It’s hard to be a minimalist as a parent. Or as…a human…in this economy. We all want more stuff.
With a small living space and a growing family I’ve grown accustomed to throwing stuff out. I grew up in a bigger house than I have now so there was space for everything. Now there’s space for very little. It’s actually a great feeling because I know what’s in every box (after doing some deep cleaning over winter break).
I remember helping a friend move in high school. Endless hoards of products, products, products. Three moving trucks. Why? I wondered.
My philosophy now is: RAM and Hard drive.
RAM: the random access memory. The things you see when you open doors affect your brain state. Your brain can only hold so much. If you live in clutter you have clutter. So the things you see in your house should reflect what you can hold in memory.
- Toys should have a theme (blocks, action figures, doll house). If it doesn’t match a theme, it’s gone (begone random slap bracelet! “Afuera!!!”, (quote from new Argentine President))
- Things you see should be things you use. Don’t use flower every day? Don’t have it in the pantry. Put it in the corner thing. Cereal every day? Put that front and center.
Then long-storage is the hard drive. It’s about keeping stuff you know you’ll want. This is easier to say than do.
- Holiday decoration? (Theme) keep those in the attic, out of sight out of mind. But when you need it you know where it is.
- You get the point.
The same goes for code. Maintenance and search cost increase as you add garbage. When it doubt, delete code. Afuera!!
When in doubt, “afuera!!”
_________________________
Bryan lives somewhere at the intersection of faith, fatherhood, and futurism and writes about tech, books, Christianity, gratitude, and whatever’s on his mind. If you liked reading, perhaps you’ll also like subscribing: