Month: May 2015

OK, so today I’ve been struck by this urge to share my thoughts on how less can help me do more. The ignition of this urge originates from my thirst for productivity, optimization yet simplicity and minimalism.

So, what does Less mean?

• Less means carrying only the necessary with me.

I try NOT to carry what I MAY need. This improves mobility. Lighter equipment. Less to handle.

• Less means having less to keep track off and manage.

This actually improves management as you have less to deal with and reduces stress as you have less to worry about too.

So, how do we ACTUALLY keep less?

• Replace many with one.

Ugh, if there is one thing I hate is duplicates. Don’t get me wrong – I love spares (and twins..) but I don’t like having stuff of one purpose scattered around in many places nor do I like having the same thing multiple times in different forms. I like to keep as few as possible of the best of something.

• Group common.

If we can’t replace many items with one we can at least group them. Organization methodology which deals with how we group stuff in order to optimize performance is another subject which we can elaborate later.

• Lite and simplistic alternatives.

If a task can be done with lighter and more simplistic tools then that’s the ones I’ll be choosing. If I only need a screwdriver I won’t be carrying the whole toolbox but I’ll definitely note I got one thing out of its place to return it back as soon as I’m done with it. This also wipes out the possibility of opening new pending task.. and no, I’m not referring to the screwdriver, it’s a metaphor.

• Start first, End first.

Order. I can’t stand it when I start doing something and something else interrupts me assigning me yet another task in the middle leaving the first one pending and incomplete. So I try as much as possible to close a pending issue as soon as I start dealing with it and I log my progress to not get lost in the process.

• Log.

First of all, I like to keep one log. It’s how you tag your log that will help you filter afterwards upon need and this goes right along with “Replace many with one” & “Group common” 🙂 Now, logging will get you out of worrying of what is pending and what is not and keep you informed about past events and info you may forget as well as provide the possibility of statistics, if done properly.

That’s all for now. Enjoy your less heavy and more simplistic, lighter life!

Love & Peace, Demetris

Drafting; Why should I bother?

First of all, let’s take on a definition of drafting. According to wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_drawing:

Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing drawings that visually communicate how something functions or is to be constructed.

Now, let’s take on how drafting can actually assist in the creative process.

The term “cost” refers to the consumption of resources which, beyond money, includes time, patience, energy & health.

• Drafting means Preview

By projecting our creation and how it will operate before it is built we can focus on the idea rather on technical parts and see how it provides a solution to the targeted problem.

• Drafting means Revision

By going through the drafted solution again and again we can apply improvements without the actual cost it would take to apply them on the final product.

• Drafting means Freedom

By releasing ourselves from the responsibility of implementation we are free to explore and experiment without worrying about any costs of actually building, modifying and destroying.

• Drafting means Abstraction

By abstracting away the how-to of implementation we can focus on the what-is and how-to of solution towards the problem.

• Drafting means Mobile

By taking a pen (or a pencil) and a (cool covered inspiring) notebook we can practically go draft just about everywhere.

• Drafting means No Technological Dependencies

By taking a pen (or a pencil) and a (cool covered inspiring) notebook we are good to go. No electricity dependencies, no device dependencies, nothing; just us and our draft. (And yes, eventually you may have to render the final result on some form of digital medium, for creating, storing or simply logging.)

I’m planning on updating this post at regular intervals until it is perfected. Until then, this post shall remain online available even though it is a draft. Do comment nevertheless because feedback is also part of this process.