplicity, & Simple Living
Downshifting:
- What is Downshifting? How to Transition into Simple Living
- Downshifting from City to Country: “The Quest of the Simple Life” by W. J. Dawson (Book Summary)
- A Deep Debate for and against Simple Living from 100 Years Ago (from “The Quest of the Simple Life” by W. J. Dawson)
- What is a Sea Change or Tree Change? (& My First Impressions)
Voluntary Simplicity:
- A Detailed Overview of “Voluntary Simplicity” by Duane Elgin (Book Summary)
- Humanity is a Teenager: We Will Evolve Through Simplicity
- “The Value of Voluntary Simplicity” by Richard Gregg (Essay Summary)
- Voluntary Simplicity: “Listening to the Quiet Revolution” (Thesis Summary)
- The “Why” Behind Gandhi’s Simple Living Transformation at Age 23
Simple Living:
- 11 Slow & Simple Living Leaders Share Their “Why” Behind Intentional Living
- A List of Slow & Simple Living Forums & Communities Online
- Top 10 Most Common Reasons for Choosing Simple Living
- 7 Principles from “Simplify” by Joshua Becker (eBook Summary)
- An Introduction to Simplify Magazine (Issue 001 Summary)
- 3 Simple Things We Can All Learn from the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity
- The Definition & Next Evolution of “Simple Living, High Thinking”
- The Law of Progressive Simplification: Real Progress is Spiritual (Internal) vs Material (External)
Posts on Decluttering, Minimalism, & Digital Minimalism
Decluttering:
- Decluttering 101: How to Declutter Your Home Crash Course
- Marie Kondo’s “KonMari Method” Checklist: 5-Step Decluttering Cheat Sheet
- 9 Top Themes from “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo (Book Summary)
Minimalism:
- My Buy Nothing Year: How I Bought NO Clothing for a Year & 5 Things I Learned
- How Minimalism Helped Me Stop Buying Clothes in 12 of the Last 16 Months
- Oops Minimalism: How I Spent $0 on Clothing for 6 Months Without Trying
- I Worked for a Denim Brand & Now I’m a Jeans Minimalist
- Use Minimalism as Momentum into Slow & Simple Living
- Minimalism in Color: Minimalist Aesthetic vs Minimalist Lifestyle
- A Deeper Dive into Minimalism: “Goodbye, Things” by Fumio Sasaki (Book Summary)
- “The Minimalist Home”: 5 Themes & Free Chapter (Book Preview)
- The One Quote Burning in my Brain from the Minimalism Documentary
Digital Minimalism:
- Digital Minimalism Defined & 10 Digital Declutter Tips
- How to Digital Declutter Your Phone Home Screen
- Thoughts on Cal Newport’s Digital Declutter Experiment
Posts on Understanding Money & Financial Independence
Understanding Money:
- Money Mind Manifesto: Master Your Mind from the Mental Disease of More Money
- 18 Wealth Lessons from “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel (Book Summary)
- 9 Money Rules for Living before Dying: “Die With Zero” by Bill Perkins (Book Summary)
- 10 Guiding Principles from the “Investing Principles Checklist” of Charlie Munger
- How Much Income is Enough Money for Well-Being, According to Research?
- The 80/20 Rule for Money: The 3 Ways Americans Spend Most of Their Money (& How You Can Save More)
- Experiences vs Things: A Thought Experiment on Spending Money
Financial Independence:
- FIRE 101: A Beginner’s Guide to FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early)
- What is Geographic Arbitrage & 7 Interesting Ideas to Get Started
- A Systems Approach to Lifestyle Design: “Early Retirement Extreme” by Jacob Lund Fisker (Book Summary) + 🔒 Premium Synthesis
My Relationship with Money:
- 🔒 Behind the Scenes: My Evolving Relationship toward the “Money Middle Way”
- Money Showdown: Average American Spending vs Sloww’s Household Expenses (& How we Cut our Spending 30% in a Year!)
Posts on the Work-Spend Cycle, Workweek, Knowledge Work, & Transcending Work
Waking up from the Work-Spend Cycle:
- Is the American Dream Waking Up? The Truth about Social Mobility in the US
- 5 Origin Stories of “Keeping up with the Joneses”
- Lifestyle Inflation: The Danger of “I Deserve This”
Questing the Workweek:
- “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” by John Maynard Keynes (Essay Summary)
- Thought Experiment: What if You Only Had a 15-Hour Workweek?
- Elon Musk’s (Unbalanced) Workweek to Change the World
Modern Knowledge Work:
- The Busy Spectrum (High Busyness): What You Need to Know about Workism & Hustle Porn
- The Busy Spectrum (Low Busyness): What You Need to Know about Bullshit Jobs & Performative Busyness
“Total Work” & Transcending Work:
- Total Work: When Humans are Transformed into Workers and Nothing Else (Were we Born only to Work?)
- Post-Workism & Total Work: 5 Future Scenarios when the Religion of Work Loses Followers
Posts on Lifestyle Design, Life Roles, & MEDS
Introduction to Lifestyle Design:
- Lifestyle Design 101: What is Lifestyle Design? (& 35+ Questions to Ask Yourself)
- đź”’ Behind the Scenes: A Look at My Personal Lifestyle Design
- Optimize with Brian Johnson: An Intro to his Life’s Work on Virtues, Habits, & the Fundamentals of Optimal Living
- Slow Living Lifestyle Design: One Day (Pixel) at a Time
- A New Story For Work and Life: “The Pathless Path” by Paul Millerd (Book Summary)
- 🔒 Behind the Scenes: How my Personal Journey compares to “The Pathless Path” by Paul Millerd
Considering your Life Roles:
- The Five Balls of Life: A Very Short Story about Balance
- The Four Burners Theory: Defining Your Life Roles & Priorities
- “Then what?” The Story of the Tourist and the Fisherman
MEDS (Meditation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep):
- A Simple Wellness Strategy: MEDS (Meditation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep)
- What is Forest Bathing (also known as Nature Therapy or Shinrin-Yoku)?
- Why You Should Take Naps for Better Health & Creativity
- Mindful at Mealtime: The Zen Buddhism Five Reflections
- Blue Zones: The Longevity Lifestyle of Earth’s Oldest People (Purpose, Diet, Activity, Community, & More)
- Blue Zones: How Ikarians Live Simply for 100+ Years
- All 150+ Longevity Ingredients from The Blue Zones Kitchen Cookbook (+ Spreadsheet Summary)
- đź”’ Stream of Consciousness: Does a Timeless Diet Exist?
- đź”’ Behind the Scenes: What I Learned from the Nervous System Mastery Course by Jonny Miller
Posts on Habits, Picking a Path, Making Progress, & Time Management
Habit Building (& Breaking):
- Building Better Habits with “Atomic Habits” by James Clear (Book Summary) + 🔒 Premium Summary
- The Ultimate Life Hack is Understanding you can’t do ALL the Life Hacks—and that’s Perfectly OK
- đź”’ Stream of Consciousness: Are Means and Ends One and the Same?
Picking a Path:
- 10 Life (& Work) Hacks from “Essentialism” (Book Summary)
- The Paradox of Choice: Even Not Choosing is a Choice
- The Secret of Productivity is a VERY BIG Waste Paper Basket
- Say “NO” Often to Say “YES” to What Matters
Making Progress on Your Path:
- 🔒 “Essentialism” + “Atomic Habits” Synthesis: How to Pick a Path & Make Progress (+ Infographic)
- 🔒 “Golden Circle” + “Three Layers of Behavior Change” Synthesis: How to Better Understand Your Brain with Simon Sinek & James Clear (+ Infographic)
Time Management:
- Mental Bandwidth Management is the New Time Management
- Time Equality: How Do You Use Your 24 Hours Per Day?
- Timeboxing: The #1 Productivity Hack for Actually Doing Your To-Do List (+ 10 Timeboxing Tips)
- Create a Daily Routine with Calendar Time Blocking (+ 7 Pro Tips)
- “When” by Daniel Pink: Upgrade from “How-To” to “When-To” (Book Summary)
You May Also Enjoy:
Cripes! Simple living in ten thousand steps. My simple-living system: Don’t read all those books on simple-living. We attract things according to our state of being. It’s not necessary to seek enlightenment. When you’re ready, enlightenment seeks you.
Simple living isn’t always so simple (or easy)! I was on anything but a simple path when I discovered the concepts of intentional living, slow living, and simple living in 2015-16. It took quite a while to unlearn and relearn (or unprogram and reprogram). Not to mention, look around! The narrative, propaganda, and advertising are all about maintaining the idea of “human as consumer.” So, even though I’m on board with a much more intentional life now, society is always trying to draw you back in…