BLADAM - Entry - The *Filled to All Available* Syndrome

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The Filled to All Available Syndrome

Over some coffee this afternoon, I contemplated what I have now coined the “Filled to All Available” or “FTAA” syndrome. Here’s what it means, basically. As humans, we tend towards and often feel more comfortable within defined boundaries. Ambiguities and uncertain limits force us to think, to apply sometimes-risky judgement calls, and in our rushed and often bureaucratic society, that can be stressful. So, we thrive in a FTAA environment; we fill up our desks, our closets, our schedules to capacity. If we get larger desks, bigger closets, or unexpected free time, somehow we find a way to fill or fritter away the excess space. At an all-you-can-eat buffet, we tend to think of “getting our money’s worth” and—you guessed it—filling up rather than lightly sampling. We eat until we are not just satisfied, but stuffed. We store junk until our apartments are bursting at the seams. We live a life that is “Filled to All Available.”

What does this actually mean? Well, for starters, it suggests that making more money, getting a bigger house, and buying bigger boxes of chocolates at Costco will not necessarily make us happier, healthier, or more productive. On the flip side, it suggests that there are key advantages to thinking and doing Less in order to simplify and de-clutter our lives.

One way to go about doing this is to increase the proportion of shared or borrowed resources in our life and decrease the amount of things “owned.” This can be electronic (renting music, a la Yahoo Music Unlimited instead of “owning” [sic] music via iTunes), small-scale physical (borrowing books instead of buying them), and large-scale physical (car-sharing instead of owning a car).

Beyond this, there are mental changes that can be made as well… primarily pushing oneself away from a college-era mentality of hoarding and scarcity. Dividing up a large chocolate bar into smaller pieces and storing or giving away the majority. Visiting only two cities (for longer) instead of five, despite having an unlimited Eurail pass. Resisting the temptation to check Deals Web sites five times a day to buy stuff we don’t need with rebates we’ll forget to file.

* * *

The lesson at the end of the day: Think not what you have the resources to get or do. Think instead of what you need. Then think again. Avoid the “Filled to All Available” syndrome by decluttering your life, minimizing excess, and regaining focus.

Easier said than done, but very, very worthwhile.

* * *

What are ways in which you’ve found your life “Filled to All Available”? What have you done to combat this?

- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 14:54 [ Permalink | Trackback ]
- Filed under Grab bag • Tips • Misc
- Commented on by 4 folks so far. Scroll down and see for yourself (and join in the conversation!)

Comment from member Swish Sydney, Australia [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Coming from a family who’s very price-conscious, I’ve grown up with the mentality that you always have to get the cheapest deal, regardless of what you’re buying. Combine that with a hoarding mentality (that even something broken should be kept for spare parts), and we have a lot of junk lying around. It fills up the house, and this is a Bad Thing (TM). In recent years I’ve learnt the value of the quality not quantity philosophy. I focus firstly on buying only things I need, and I try to spend the time looking for something of good quality so it won’t need to be replaced after only a few uses. Yes, this means that I tend to spend more per item nowadays. And it takes longer to buy each item. But that in itself is a motivation not to buy more because I’ve already got a good one, and I don’t have the money or time to buy more. At the end of the day, I come out ahead - I have something of good quality, it will last, it serves me well, and it doesn’t clutter up the house because I don’t have many of them. This has been my philosophy with shoes, for example, and I now have a handful of pairs of shoes, all of which I can wear for 10 hours a day without blisters. And I can tell you now, the extra cost at the time means my feet thank me at the end of every long day. And I look good. One last note regarding Eurail passes - I’ve done the unlimited-cities-in-30-days thing and for anyone planning a trip to Europe I have to advise really thinking about where you want to go. As a backpacker I found myself torn between wanting to rush off to my next destination and wanting to stay where I was for an extra week or two. Simply because frequent travelling like that gets exhausting and the places I was visiting were stunning. I ended up barely making my pass financially worthwhile, and I had been travelling every 2nd or 3rd day. Basically, if you want to spend more than 2 days in every city (and as a seasoned traveller I recommend at least 3-5 days for larger cities) the Eurail passes stop being financially worthwhile. It’s still good in terms of convenience of not buying tickets, but that’s about it. Buying individual tickets isn’t usually that hard, even in non-English speaking countries. Also, the standard Eurail passes don’t cover Eastern Europe like Poland and the Czech Republic which is a shame because these countries are cheaper for tourists and still offer many wonderful things to see do and lovely people to meet. - Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 16:24 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from Graham [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	This is something I’m trying to focus on right now, what with packing up to move to a new apartment. I will have much more space there than in my tiny room here, and I will certainly need to accumulate a number of things that I don’t yet have. But I want to make sure I’m careful with what I get, and make sure that I truly need and/or care for it. No random stuff just to fill space. (Knock on wood.) And I’d like to really just enjoy the extra empty space for a while, since I’ve gotten a bit cramped where I am (and where FTAA is fully in effect). - Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 20:01 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from Mitzi [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Aren’t you just the self-help guru. - Posted on Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 9:20 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from James Franchise for Sale [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	I take coffee in every 2 hours when i am working on particular project. - Posted on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 0:01 [ Permalink to this comment ]

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Comment from member Swish Sydney, Australia [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Coming from a family who’s very price-conscious, I’ve grown up with the mentality that you always have to get the cheapest deal, regardless of what you’re buying. Combine that with a hoarding mentality (that even something broken should be kept for spare parts), and we have a lot of junk lying around. It fills up the house, and this is a Bad Thing (TM). In recent years I’ve learnt the value of the quality not quantity philosophy. I focus firstly on buying only things I need, and I try to spend the time looking for something of good quality so it won’t need to be replaced after only a few uses. Yes, this means that I tend to spend more per item nowadays. And it takes longer to buy each item. But that in itself is a motivation not to buy more because I’ve already got a good one, and I don’t have the money or time to buy more. At the end of the day, I come out ahead - I have something of good quality, it will last, it serves me well, and it doesn’t clutter up the house because I don’t have many of them. This has been my philosophy with shoes, for example, and I now have a handful of pairs of shoes, all of which I can wear for 10 hours a day without blisters. And I can tell you now, the extra cost at the time means my feet thank me at the end of every long day. And I look good. One last note regarding Eurail passes - I’ve done the unlimited-cities-in-30-days thing and for anyone planning a trip to Europe I have to advise really thinking about where you want to go. As a backpacker I found myself torn between wanting to rush off to my next destination and wanting to stay where I was for an extra week or two. Simply because frequent travelling like that gets exhausting and the places I was visiting were stunning. I ended up barely making my pass financially worthwhile, and I had been travelling every 2nd or 3rd day. Basically, if you want to spend more than 2 days in every city (and as a seasoned traveller I recommend at least 3-5 days for larger cities) the Eurail passes stop being financially worthwhile. It’s still good in terms of convenience of not buying tickets, but that’s about it. Buying individual tickets isn’t usually that hard, even in non-English speaking countries. Also, the standard Eurail passes don’t cover Eastern Europe like Poland and the Czech Republic which is a shame because these countries are cheaper for tourists and still offer many wonderful things to see do and lovely people to meet. - Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 16:24 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from Graham [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	This is something I’m trying to focus on right now, what with packing up to move to a new apartment. I will have much more space there than in my tiny room here, and I will certainly need to accumulate a number of things that I don’t yet have. But I want to make sure I’m careful with what I get, and make sure that I truly need and/or care for it. No random stuff just to fill space. (Knock on wood.) And I’d like to really just enjoy the extra empty space for a while, since I’ve gotten a bit cramped where I am (and where FTAA is fully in effect). - Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 20:01 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from Mitzi [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Aren’t you just the self-help guru. - Posted on Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 9:20 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from James Franchise for Sale [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	I take coffee in every 2 hours when i am working on particular project. - Posted on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 0:01 [ Permalink to this comment ]