Ross Raymond Nunamaker

One in three adults in the U.S. say they feel overwhelmed by stress or the demands of day to day life.

Let’s apply Five Why and see what we get:

1. How did things become so overwhelming? Life has become too complex.
2. Why has life become too complex? Technology has provided increasing information at increasing rates with no end in sight.
3. Why does increasing information at increasing rates overwhelm us? Modern technology delivers far more stimuli far faster than we can consciously process.
4. Why can’t we process this much information? Our brain evolution has not kept pace and is not designed to keep pace with technology.
5. Why does this make us feel overwhelmed? Our systems attempt to process it all and become exhausted in doing so.

So how do we prevent this exhaustion? Many believe in simplifying as simple is the opposite of complex.

We can’t simplify the world, but we can simplify our relationship with it by understanding what we value and what is meaningful to us.

This is not done simply. It involves a lot of insight, work, and effort.

Advice like reduce your cell phone use, watch less tv, don’t spend all night or day playing video games, don’t cut it. These are superficial band aids that don’t address the problems of stress and anxiety caused by feeling overwhelmed.

Foundational to Sun Tzu’s the Art of War is knowing yourself.

Knowing yourself is foundational to living a well-lived life.

A well-lived life is one with meaning based on the growth and engagement of what you value.

If you want a simpler life in a complex world, learn what is meaningful to you by understanding and engaging in what you truly value.