What 1985 Can Teach Us About Living With Less
This is me in 1985. ↘
I was 11 years old, and I had absolutely no idea that someday I'd be writing a blog post about decluttering. Much less about decluttering like it's 1985.
But I do remember that I already loved simplifying my space. I liked getting rid of things I didn't use and making my little corner of the world feel orderly.
(Unfortunately, I shared a room with my sister, who most definitely did not share my enthusiasm for simplifying her space. Let's just say we had very different ideas about what "orderly" meant. 😒)
When I think about life in 1985, though, there are a few things I think we can learn from that era about living with less.
We didn't have online shopping
If you wanted something in 1985, you couldn't pull out your phone, search for it, read 47 reviews, and have it sitting on your doorstep two days later.
Shopping meant going somewhere. Maybe a local store, maybe the mall, maybe a catalog. And if the exact thing you wanted wasn't available—or wasn't worth the trip—you often just made do with what you had.
I'm certainly not suggesting we give up online shopping. I enjoy the convenience as much as anyone. But I do think it's worth remembering that having access to more things doesn't mean we need more things.
We weren't being influenced 24/7
Advertising certainly existed in 1985. We had commercials, magazines, catalogs, and plenty of other ways to be told what we needed.
But, without the internet or social media, we weren't being bombarded with messages all day long about how much better our lives would be if we just bought this one thing.
Today, we're constantly seeing other people's homes, wardrobes, kitchens, hobbies, and lifestyles—and being encouraged to buy things that will supposedly make our own lives better.
That's a lot of pressure to accumulate more things. And it's good to remember that, more often than not, being “influenced” benefits big business a lot more than it benefits you.
We were more comfortable with boredom
As a kid, I was bored sometimes. Like... really bored. And there wasn't always something available to fix it. No tablet full of games. No endless streaming options. No scrolling through social media.
I just had to figure something out.
I think we've gotten less comfortable with boredom, both for ourselves and our kids. And sometimes we try to solve that boredom by buying things: toys, games, craft supplies, hobby supplies, activities, gadgets...
Maybe we don't always need to.
Maybe sometimes the response to "I'm bored" can just by "Yep."
So how can looking back to the 80's move us forward toward living with less?
I'm not suggesting that everything was better in 1985. It definitely wasn't.
But I do think we can borrow a few ideas.
We can enjoy the convenience of modern life without assuming that every new thing we have access to needs to come into our homes.
We can let our kids (and ourselves) be bored. We can make do with what we already have.
And we can remember that living with less isn't about deprivation. It's about being intentional about what we allow into our lives.
And, of course, I made a playlist for this.
(Because I can't write about 1985 without making one.)
Declutter Like It's 1985 is about 16 minutes of music from 1985—the perfect length for a little decluttering session. So put it on, crank it up, and like, ditch the grody stuff.
And if you like the idea of making small, manageable progress but aren't sure what to declutter, try Kick in the Pants, my free 10-day decluttering program.
You'll get one small, doable task each day to help you get moving without feeling overwhelmed.
No matter what year you're decluttering in, you don't need to go back to 1985 to live with less. But a few of those old-school habits are still totally rad.
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