The Minimalist Mindset

by Danny Dover

Remember, when you spend money, you are really trading the hours you worked to earn that money for whatever it is you are buying. The available hours of your life are always decreasing so make sure your trades are actually worth the exchange.

You have goals, family responsibilities, and spiritual journeys

that you want to enjoy in your life. Remember that addition is not possible without subtraction. The only way to prioritize the important pursuits is to say no to the less important ones.

Unlike money, time is a resource that slowly but constantly decreases.

many hours they spent in meetings. Start prioritizing the habit of time management now. Otherwise, you may never have the opportunity.

From a minimalist point of view, employment should serve only two goals: Funding that which allows you to live life well Attaining fulfillment

People are generally good at spending money,

whereas businesses are generally good at making money.

business structures are a better tool for maximizing wealth than the normal personal processes

you can either work to achieve your own dreams, or you can work for someone else and help them achieve their dreams.

minimalist direction) is to aim to create a tiny business that is aimed only to provide the minimal profits necessary to facilitate your well lived life.

A minimalist business doesn’t inherently strive to make you a millionaire, but it does strive to maximize your time, freedom, and provide you with enough money to cover your needs.

You need to gain so much leverage that there is no feasible way for them to deny your reasonable requests. There are at least three ways to do this: Own a key project or system Have an incredibly high work output Be the best problem solver at the company

Your goal is to either find one of these openings at your current company, or find another company that has one of these opportunities available.

Minimalism is largely about establishing your real priorities and cutting away everything that does not serve those goals.

Every business has problems and all business owners want those problems solved.

challenge yourself to provide your manager with two solutions to problems for every one problem you bring them. They will be grateful and you will start building your leverage.

Minimalist Workspace

Eliminate barriers to doing work Eliminate distractions

subtraction by identifying what they can eliminate from their workspace.

Distractions are the perfect poison. They can take the form of practically anything, and they can ruin the best of intentions.

eliminating distractions, I also actively train myself to separate the tools I use for working and the tools I use for playing.

The goal here is to train your body and mind to associate certain objects, tools, spaces, or feelings with work so that you can get into your flow as fast as possible.

Moving is a tangible expression of internal change.

A step upwards in housing is not always a step upwards in life.

moving up in lifestyle feels easy, but trying to fight the trend and moving down in lifestyle is incredibly hard.

Travel has many benefits. The most important of these are exposing yourself to other cultures, opening your mind to new ideas, learning that life offers many ways of living, and giving you the opportunity to learn about yourself by seeing yourself through other people’s eyes.

the best way to get started traveling is to start small. Start by being a tourist in your own

town. See the sights, explore new neighborhoods, and try a few new places to eat. Once you gain more momentum, travel to a nearby town or city. Be a stranger and look at your environment with new eyes.

Optimal transportation options are entirely dependent on circumstance.

consider some of the other options that may exist for your personal work context:

Living closer to where you work Cycling to work (so you can get exercise while commuting) Taking public transport (so you can work or study while commuting) Working from home Getting a new job that has a shorter commute Using a combination of these techniques on various days

Clear and consistent communication is absolutely essential for every kind of human relationship.

Establish Your Response Times

By reducing the amount of time you spend communicating (a neutrally productive task), you increase the amount of time you have available for doing more creative and forward moving work (positive productive tasks).

Listen to others more Ask better questions

Listening is like all other skills; it can be improved through practice.

Understanding and empathy are the signs of good listening, not just the ability to repeat the words that have been spoken.

A good question should both elicit understanding in the question being asked and cause new understanding once it is answered. Good questions convey important information in both directions.

Ask “why” rather than “how”

Ask about feelings rather than facts Ask for additional details of information that has already been conveyed

E-mail is the single biggest culturally accepted time-waster of this century.

e-mail should not be your most important priority. It is a task that never ends.

Mark it as spam

Archive it

Delegate it to someone else

Reply to

today’s e-mail addresses have been abused too,

You have other options.

If someone wants to contact you, either have them fill out a simple web form or make them dig a little bit on your website to find your e-mail address.