id: lim title: Less is More previous: ile next: writing date: 2021-04-24 ---

## Less is More

I am in a bit of a rut at the moment and am fairly overwhelmed with things that I have to do as opposed to things I want to do. This means that I have little space to add new things to my schedule to test or improve. Thankfully there is still something that can be done even with no time and that is cutting things out.

Often I think of changes I can make in terms of new things to try or practices to add to my routine, but there is just as much, and at times more, value in removing items. My personality often leads me to forget this aspect. I am interested in so many things and like the feeling of doing more, so I have to say that I am glad that the current situation is forcing me to approach this differently.

I am going to err on the side of removing something if I am not sure if it should be removed or not. I should be able to get it back pretty easily if I miss it, and it also lets me test out the change as opposed to just guessing what will happen.

Firstly I am subscribed to the mailing lists of a decent number of blogs and podcasts. I sometimes read the emails but often when I want to read the content I go directly to the site. I also don’t read them right when new posts are made so knowing that is not useful to me. It means that each day I am getting at least one if not a small handful of messages that I sort into the relevant email folders and then more often than not never read. The notifications are distracting, sorting takes time, and I know where to get the information when I want it as opposed to having it fed to me.

Speaking of notifications I have turned off almost all notifications for various apps on my phone. The only things that should make any noise are calls and text messages. No emails, no new songs on spotify. If someone is trying to contact me directly I want them to be able to (within reason which I will talk about in a second), but as with the emails I want to go get the information when I need it and reduce the amount being thrown at me.

This is a common theme for me, I love getting information and learning new things but having it all fed to me is too much of a temptation and a distraction. The information is readily available, so I am happy to take the responsibility for finding it into my own hands and be able to choose when to read, watch, or listen as opposed to doing it in reaction to a notification or email.

I am uninstalling and unsubscribing from all video streaming services. When I watch I usually watch with others. On my own I am often tempted to put something on in the background while I am working and that is another distraction. The other people I am watching with can certainly put on a movie; so if I don’t have access to the services it will affect my work time but not any relaxation viewing. One of the rules I am testing currently is no multi tasking so this will help with that. It is tempting to have something playing while writing this for instance.

I am unsubscribing from all channels on youtube and deleting my watch history so that it won’t recommend videos that fit my tastes anymore. As I use them I can re-subscribe to channels, but at the moment the suggested videos are far too tempting and it is very easy to go down the rabbit hole for an hour or more of moving from one video to the next. I have also taken a look at what the suggested videos are when I am logged out and I have no interest in any of them.

I am turning my phone onto airplane mode for the evening and until after I have meditated and journaled in the morning. I have family and friends in other timezones and a close friend that works nights. It is not unusual to get text messages when I am sleeping or before I have gotten myself started for the day. This will let me control the times that I am available to be contacted and not interrupt those important routines.

I am simplifying my exercise routine. I am testing out only doing bodyweight training for a while. I will definitely add kettlebells and weights back in but I am having some trouble with my joints and I think it is because I went too hard and too quickly with the weights. My background is in gymnastics so I have more experience with bodyweight training then anything else and that will allow me to get my body back into proper working order and reduce the overall load on my connective tissue.

My cooking has gotten more elaborate recently, which also often means less healthy. By making simpler meals I hope to save time in the kitchen and increase the quality of my diet. I do enjoy cooking and will save the more involved meals for weekends when I have the extra time to spare.

All of these should hopefully free up a decent amount of time. I am not planning on adding anything new to fill in that time until I have grown accustomed to doing less. I don’t want to just overload my schedule with new things right away, I want to add them in slowly and give each new activity the time that it deserves to ensure that I do it well. I have never tried to remove so much at once and I am not sure what my reaction to it will be. All part of the experimentation I guess. Paying close attention to my actions for a week or so really surprised me how much of what I was doing was reactive as opposed to active. I am hoping to change that by getting rid of all these things.

Thanks for reading.

Phone time: 8h 28m