Jeff Davidson - Simpler Living: A Back to Basics Guide to Cleaning, Furnishing, Storing, Decluttering, Streamlining, Organizing, and More

Copyright 2010 by Jeff Davidson

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Davidson, Jeffrey P.
Simpler living: a back to basics guide to cleaning, Furnishing, storing, decluttering, streamlining, organizing, and more/Jeff Davidson; foreword by Mark Victor Hansen.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60239-976-1
1. Home economics. I. Title.
TX147.D247 2010
640--dc22
2010003577

Printed in China

To all of those people in my lifepast, present, and futurewho have shown me the path toward simplicity. To the authors, journalists, and speakers who stress the vital importance of simplicity in each of our lives. To my wonderful, now-departed parents, Emanuel and Shirley Davidson, for imbuing me with the sense to figure things out for myself. And to Valerie Davidsonevery little thing she does is magic.

I 'd like to thank the professional team at Skyhorse Publishing for all of their support. Thanks, in particular, to my key contact point and day-to-day manager Bill Wolfsthal and to publisher Tony Lyons.

Thanks also to the editors of such top publications as Men's Health and Prevention for the countless tips, tidbits, and minor gems that they gleaned over the years, which helped to round out this text.

A big thank you to Tammy Bristow for her remarkable assistance in originally identifying research materials and helping me assemble several chapters, and upgrading and refining chapters as needed. Thanks also to Ashley Pittman and Christine Trues-dale for their endless rounds of research, fact checking, and editing, and to Skyhorse staff members Julie Matysik, Kaylan Connally, and Abigail Gehring, for their able editing and production.

T here is a fascinating book by Benard Grun called The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events. Beginning in 5000 BC and proceeding to the present, the book chronicles the development of humankind in areas such as history and politics, literature and the arts, music, religion, philosophy, education, science, technology, and daily life. Grun starts out covering 1,000 years at a time then narrows the increments to 500 years, 100 years, andby AD 50050 years. From that point on, he goes a year at a time.

Grun had good reason for using ever-decreasing intervals. The number of noteworthy events has risen with each passing year. These days, they're occurring at a feverish pace. And why not? After all, this planet has more inhabitants to generate more breakthroughs and milestones. The Connecticut of today has a larger population than the entire world of 200 BC.

The global population is now approaching seven billionall of us connected by economics, ecology, technology, communication, and transportation. The environment is ripe for more innovations. Consider that 85 percent of all scientists who have ever lived are alive today.

Of course, with new discoveries and developments come new opportunities for complexity. Now more than ever, simplicity is crucial to our sanityand our survival.

In writing Simpler Living, Jeff Davidson has successfully filled a void in information on the science and art of simplification. In his research for this book, Jeff came across scores and scores of other publications on the general topic of simplicity, dating from the mid-1970s right through to 2010. Virtually every book he encountered had some glaring omission or other shortcoming. For example:

Books written before 1991 do not address fax machines, fax/modems, and the growing office equipment network of which communications technology is just one aspect.

Books written before 1995 contain littleif anyinformation about the dramatic impact of the Internet, cell phones, and e-mail, among many other technological breakthroughs.

Books relying on affirmations or a one-tip-per-day format lack the comprehensive approach necessary to simplify all aspects of life.

Some books focus on solely personal issues or professional issues rather than on both.

Some books advise readers to withdraw from certain aspects of their lives, if not from society as a whole.

Some books propose changes that might simplify some aspects of life but complicate others.

Jeff's mission, then, became one of going where no book has gone before. He decided to take a room-by-room, space-by-space look at what the typical man and woman in the United Statesand anywhere in the postindustrial world, for that mattercould do to make their lives simpler.

The sheer amount of territory that Jeff covers is staggering and, in a sense, paradoxical. After all, with more than 1,500 tips, this book may at first seem less like a guide to simplicity than yet another vehicle for complexity.

As Jeff says, you needn't read this book from cover to cover. In fact, he advises against it. Instead, peruse those chapters that are of most relevance or interest to you, glean those tips that make the most sense for you, and act on them. If you take even a few of the steps suggested in any of the 24 chapters, you're likely to benefit significantly.

I found Simpler Living to be enjoyable, illuminating reading. The tips are practical and sensible (something you'd expect in a book such as this), and they're presented in a logical, easy-to-follow sequence. This is a book to be retained, to be referred to whenever you notice the level of complexity in your life edging upward. It is a book to share with a spouse, a friend, a co-worker. It is a book whose message will guide you toward a more relaxed, rewarding, fulfilling lifestyle.

The reality of our times is that life has become far too complex. Fortunately for you, you hold the antidote in your hands. May your reading experience be as pleasurable and compelling as mine has been.

Mark Victor Hansen
co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul

T ake a look around your home and office. What do you see? More paper, more piles, and more clutter than you can comfortably handle. When you take a big-picture approach to the current state of your life, an obvious reality confronts you. Complexity has become the hallmark of human existence.

Would you like to be in a committed relationship, to raise children, to have a full-time career? These days, any major undertaking of a personal or professional nature seems to have its own built-in set of rules, regulations, protocols, and instructions.