Living Simply | Simplifying by Focusing On One Thing

Many years ago I decided that my hobby would be scrapbooking and paper crafts.  At the time fuds were limited.  I bought most of my supplies with extra birthday money or gift cards.  Like many of you, I had varied interests in many areas of craft and creative adventures.  I decided that to get really good at something, it would be more productive to invest my time and money into one hobby.  I have been grateful every since.

This idea of focusing on one thing has been on my mind lately.  As my family has began to seriously simplify our lives, I have been applying this principle.  I have realized that I don't need to purchase a variety of beauty products at the store each time I go, trying to find the next best thing or the item that is the best price.  I buy the same products each time, focusing on a couple brands and products that I know work well for me.  I have applied this same idea to purchasing food and household products.  Not only do I save time shopping, I also can shop the sales of those few items, I know that they will work well, and they look nice stacked up together in the cupboard.

We have also talked about doing this for our family activities.  My husband loves outdoor activities and wants to do them all.  He loves (and so do we) biking, boating, hiking, kayaking, skiing, dirt biking, four wheeling, and so much more.  I'm trying to get him to choose just one.  It can be our activity, the thing we do together.  We can buy the boat and that is it.  If we want to do any of the others, we can go with friends or rent some recreational items for the day, but the boat is our thing.  We go boating.  We know how to use it, clean it, and how to best enjoy it.  We buy things for the boat and spend lots of our free time enjoying it.

The same thing can be done with sports, music, exercise, kid's activities, family vacations, eating out, and, well, just about anything.  Focus on one thing, spend your money on that, get rid of all the other stuff that crowds, and enjoy what works best for you and makes you happy.

Now, I have done other projects through the years but most of these have been simple little projects in other crafty adventures.  I have been enjoying knitting and cross-stitching, but I have purchased a minimal amount of items and keep it simple.  For the most part I have stuck with scrapbooking and paper crafts.