I’ve had a post in my head for some time about removing all the excess crap in my life. Doing more with less and focusing on what’s important.
It was comprised of various parts of Getting Things Done, Small is Beautiful, Getting Real, Agile Software Development, Edward Tufte, Life Hacking, Minimalism, Small is the New Big, Plain English, The Millionaire Next Door, Punk Rock, Asceticism, Tesler’s Law of Conservation of Complexity, DIY, Enough With The Hammers, Death to the Unitaskers and the Platonic principles of Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
You know, easy stuff.
I had about 80% of the framework post written. Then, my computer died which proves the point that fewer moving parts is better.
This list will no doubt grow and change with time, but some of the broad themes are as follows:
- Less isn’t more, but it’s better.
- Let less stuff into your life.
- Simple isn’t.
- Findability drives value by reducing scarcity.
- Treat every resource like it’s pure gold. (time, attention, money, affection)
- Mindful disposability
I even had a nifty new term for my nifty new concept, and it was called “Spartanization.” Then, it occurred to me that creating yet another term for yet another concept would go against the very notion of what I was trying to do. Also, it’s not a new concept at all, but sometimes, I think people need to be reminded a bit.
There’s already a term for it that can be compressed into an elevator pitch: Simplicity.
About a week after this realization, I had the pleasure of watching a presentation at Yahoo! from John Maeda of MIT’s Media Lab, summarizing his new book, The Laws of Simplicity. From the first law, Reduce, I knew I was hooked. I’m about half way through it right now, but I gotta say that he’s framed the concept quite nicely. He periodically waxes simplicity on his <a href=”http://weblogs.media.mit.edu/SIMPLICITY/”blog. Check it out.
So, in 2007, my theme will be Simplifcation. Many of you who know me are snickering; I can hear you from here. Knock it off.
Join me in this journey, won’t you?
7 responses so far ↓
Q! // January 4, 2007 at 2:22 am
You got to see John Maeda’s talk? I’m jealous!
lantzilla // January 4, 2007 at 5:34 am
Not only see the talk, I got a signed copy of The Laws of Simplicity.
linc // January 4, 2007 at 6:08 am
I am snickering only because I just can’t see you passing up on new gadgets. But hey, I am rooting for you Lance.
lantzilla // January 7, 2007 at 7:15 am
So, snicker away, but also know that sometimes buying 1 gadget that eliminates 3 gadgets is also considered simplification.
Richard D. Chennault // January 17, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I’m not snickering and mainly support your goal. Other than your rather odd notion of reductionism in language I encourage your endeavor.
Or in reductiion simple terms: Good luck. I support you.
xian // January 18, 2007 at 10:41 am
I like that concept of “spartanization.” I used to read a web design blog called “Spartaneity” but I don’t know if it’s still around.
Unclutterer at Son of a Pig Farmer // June 12, 2007 at 8:34 am
[...] No other site has provoked more I-do-thats and ahas than Unclutterer. If one could have have a blog as a soulmate, this would be mine. Don’t worry, Mamazilla is still at the top of the list, but Unclutterer would be a close second. This falls in line neatly with my Simple in Seven theme. I read it everyday and have yet to come across something that is way off base. It’s only a couple of months old, so you have plenty of time to read it from the beginning, which I suggest you do. [...]
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