WEBVTT

00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.000
What's in the box?

00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.000
Whatever it is must be pretty important,

00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:12.000
because I've traveled with it, moved it,

00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.000
from apartment to apartment to apartment.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:17.000
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.000
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.000
Sound familiar?

00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.000
Did you know that we Americans

00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.000
have about three times the amount of space

00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:29.000
we did 50 years ago?

00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:32.000
Three times.

00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.000
So you'd think, with all this extra space,

00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.000
we'd have plenty of room for all our stuff.

00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.000
Nope.

00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.000
There's a new industry in town,

00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:45.000
a 22 billion-dollar, 2.2 billion sq. ft. industry:

00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:47.000
that of personal storage.

00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.000
So we've got triple the space,

00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.000
but we've become such good shoppers

00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.000
that we need even more space.

00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:57.000
So where does this lead?

00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:59.000
Lots of credit card debt,

00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:02.000
huge environmental footprints,

00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.000
and perhaps not coincidentally,

00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.000
our happiness levels flat-lined over the same 50 years.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.000
Well I'm here to suggest there's a better way,

00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.000
that less might actually equal more.

00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:15.000
I bet most of us have experienced at some point

00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.000
the joys of less:

00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:21.000
college -- in your dorm,

00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.000
traveling -- in a hotel room,

00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.000
camping -- rig up basically nothing,

00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:28.000
maybe a boat.

00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.000
Whatever it was for you, I bet that, among other things,

00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.000
this gave you a little more freedom,

00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.000
a little more time.

00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000
So I'm going to suggest

00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.000
that less stuff and less space

00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.000
are going to equal a smaller footprint.

00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.000
It's actually a great way to save you some money.

00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.000
And it's going to give you a little more ease in your life.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.000
So I started a project called Life Edited at lifeedited.org

00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.000
to further this conversation

00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.000
and to find some great solutions in this area.

00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.000
First up: crowd-sourcing my 420 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan

00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.000
with partners Mutopo and Jovoto.com.

00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.000
I wanted it all --

00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.000
home office, sit down dinner for 10,

00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.000
room for guests,

00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:11.000
and all my kite surfing gear.

00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:14.000
With over 300 entries from around the world,

00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.000
I got it, my own little jewel box.

00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.000
By buying a space that was 420 sq. ft.

00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.000
instead of 600,

00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.000
immediately I'm saving 200 grand.

00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.000
Smaller space is going to make for smaller utilities --

00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:31.000
save some more money there,

00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:33.000
but also a smaller footprint.

00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.000
And because it's really designed

00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:37.000
around an edited set of possessions -- my favorite stuff --

00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:39.000
and really designed for me,

00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.000
I'm really excited to be there.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.000
So how can you live little?

00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.000
Three main approaches.

00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.000
First of all, you have to edit ruthlessly.

00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.000
We've got to clear the arteries of our lives.

00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:54.000
And that shirt that I hadn't worn in years?

00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:56.000
It's time for me to let it go.

00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.000
We've got to cut the extraneous out of our lives,

00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.000
and we've got to learn to stem the inflow.

00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.000
We need to think before we buy.

00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.000
Ask ourselves,

00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.000
"Is that really going to make me happier? Truly?"

00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.000
By all means,

00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:13.000
we should buy and own some great stuff.

00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.000
But we want stuff that we're going to love for years,

00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.000
not just stuff.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.000
Secondly, our new mantra:

00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.000
small is sexy.

00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.000
We want space efficiency.

00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.000
We want things that are designed

00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.000
for how they're used the vast majority of the time,

00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:30.000
not that rare event.

00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.000
Why have a six burner stove

00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.000
when you rarely use three?

00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.000
So we want things that nest,

00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.000
we want things that stack, and we want it digitized.

00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:41.000
You can take paperwork,

00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.000
books, movies,

00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:46.000
and you can make it disappear -- it's magic.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:50.000
Finally, we want multifunctional spaces and housewares --

00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.000
a sink combined with a toilet,

00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.000
a dining table becomes a bed --

00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.000
same space,

00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.000
a little side table

00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.000
stretches out to seat 10.

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.000
In the winning Life Edited scheme in a render here,

00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.000
we combine a moving wall with transformer furniture

00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.000
to get a lot out of the space.

00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.000
Look at the coffee table --

00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:11.000
it grows in height and width

00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.000
to seat 10.

00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.000
My office folds away,

00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:17.000
easily hidden.

00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.000
My bed just pops out of the wall with two fingers.

00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.000
Guests? Move the moving wall,

00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:25.000
have some fold-down guest beds.

00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:28.000
And of course, my own movie theater.

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000
So I'm not saying that we all need to live

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.000
in 420 sq. ft.

00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000
But consider the benefits of an edited life.

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:37.000
Go from 3,000 to 2,000,

00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:40.000
from 1,500 to 1,000.

00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.000
Most of us, maybe all of us,

00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.000
are here pretty happily for a bunch of days

00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.000
with a couple of bags,

00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.000
maybe a small space, a hotel room.

00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.000
So when you go home and you walk through your front door,

00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.000
take a second and ask yourselves,

00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.000
"Could I do with a little life editing?

00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.000
Would that give me a little more freedom?

00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:00.000
Maybe a little more time?"

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.000
What's in the box?

00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.000
It doesn't really matter.

00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.000
I know I don't need it.

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.000
What's in yours?

00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.000
Maybe, just maybe,

00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.000
less might equal more.

00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.000
So let's make room

00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.000
for the good stuff.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.000
Thank you.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:28.000
(Applause)