After coming home from work today and finding the aftermath of my wife’s anger in my closet, I got to thinking. Wait, what? Oh, I should probably start out by saying that it seems my wife was very angry at my pants today.

(Letting that sink in for a moment)

In my closet, there stood a ladder so my wife could reach the top shelf. At the bottom of the ladder were about 5 pairs of my pants, thrown all about. No shirts, no socks, no boxers, just pants. Many pairs of pants, which somehow sent my wife into a pants-throwing fury. ( I have no idea why the pants were on the floor in reality – my wife isn’t a crazy pants-hater. )

So I started to think.

All these pants were work pants, and I had several more pairs hanging up, and sitting on lower shelves. Why in the world do I need 8-10 pairs of pants? I wear each pair 2-3 days ( its not dirty, it is easier on your electric bill, better for the environment, and makes your clothes last longer ). Since I work 6 days per week, 2 pairs really should fit the bill just fine. Three, if I want to be on the safe side.

What about shirts? Socks? Belts?
I’m afraid to count the number of shirts in my closet. I’m even more afraid to count the number that I haven’t worn in months. And remember, this is after I recently purged my closet. My goal for the future? Buy nice clothes. But buy very few clothes. I don’t need more than 3 pair of work pants, and a single pair of jeans. Just a few shirts. A single belt. Maybe 3 ties.

Simplify your wardrobe, and your closet will seem bigger. No longer will it be a source of stress when you look at the incredible clutter. Instead, it will be spacious, organized, and peaceful.

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But would you? Over the years, I often find myself saying things like : “If I had the iPhone, I could take pictures of everything and share them with the world.” Sure, I could. But would I? Turns out, not so much. Here I am, the proud owner of the iPhone, and I don’t share very many pictures with the world.

“If I had a shiny new Macbook, I could work while sitting on the couch watching TV with my wife.”

Sure I could. But would I? I rarely worked from the couch when I had a functioning Dell laptop – what makes me so sure this time around?

Don’t fall into the “If I had this, I could” trap.

Chances are, you won’t do whatever it is that you’ve convinced yourself you will. You’re just trying to justify buying something, which is never a good habit to get into. If you find yourself making that dreaded statement, always follow it with “But would I?” I’ll bet you’ll talk yourself out of 90% of those types of purchases.

Who cares if you buy something else?
I don’t really care how you spend your money. It’s your money after all, and you’re entitled to spend it how you want. But you wouldn’t be reading The Simple Llama if you didn’t feel that Stuff was starting to take over your life. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t interested in doing things differently, to hopefully live a better life.

If you really are going to do the things you say you will, great. If the purchase really does make some progress toward simplifying your life, then do it. Don’t buy it if it’s not going to simplify your life, if it’s not going to make things easier for you. You don’t need more Stuff to take up space and time. Remember, simplify your life, and you gain time – something you can’t buy at any price.

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Few areas in life can be simplified as efficiently as writing utensils. There’s an easy solution to pen overload, and it’s completely foolproof. Impossible, you say? Not at all, you’re just not thinking the right way.
Think for a moment – how many pens do you own? Count the ones on your desk at work. And in the drawers at work. Don’t forget the one in your shirt pocket. Now think about the pens you have at home. All the pens in your home office, in your “junk drawer” ( or, gasp, drawers ), and anywhere else you might have pens. If you’re like the average human being, the total of your pens numbers somewhere in the tens of millions.

Ok, maybe it’s closer to the many dozens. But you get my point, right? How many pens does one person really need to own?

You only need one pen.
That’s it. Just one. Not one at each desk, not one in each color, not a few extras in case you lose one. Just one. And I’ll tell you the secret of how this is possible. It might surprise you, but it’s incredibly effective.

Buy a very expensive pen.
How expensive is up to you – everyone has different budget. But the point is to buy an expensive pen; one that you would be really ticked off if you were to lose. That, my dear readers, is the secret. While you might lose a few dozen Bics per year, you aren’t likely to misplace an $90 Cross pen. Or a $300 Mont Blanc.

Spend the money, buy a quality pen. My pen of choice is the Sterling Silver and blue Cross that you see in the picture. It cost me about $90, which to me is an outrageous amount of money for a writing utensil. However, I’ve had it for over a year, and have never misplaced it. I use it at home and at work, and it is the only pen I own. No extra pens lying around, “just in case”. I have a few ink refills for when I run out of ink, but that’s it. No more pen clutter.

This tip will cost you a fair bit of money, to be sure. But you will rid yourself of pen clutter forever, which is priceless. Plus, it’s awfully nice to write with a well-made pen every day. Just an added bonus for cutting down on clutter.

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Reading The Simple Llama may give you the wrong impression – that living a simple life is all about buying new things, and specifically lining Apple’s pockets with more cash. That’s not the case, and I want you to understand why.

There are many electronic devices – whether computers, routers, hard drives, scanners, or whatever, that have the possibility to make your life simpler when used properly. That is, if you’re replacing existing items with items of a simpler design.

Read that carefully.

Take the iMac for example. Extremely minimalist design, very simple, very elegant, and it can even serve as a sort of modern art piece. But what good does it do if you buy one, only to put it on the desk next to your current computer? Now instead of one simple, elegant device, you have two. That is not simplifying.

Replacing complicated items with simple items is good. Replacing two items with one that does the job of two, also good. Simply getting rid of things you don’t need is also a step in the right direction. The goal is not to add, but rather to improve and simplify. Before you take out your wallet, ask yourself: “Does this simplify my life?”

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When you see an empty space on your desk, do you fill it? How about when you have an empty spot in your schedule – do you feel obligated to do something?

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Once you’ve made the decision to live a simpler life, the hard work begins. You can’t live by the popular “One in One Out” rule. That rule stipulates that for every single thing you bring into your home, you need to get rid of one. Since you’ve just made the decision to live more simply, that’s not good enough. You have to adopt the “One in, Two out” rule.

One in, Two out Rule

This rule will encompass everything in your life, until you’ve acheived your goal. If you buy something, get rid of two things. If you buy a shirt, get rid of two old ones. If you make a commitment with your time, get rid of two commitments that you currently have. Make a new friend? Get rid of two people in your life that aren’t really that important to you.

Be extreme.

Be ruthless.

Simplify.

Live this rule, in everything that you do, until you’ve reached the point where you’re happy with how simple your life is. Everyone reaches this point at a different time, and it looks different for each person.

You will never reach your goal if you’re not tough about it. One in, two out. That’s the rule. Live it.

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Stumbling through the tubes we call the Internet sometimes brings me to interesting minimalist style items. Here are a couple of the more notable items that I’ve seen this week:

This is the Zero Bike, created back in 1988 by students at the Art Center College of Design. Via Minimalissimo.

How can you make a clock minimalistic? No numbers or tick marks of course, they’re silly. But the creator of the Good Afternoon clock went a step further, and removed the hands. Instead, rays of light show what time it is. Not sure this would be terribly useful during the day, but it’s awfully neat nonetheless. Via Dvice.

Laptop stands are nothing new, and there’s not really a whole lot you can do with them, stylistically. However, the Rain Design mStand does stand out to me. Made of cast aluminum, it matches the current aluminum series of Macbook Pro perfectly. Via Unplgged.

Have any great minimalist creations you’d like to see on The Simple Llama? Send me a message on Twitter. And if you’re not already, you really should follow me on Twitter.

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The internet is full of interesting things.  So is television, stores, and magazines.  When I say interesting things, I mean, of course, actual things.  Things to buy, things to spend money on, things to bring home and take up space in your house.  Some of these things are useful, and can actually help you declutter and simplify.

Other things perform one, very specific, very limited task.  These things are the bane of a simple home, and are generally to be avoided.  In the spirt of Unclutter’s Unitasker Wednesday, I present to you today’s unitasker: the Solar Powered Shower.  Sold by Herrington, the Solar Powered Shower is exactly what it sounds like – a shower powered by the sun.

According to their website, you fill up the Solar Powered Shower with 8 liters of water, sit it in a sunny spot for about 2 hours, and voila – you can take a shower.  A140 degree water shower, right in the comfort of your backyard.  While it’s probably not best for actual showers, since you know, you’d be outdoors and all, the idea is to use it after a dip in the pool.  Rinse off the chlorine before heading in.

The price?  ”Just” $200, and some space and clutter in your backyard.

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Simplifying your life can seem like an epic challenge, if you try to do it all at once. Let’s face it – our lives are outrageously complicated, full of stuff, full of clutter, and full of lots that we don’t need. Trying to tackle everything all at once is a recipe for failure – you’ll end up quitting and never making any progress.

Rather than trying everything at once, or even starting with a large project, start small. Think very small. For example, yesterday I was looking at my nightstand. And quite frankly, I was embarassed at the clutter that was filling it. The contents of my nightstand included:

• A lamp
• Alarm clock
• wallet
• bolts
• toilet paper ( for a runny nose )
• ipod charge cable

Even with a very large nightstand, it was filled up with junk that I don’t need to have there. Looking at the items one by one, it was pretty easy to clear this out. My wallet belongs on my desk, next to my computer. The bolts belong in a toolbox. Tissues can go in the top drawer, out of sight, but still accessible. The alarm clock is an outdated relic. With today’s cell phones, there’s no need for an alarm clock. My iPhone has woken me up reliably for the past month. I’ll pass the alarm clock to my son, who has trouble waking up in the morning. With all this cleared off, here’s an “after” pic of my nightstand.

As you can see, only the lamp made it to the “other side.” My iPhone charger does lurk behind the stand, only to be used when I’m nearly out of juice. I charge on the way to work, and at work, so I don’t really need to charge every night. Now, I don’t wake up to a stand full of stuff every morning. Instead, it’s neat, clean, and organized. The best part? It took about 90 seconds to accomplish. Still think getting rid of clutter takes too long?

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