Mind the Beginner

This blogpost is a follow-up on my last blogpost on which Alan Perlman from over at the 9 to 5 alternative commented:

Many people–myself included–understand that there’s a third pillar, but may not know how to attack it. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.
Like, once you recognize the third pillar, once you know you need to act in the present and to change certain things, how do you do it? What’s optimal? – Alan

A quick refresh: There are three pillars in personal development, three choices you have right now:

1. Flee the present
   
2. Passively accept the present
   
3. Act in the present

Now we have those clear again  (if you want to read more: the three pillars of personal development) lets dive right in.

Optimal ways to act right now

The very first thing that comes to mind is something Carl (R Nelson, over at Drop of Change) tought me a long time ago. He called it the 3-2-1 Method and it’s actually as effective as it is simple:

When confronted with an issue which will only take a moment to resolve yet which you are reluctant to do get in your head for a few seconds.

Count down.

3…

2..

1.

Then do it. Say it. Write it down. Type it. Send it.

This is by far the simplest tactic around and works wonders. Coupled with a tactic taken from “getting things done” which is to do something immediately if it takes two minutes or less will get you through all those little things throughout the day that need to be done.

In that we have another clue how to tackle acting in the present.

Take the smallest possible steps

A topic I’ve written about a lot, like presenting you with 8 steps to reclaiming responsibility. I’m a huge fan of keeping things simple, always looking for ways to make a step even smaller. So small in fact that you can take those steps within two minutes. And you immediately do those things that take two minutes or less.

The problem with being reluctant to act is have steps that are to big to take. If I ask you to write a book in a year, would you?

Or would you postpone the task because writing a book is just to much.

Now what if I asked you to write a short story of say, 1000 words. That’s not to hard now is it? Write a short story every day and let each story continue where the last one ended and you have a book in a year.

Small steps, they might be boring. You’re just writing a short story, not a book. You’re just writing a few lines of code, not a complete program and you’re not making an online income, you’re just making a single sell. Totally boring but take enough steps… Do I have to spell it out? Every single step is getting you closer. You know that feeling when you tick something off your to-do list? Maybe a quick picture will help you recall that feeling:

Do you remember the feeling?

Feels good doesn’t it, checking a box, finishing a task. Some people even write down extra tasks on their to-do-list just so they can experience the feeling of checking the box. With huge steps, you get to check a box once in a while. That is, if you ever finish it. With small steps, you get a lot of boxes to check and chances are you will.

So what is optimal?

Once you recognize that you have to act in the now:

• Identify the act to be done now
• Cut that act up in the smallest possible steps
• Stop procrastinating and do those small steps. (It takes you just a few minutes after all!)
• If you have a hard time getting over procrastination, apply the 3-2-1 Method

And if you doubt this approach, remember that My way is the Best Way

Don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed so you won’t miss a thing.

One way to get rid of clutter in your bag

After a year of keeping track of minimalism it still seems to be a trending topic on the Internet. It’s not that hard to understand why, it’s a natural extension of productivity and mindfulness. It’s the effect of being focused, a single goal in mind. There is no place for useless things if you want to reach your goal in a straight line.

When you need your wallet or your keys, do you know exactly where they are? Can you grab them without even looking? Or do you need to dig around in a huge bag crying out “It’s in here somewhere” while you turn the entire contents over on a table.

Frustrating isn’t it, when you can’t find what you are looking for. Of course you have these situations every day. That piece of paper on your desk, that file on your computer, that bill, and where did that scarp of paper go with that phone number you needed to call for a job offer.

Small problems, small solutions

You’ve seen minimalist homes like these and these before, and there are many more examples out there. What they all have in common is that “there is a place for everything and everything in it’s place”. Your car is in the driveway, your TV in the living room and your bed in the bedroom. Huge things with their own clearly defined place. The smaller things get however, the harder it seems to give them their own place.

The reason for this is that smaller things have more places they can be stored. How many places are there to store your car? You’ll be looking in the driveway or the garage. Now, how many places are there to store your keys? A smaller home, room, desk or bag will solve issues like these for you.

Reducing spaces

Minimalism is easy in theory and that’s why the solution is easy as well. Reduce the number of places those small things can hide. How, you ask? Get a smaller bag. Have fewer coats to leave your keys in. Reduce the number of folders in your computer. Best would be to reduce so far that even the smallest thing has only one or two places it can be.

If you religiously hold to those places you can find anything and everything in just a few seconds. Make it a habit (Leo is an expert in this) to put those small things in place. I’ll give you the example of my keyring: it has exactly 2 places it can be: 1: My right front pocket 2: The drawer in my desk. If it’s not in either, I’ve lost it.

Sure, a keyring can be stored in many more places but it doesn’t belong there.

Answer me these questions

To help you look at these questions:

• What is it for?
• Do you need it?
• When do you need it?
• What is it’s specific place?
• Is that place suitable? (not to small but certainly not to big!)
• What other things will be sharing that place?

And of course  ask those questions for the other times found in the last question as well. Start small and work your way up. If you find something that serves no purpose, that you don’t need. Is there a need to keep it? That of course is the last step in applying minimalism. Get rid of anything that serves no purpose. A last tip: if you do not enjoy using an item, do not keep it!

A lot of blogs I follow seem to be doing an end-of-the-year review. I myself have been thinking about this a while now and see no reason not to do one. When this year started I didn’t own a blog, I wasn’t active on social media and had never earned a single dollar through online sales (not counting ebay, but that’s not business).

Three small things but I started in all three and combined they made a huge difference. It began with reading the four hour workweek. As I have the habit of writing down the date on which I bought a book inside it’s cover I an tell you that I bought it on October 28th 2008. I read it the following days and reread sections over the following months. The first thoughts about lifestyle design were born and I started reading blogs. A few months later I decided to start blogging over at mindthebeginner.wordpress.com (March 13th 2008). You might recall the adres, it’s where I build this blog to it’s first 100 subscribers. I was doubtful about starting a blog for a long time, thinking I had nothing to write that people would actually want to read. I was wrong and Taking part in probloggers 31 days to building a better blog challenge helped me get into the ways of blogging.

Blogging is not the only thing I started as said, I also got into Project Mojave thanks to my friend Carl. Although I didn’t stay there it did open my eyes to the possibilities of inernet and that things really aren’t that hard if only you believe in yourself and your own capabilities. With so many people online there are bound to be people who want hear what you have to say.

Right now I’m still not completely happy with my blog though. The look isn’t to good and reader interaction isn’t what I’d like it to be. So there we have a goal for the next year. But there are many more goals for the new year. 2010 Will be a themed year for me: freedom. Freedom in many ways, and of course something this vague needs measurable goals so let me give you an outline of what I’m going to do this year:

The Goals

Most significant of all I’m setting the goal of a monthly income of at least $500 a month through online ventures to be reached by the end of 2010. Combined with this the total spendings for 2010 will not be more than the total income. I could try and do that on a monthly basis but I pay my tuition in one go and that will most certainly be more than my monthly income. Freedom of finance.

My second area of goal setting is this blog. I want to reach the 300 subscribers mark by the end of the year and give you at least 100 blogposts over the next year, spread evenly. (So no overload of blogposts in December just to reach this goal.). Also I want to redo the layout and provide you with a better blogreading experience. I might just start using “headway” but I’m still on the fence about that one. A blog to write about freedom, minimalism and zen-inspired life.

In the computer area I have three goals. First off, touch-typing in qwerty. I type a lot of course. Not only in blogging but I’m almost always behind my computer and touch-typing will improve my speed greatly. My education is training me among other things to be a programmer and it’s silly to have to keep watching the keys and be slow just because I use six fingers and cant’ find the [, \ , ; and ] without looking. Secondly I’m going to set up my desktop to be a Linux-only computer. Not because I’m anti-windows (actually I think Win 7 is very good) but because I want to challenge myself and I can see only advantages of knowing how to work with more than one OS. Lastly I want a laptop, so I can properly blog and work/study wherever I am. Something highly portable but capable, like a thinkpad T500. Of course this will run on Linux. The sidenote here is that I’m not going to pay for this laptop with anything else but the income I plan to make through online ventures. Freedom to work/study/play where I want.

In the category of brain-development and useless skills I have another nice set of goals. I want to be able to solve a Rubik’s cube in 60 seconds or less. (Of which I will be posting a video on this blog as soon as I reach that goal.) I know it’s completely useless but It’s something I’ve wanted to be able to do for a long time now and it keeps bugging me.
I want to be able to juggle three balls, yes it’s completely useless, or so you might think. But its a great way of training the brain and developing hand-eye coordination. Together with the cube it’s something from my childhood I never learned and watched others do. Who said every goal needs to be useful.
Speedreading, you’ve probably heard of it, is something I’ve also wanted to be able to do. Although I can reach roughly 600 wpm (words per minute) right now I want to raise this to over 1000 wpm both in Dutch and English. Thicker books will not hold me captive for countless hours anymore. Information is freedom and more information is more freedom.

The minimalism goals are next. A long long time ago I blogged about the 100 items challenge and I must confess that I’m still not there. Why would I want to do this? I want less clutter, more space and a serene living space. I will have to get rid of dozens of books, and all those things that represent cash value but are a total pain to get sold for a descent price. It’s to cluttered right now and have more things ties you down and limits freedom.

Last but certainly not least we have body and mind developments. Five points here, but three are things I’m already doing and need to keep up. (Okay, it’s more of a want but feels like a need)
I want to keep meditating daily for 20 minutes using the methods of zazen. Combined with this it’s always a good idea to take up physical activities so I’m going to run, continuously for an hour somewhere between two and three times a week. I’ve been running for a while now but it’s hardly consistent. The last physical thing I want to keep doing is continue training t’ai chi. Following a weekly class every Thursday evening and I will stay at that for as long as I can, which is probably until I finish university.
As mentioned there are five points, so two are new ones. The first is a huge things if you know anything about personal development and productivity. And of course…. it’s something I’m not doing right now so here it is: I want to become an early riser. Getting up at 6.30 Monday through Friday consistently. Seeing as I live about 15 minutes by bike from Uni and we never start before 8.45 am that leaves me with enough time to write blogposts and perhaps even go for morning runs and/or meditate in the morning as well. We’ll have to see how that goes.
The last goal on this extensive list is something I’m absolutely not sure about if I will be able to do but I want to take up Aikido. Again this is a weekly course but the timing is horrid. Mid-day somewhere and that might interfere with my roster. I just hope it’s possible.

There you have it, my 2010 shortlist:

“Freedom”

• Financial

*Monthly “internet income” of $500
*Live below means

• Blogging

*300 subscribers to this blog
*100+ blogposts in 2010
*New layout

• Computer-related

*Touch typing in qwerty
*Having Linux as only OS
*A laptop (Payed for with internet income)

• Brain development

*Solve Rubik’s cube in 60 seconds or less (and post a video of it here)
*Juggling with three balls
*Speedreading 1000 words a minute in Dutch and English

• Minimalistic living

*Complete the 100 items challenge

• Body development

*Continue meditating daily for 20 minutes (zazen)
*Continue training in T’ai Chi
*Run more consistently (2-3 times a week, one hour at a time)
*Become an early riser (6.30 am Mon – Fri)
*Take up Aikido if possible

An almost insane list to complete and I forgot one essential thing: Do all this AND get proper grades! In the new layout this list will get it’s own dedicated page so you can keep track of the developments. I’ll also be making a so called bucket list (Things to do before you kick the ..) and that too will get it’s own dedicated page. I’m sure this list will develop a bit over the year, but nothing will come off, if anything, things will be added.

With that being said all that is left is to say Thank You! for making 2009 an awesome year where I learned loads of things and finally found my path in life. I couldn’t have done it without you. Enjoy these last days and I hope to see you in 2010

Greets,

Christiaan

• Are you one of those people who constantly try to “hack” their life and productivity with all kinds of “Getting Things Done” tactics and to-do lists?
• Are you constantly trying to squeeze as much tasks in an hour as possible?
• Are you constantly on the lookout for the next big thing in organizing?
• Are you constantly reading about how you can be more productive?

If you answered any one of these questions with “yes” (or maybe you just answered “no” because you don’t constantly do it..) than you’ve probably been confronted with the curse of productive people:

Other people just aren’t that productive.

What takes you two hours, takes them a full day, what takes you 15 minutes takes them hours. I’m sure you can relate to that one. Especially if you’re a minimalist and carry everything in one bag.  You can probably pack your stuff and be on your way in under 15 minutes while others around you take way longer.

The curse of productivity

So why is this a curse? Because you’re so damn good and fast you’ve got loads of time left, time the other people (the non-productive kind) will most certainly try to leech by asking you to help them. “Hey, it looks like you’ve got nothing to do, can you give me a hand here?” “I’ve got loads of stuff to do, could you take some of it out of my hands and do it for me?”
Sound familiar?

Although saying no might get you out of this a few times if you do it to often you’ll most certainly get into trouble. Imagine going on a vacation and being packed in 15 minutes. You then proceed with watching TV, reading a book or catching up on your RSS feeds. You’re slacking, you’re doing nothing to help the group effort. (i.e. going on vacation and getting everything packed) Some sort of discussion is soon to follow.

It works the other way round to though. You’re so productive you feel the others just aren’t putting enough effort into it. If you can do it in 20 minutes, why can’t they manage in over an hour?! Frustration is bound to rear it’s ugly head.

The fruits of learning the skills of productivity are sour indeed. You’ll be faster on your own, but as soon as there’s a group thing you’re going to either get frustrated or in trouble for being a perceived slacker.

Stealth Productivity

I advocate a form of stealth productivity: be as productive as you like and knowing that you can easily do things fast proceed to do them that way, but never let other people know when you’re “done” and thus “free” for others to leech your time. Be the upside down swan: busy on the surface, calm and steady beneath.