少即多

Did you know that we Americans have about three times the amount of space we did 50 years ago？ Three times. So you’d think， with all this extra space， we’d have plenty of room for all our stuff， right？ Nope. There’s a new industry in town， a 22-billion-dollar-2.2-billion-square-foot industry， that of personal storage. So we’ve got triple the space， so we’ve become such good shoppers that we need even more space.

So where does this lead？ Lots of credit card debt， huge environmental footprints， and perhaps， not coincidentally， our happiness levels flat-line over the same 50 years.

Well I’m here to suggest there’s a better way， that less might actually equal more.

So I started a project called “Life Edited” at lifeedited.org to further this conversation and to find some great solutions in this area. First up：

1）crowd sourcing my 420 ft2 apartment in Manhattan. I wanted it all： home office， sit-down dinner for 10， room for guests， and all my kitesurfing gear. With over 300 entries from around the world， I got it， my own little jewel box. By buying a space that was 420 ft2 instead of 600， immediately I’m saving 200 grand. Smaller space is going to make for smaller utilities， save some more money there， but also a smaller footprint. And because it’s really designed around an edited set of possessions， my favorite stuff， and really designed for me， I’m really excited to be there.

So how can you live little？ First of all， you have to edit ruthlessly. We’ve got to clear the arteries of our lives. That shirt， that I haven’t worn in years； it’s time for me to let it go. We need to think before we buy； ask ourselves， “Is that really gonna make me happier， truly？” By all means， we should buy and own some great stuff. But we want stuff that we’re gonna love for years， not just stuff.

Secondly， our new mantra： small is sexy. We want space efficiency. We want things that are designed for how they’re used the vast majority of the time， not that rare event. Why have a 6-burner stove when you rarely use three？

So I’m not saying that we all need to live in 420 ft2， but consider the benefits of an edited life. So when you go home and you walk through your front door， take a second and ask yourselves，“Could I do with a little life editing？ Would that give me a little more freedom， maybe a little more time？” Maybe， just maybe， less might equal more.

So let’s make room for the good stuff.

你們知道嗎，我們美國人如今擁有的空間是五十年前的三倍。整整三倍啊。那你會想，有了這么多額外的空間，我們放置東西應該綽綽有余了，對吧？不對。如今美國有一個新行業，一個涉及22億平方英尺（約2.06億平方米），價值220億美元的行業，為個人提供儲物空間。于是，我們擁有了三倍的空間，我們變得更愛購物了，以至于還需要更多的空間。

那么，這一切會把我們引向何方？龐大的信用卡債務，嚴重的環境污染，而我們的幸福水平在過去的五十年里并沒有提高，而這一點也許不是巧合。

好吧，我在此想提出一個更好的理念，那就是少即多。

我在lifeedited.org網站啟動了一個叫“簡約生活”的活動，想在這個領域推動進一步的交流，找出一些出色的解決方案。第一步：以眾包的方式收集我公寓的設計方案。這套公寓在紐約的曼哈頓，面積為420平方英尺（約39平方米）。我的要求是一應俱全：家庭辦公室、十人用餐區、客房，還可以放得下全套的風箏沖浪設備。在我從全球收到的三百多條建議中，我找到了合適的方案，把我公寓設計成小巧但功能齊全的空間。選擇買一個420平方英尺的公寓，而不是600平方英尺（約64平方米）的公寓，我馬上就從這省了二十萬。小空間就意味著小一號的生活用具，這不僅省錢，而且會留下更少的碳足跡。因為這個方案是圍繞我精選的物品設計的，里面都是我自己喜歡的東西，是專門為我設計的，所以住在里面我很興奮。

那你如何才能過簡約生活呢？……