Editing Life

This article was originally published on 30 May 2006

In this article, Chris Brogan makes the following suggestions:

• Edit Your Commitments
  Here he suggests that we trim back on commitments that no longer garner our enthusiasm; I would say that this also includes things that are an active drain on energy, even if they represent a relative little amount of effort.
• Edit Your Consumption
  This one he focuses on magazines and newspapers. I would add that this should expand to everything we buy: more stuff in our houses mean more time caring for them and maintaining them. Let’s get rid of anything that isn’t useful or doesn’t make us smile, ala Flylady!
• Edit Your Hobbies
  He says that creative people have a tendency to spread their creative endeavors too thin and pursue quantity rather than quality. While I agree with this, variety is something that sparks me mentally. I would say that having too many creative endeavors at any one time is overwhelming and clutters the mind. I limit my active crafts to one per week.
• Edit Your Expenses
  Ah, yes, the elusive money slipping through the fingers. He points out a very good example of a place to save money. I would add that this can be extended to only buy things that one truly needs, rather than a bunch of impulse purchases that will probably never be used.
• Edit Your Holidays
  I am a big fan of this. While he suggests that it be better to not exchange gifts, and gives an interesting way to make this happen, I actually think it should be taken further. I sat down last year and really looked at the meaning behind everything, and made a conscious decision on how to celebrate. Consumerism was at a limit. This year, we will be doing electronic cards as an additional edit. (Update 6/25/2007 This past holiday season, this particular approach got me into trouble with some family members. Apparently a lack of enthusiasm for consumerism equates to a lack of spirit of the holidays)
• Edit Your Ambitions
  This one I had never thought about. But ambitions, and the effort it takes to reach them, need to be watched. Something I wanted five years ago may not fit into my current life plan. This is a good thing to take stock of.

I would also add the following edits:

• Edit Your Relationships
  Life is too short to maintain relationships that have become a drain. For those people who do not provide any positive energy, why bother? If they are relatives, find ways to minimize the drain.
• Edit Your Time Wasters
  We all have them: the things that suck all of our free time out and leave us empty at the end. Mine include television, and mindless web surfing.

I think by doing an edit job on our lives, we can reclaim much of what has been lost to the same ol’, same ol’. That means filling our environments with positive, energizing things. And that should lead to both more productivity (both at work and play) and increased inner peace.