We know that in graphic design, more white space increases the power of our message. Protecting 'creative void' in any area of our life will re-claim lost power. But it never comes naturally.
It takes strength to hold open that vaccuum of emptiness, or at least an ally you trust, and it changes everything. Something that still thrills me is when I do a home Declutter and Reset design, and people say they need a bigger fridge. I surprise them by saying 'Take out a shelf and you'll have more space'. They surprise me by actually doing it. And it works. Be brave and try it yourself, just the most shallow shelf. Getting a 'family' of shallow, stackable clear containers is the key to making it work. What happens is, your food becomes see-able, in one glance. What you don't see, you don't eat. Less shelves leave no hiding room, and gets you to tell the truth about all the things you didn't eat last week, and don't want to eat next week.
People ask me what do do about their spice collection. I say 'They are all stale anyway, get rid of most of them. Pick three cuisines per year, and get really good at them. Eat them up, then start again. This year, try Japanese, Morroccan, Thai. No Indian curry leaf or Chinese five spice till next year.' What a relief.
Here is what Steve Jobs had do say about Subtraction:
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
Every morning as you make your day's decisions, your humble fridge will remind you, 'say no' to those 1,000 good things, and watch life get better.
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Is 2019 your year of living clear and free? If you live in either Sydney, Melbourne or Gippsland, and want to re-train your house so everything in it delights and serves you, I may be able to help, so contact me with your top questions. Next week I do a declutter-and-reset for a design professor, and he is bringing his students. Party!
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