Category Archives: enough

Simplicity, Clutter, Compassion, & Love

Many regular readers know that, when it comes to simplicity and clutter, my wife is quite my opposite. Her idea of organization is generally to sort piled things into more piles. These piles then sit right where they are waiting for something to happen and that something is generally a mystery that results in nothing happening. Then, there is also the matter of a three year old little girl who’s belongings are strewn about as well and… Well…

Thus, it is not unusual for one to walk into the home of Mr. Minimal Mac and find things not so minimal at all. 

That said, it is a real struggle for for me that I largely keep inside. Because, getting any cognitive or creative work done in such environs is very difficult for me. I have become pretty good at ignoring it for a time or finding a little spot in the house where I can keep some semblance of order (or ignorance). But, even that becomes beset on all sides and impossible to contain eventually.

It is at this point where I finally snap, reach a fever pitch, and spend all night cleaning. This happened just this past Saturday night. After a long day out and about and a very enjoyable evening with friends I came home and realized that I could not even answer a single email, let alone start another full week, with the clutter that had slowly begun to consume every surface. And since the burden appears to be one I bear alone in my household it is generally I who must lay said burdens down and put them in their proper places.

Now, to those in a similar situation as mine, please keep in mind that to those others in our life, the clutter may have cognitive value to them in the same way simplicity and order do for you. For instance, those piles may represent a sense of belonging and place to them. Seeing all this stuff they have makes them feel comfort in knowing it is not lost or missing. It actually may be a representation of how productive they are. So productive in other areas of life that they don’t have the time to clean and organize. It may also be overwhelming to them as well, so much so that they are paralyzed by it. 

All I’m saying here is that our goal of uncluttered simplicity is likely just as strange and wrong and foreign to those who are the opposite as they are to us. Compassion and acceptance are required on both sides. The (often imperfect) path I attempt is to allow my wife to see that it is I who is willing to take responsibility and ownership for my needs in this area, doing the work to see that those needs are met, while allowing her to be who she is without judgment.

This is not always easy, I know. I struggle with it daily. Then again, are these things ever easy? Perhaps they should not be. The work is proof of it’s continued worth. And, she is worth so much to me that such work seems like a bargain.

A “Real” Computer

One of the many benefits to having an iPad, an iPhone 4, and 11 inch MacBook Air is the swiss army knife of portability options at your disposal. Before leaving the house, I take inventory of my day and decide which of these tools I might need. Because of the extreme ease of portability of the options at hand, making the choice for any combination or all does not mean too much extra burden. That said, why take anything with me I don’t absolutely need?

I often leave the house with nothing but my iPhone, this is not abnormal. What is unusual is that, when taking inventory of my needs, I determined that all I really needed was a keyboard. I was going to a quick lunch meeting and then to do some writing. Sure I could bring my iPad or MacBook Air but, the only thing I really needed to get the writing done was a keyboard. So, I threw one in my bag and here I am.

Between the iPhone, the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, and Hog Bay Software’s PlainText I have all the tools I need today. I have this little plastic card stand I got somewhere (don’t remember where) that just happens to hold the iPhone in landscape at the perfect viewing angle. I’ve got the headphone plugged in to listen to some ambient music while I type. Outside of one of those folding Bluetooth keyboards I have seen, I can’t think of a more perfect fast and light computing solution.

I think it is easy to think of the iPhone (or iPod Touch for that matter) as something less that a “real” computer. That, somehow, one can’t get real work done or that it could never be a true replacement for a full size machine. I, personally, don’t believe that and often seek ways to see exactly how much I can get away with just using the iPhone. In fact, I have even written the first draft of one of the chapters in my book on the iPhone using the onscreen keyboard. Was it the perfect solution? Maybe not but it was the resource I had at hand so that made it the perfect one for me at the time.

I have heard tales that, for some households in other countries, the smartphone is the only “computer” they own. They are inexpensive, portable, easily sharable with other members of the family and perfectly capable for many tasks. While some may scoff at such a challenge, I feel it is really no challenge at all. The real challenge is overcoming our comfort, convenience, limits and pre-conceived notions.

Just more food for thought.

Delegating Choice

I have talked before about final choices and sensible defaults as a way I bring balance to my life by reducing the number of choices I have to make. I have recently identified one other method I increasingly use to simplify in this manner – delegating choices to someone or something else.

For example, when listening to music at home, I rarely seek out a specific album or artist. Most often, I use iTunes Genius Playlists or iTunes DJ to do the selecting for me. Even more recently, since it’s release, I’ve been using the excellent KCRW Music Mine and just hitting play. In both of these cases, I’m happy to place my trust in these tools and let it run. I don’t need to think about what kind of mood I’m in and searching through thousands of choices. I simply hit play.

Another way I have been doing this, and this is an idea I learned from a good friend, is when ordering at restaurants. Instead of looking through the menu and trying to decide my meal, I delegate the choice to the server. I simply ask, “What is good today?” or “Bring me your favorite.” and they, more often than not, are happy to oblige. Now, one must have a pretty broad palate (I do) and one must be OK with the idea that what is delivered may be the most expensive item on the menu (this has been rare for me) but, in general, I’m delighted with the results of such experiments.

In both of these cases, one takes a risk that is based on the trust that the person or service will make choices that are agreeable to you. It helps that in both I have broad and curious tastes and therefore it is hard for me to be disappointed. That said, I think there is under-appreciated delight in randomness, serendipity, and surprise. I wish to fill my life with more of it and this is one way to do so.