With the evolving challenges of a global economy that seems permanently tumultuous, combined with the challenges of staying mentally and physically well, people everywhere are starting to rethink how they live and what they consume.
New trends are emerging, as people take action to alter their lifestyles in ways that enable them to pursue the healthy, fun, affordable lives they desire. Below are five ways people are living differently now.
1. Sharing
The sharing economy is upon us, and there might not be an end in sight to this one. Particularly interesting is the clash between sharing things and owning your own, which seems to involve different boundaries.
In theory, we originated from a sharing economy, when resources were once scarce. Lodges were people’s homes, or they were a fixture of small communities, and that’s the old-time equivalent of popular boarding site Airbnb. There were ride-sharing services with agreed cost splits for carriages and coaches, and that’s what ride-sharing apps offer urban dwellers today.
Food sharing and batched deliveries are happening too, via local markets. Everything is becoming shared more, out of a social need for community, but also in response to economic realities.
2. Reading labels
People are starting to become quite concerned about the sources of their food, as well as understanding the harmful effects of chemicals and genetic modifications. Most importantly, though, they’re realizing that damage is done to their local economy when they source food from other economies.
That’s why farmers markets have become popular again, and there’s been an increasing amount of pressure to label foods that are not organic, especially if they are genetically modified.
3. Project-based living
The disappearance of traditional pensions and employee loyalty of previous eras, combined with the ongoing economic uncertainties and industry-evaporating technological advances, have conditioned people to expect shorter timeframes on jobs, when they once would have expected to have lifelong careers.
Instead, jobs are being viewed more as projects, perhaps related to other projects you’ve done in the past or others you will do in the future. Given the fact that most of the American workforce will soon be free-lancing, and that global markets tend to reflect those trends, it’s going to be common to work for yourself, on projects for corporations.
4. Smaller living
A shocking amount of wasted living space is available in developed countries, and due to the cost of purchasing and maintaining that space, people are rethinking how they live. A so-called Tiny House Revolution is growing in many countries, and inspiring people to live in very small spaces.
Another trend is continued massive urbanization, in which individuals are flocking to cities instead of rural (and more logistically challenging) living conditions. To understand these trends, just try to think of whatever would make living simpler or cheaper, and you can almost certainly expect that the trend is already underway.
5. Owning homes that move
There’s a concept of being debt-free, and living simpler, that applies to how people are owning their residences (when they choose to own). Instead of buying big houses, then selling them when it’s time to move somewhere else, people are beginning to buy homes, pay them off, and simply move their house to another location.
And the business world has responded to this demand. There are lots of companies who build tiny homes, many of them on wheels. And for bigger homes, there are companies that can help with those too.
There’s a company that can remove and transport homes in New Zealand, and there are likely to be similar services that are related to this, more commonly, in the future!
