Want to be more successful in Minimalism? Develop a schedule
When we first moved to Sacramento, California in the 90’s, I paid cousin and his family a visit. His house was, well, empty and sparse, and I thought it was because they just moved in. My subsequent visits proved that this was how my cousin chose to live with his family. He didn’t believe in acquiring anything other than the necessity.
My cousin was a Minimalist before his time and before it was trendy. Background information, he graduated from Engineering University in Vietnam but had to get his schooling again at the University of Michigan in Civil Engineering. He believed in having routines and scarcity.
His living room had a couch, couple of chairs and a table. There were nothing on the walls. There was only a calendar on the kitchen wall. He didn’t use the air conditioner in the summer, citing that, it built characters. He was married and had four young children around my daughter’s age of two years old.
His closet? He had three white and three blue shirts, three pairs of gray and three pairs of black pants. This was my cousin’s way of life. He intentionally raised his kids this way, with a minimal amount of clothes, furniture, and toys. He and his wife had their strict routines, she worked the night shift, and he worked days so they could take care of the kids, and they always shop for grocery on Saturdays. Last time I saw them at a relative's wedding, they seemed to be happy, all four kids graduated from the University of California at Davis and doing very well.
Now, I read that many successful Tech people like the Late Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg practiced this idea of having the same outfit and routines to cut down decision-making fatigue and save time during the day, and I immediately think of my cousin. See this article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-successful-individuals-wear-same-outfit-daily-vincent-carlos
“But truthfully, you could probably automate and eliminate about 80% of the decisions you make every day. You just have to be aware of this concept and learn to notice which decisions aren’t high-quality important decisions and then delegate those.” Vincent Carlos.
Printable or Editable Checklists
The takeaways? Having a morning or daily routine trained us to use time efficiently and have a peaceful mindset of security, knowing that we have covered our activities in an organized fashion, so when crisis arise, we can address it fully and presently.
Additionally, set daily, weekly, and monthly goals to keep track of your progress. You can download the editable PDFs or printable checklist by signing up here
Checklist
Personally, when I’m not following my routines, I tend to forget certain tasks because I'm following my muscle memories. For example, I usually walk to my neighborhood park using a certain route, and when I walk with someone else using a different route, I’d forget to turn on my “Map My Walk” app to track my mileage. This is just one example, but I depend on my routines to keep my life streamlined and easier to manage. For one thing, I always set aside 30 minutes each day after coffee to purge some items then I start my work day, guilty-free.
What daily activities can you automate to be more efficient? Here is a checklist suggestion:
Check weather
Clean & press clothes
Have matching shoes & socks
Have lunch, snacks & coffee ready
Have office files/books/phones/supplies ready.
Do you have any suggestions to add to this list?
I hope this is helpful to you on your Minimalism journey.
