The Choice Paradox (The Case for Minimizing)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) wears the same outfit every day. He has multiples of the same item because hygiene, but they're all the same. Steve Jobs (Apple), was famous for sporting the same turtle neck sweater regularly. As aforementioned, these men own(ed) more than the one article of clothing, however there is a deliberate choice behind these simple wardrobes.
Have you ever been to a restaurant, been seated, and found yourself overwhelmed at the five pages of appetizers? Let alone the novella that is the entree menu, and don't even get me started on dessert. We feel crushed beneath the weight of the culinary piece of literature, oft referred to as "our extensive dine in selection, we now offer take-out". Eventually we settle for "what do you recommend?", or "what sounds good?"; but we've lost all perception of what good is at this point. The kids are restless, you're hungry, and you have (or at least feel like it) been sitting there for two days.
What's happening in the previous is called the Paradox of Choice. Zuckerberg has an intentionally simplistic wardrobe. This simplicity reduces a dilemma:
THE MORE CHOICES WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US, THE HARDER IT IS TO ACTUALLY MAKE A CHOICE.
People think that having fewer options means there are really no options, when in reality when faced with the need to make a decision, the more options we are faced with, the less likely we are to be able to make a decision. We become encumbered with choices, stare at our closet and give up stating "I have nothing to wear", despite have twenty shirts hanging there. This brings up a secondary paradox: LESS IS MORE.
Physical, as well as mental clutter drags us down. Owning more stuff, can actually lead to more stress as there's more to look after). In simplifying our environment/conditions, we also remove some of the strain on our mental resources. You see, every mental transaction during the day takes up some of our mental capacity. That being said, if we are starting our day spending twenty minutes trying to pick a shirt; we're draining our decision making abilities, when we use up too much of that decision making power, we leave less for important decisions during the day. As well as taking up so much time in the morning, we're probably rushed and now stressed.
Now, I'm not saying unleash your inner KonMarie on your closet, despite how much it sounds like a wicked form of martial arts. What I am saying is minimize ourselves. By reducing some personal clutter, we may alleviate some of the negativity in our lives. We have this strange notion that if we aren't busting at the seams with work, activities, and possessions, we won't be happy. If our schedule isn't full, we can't be full.
Anyone that's left a program running in the background on their computer or smartphone knows the appalling drain it can be on the device battery. Then to add on, we forgot to connect to Wi-Fi so now this thing is sucking up our data faster than a shop vac in a dust plant. I once had over 1GB of used data that way, it hurt.
Take a personal inventory. There's nothing wrong with having some stuff, (I have a spot on my desk for my really geeky collectibles). However, don't let our joy be tied purely to material possessions in our world. Rust and dust can find most our possessions at some point. All these things can drain us like that program in the background, we don't even realize it's doing it, yet it is all the same. As I've written previously, get in the habit of keeping a journal and finding gratitudes; execute a few random acts of kindness, and find some time to pray or meditate. Grab control of our time, and our mind.
Have you ever been to a restaurant, been seated, and found yourself overwhelmed at the five pages of appetizers? Let alone the novella that is the entree menu, and don't even get me started on dessert. We feel crushed beneath the weight of the culinary piece of literature, oft referred to as "our extensive dine in selection, we now offer take-out". Eventually we settle for "what do you recommend?", or "what sounds good?"; but we've lost all perception of what good is at this point. The kids are restless, you're hungry, and you have (or at least feel like it) been sitting there for two days.
What's happening in the previous is called the Paradox of Choice. Zuckerberg has an intentionally simplistic wardrobe. This simplicity reduces a dilemma:
THE MORE CHOICES WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US, THE HARDER IT IS TO ACTUALLY MAKE A CHOICE.
People think that having fewer options means there are really no options, when in reality when faced with the need to make a decision, the more options we are faced with, the less likely we are to be able to make a decision. We become encumbered with choices, stare at our closet and give up stating "I have nothing to wear", despite have twenty shirts hanging there. This brings up a secondary paradox: LESS IS MORE.
Physical, as well as mental clutter drags us down. Owning more stuff, can actually lead to more stress as there's more to look after). In simplifying our environment/conditions, we also remove some of the strain on our mental resources. You see, every mental transaction during the day takes up some of our mental capacity. That being said, if we are starting our day spending twenty minutes trying to pick a shirt; we're draining our decision making abilities, when we use up too much of that decision making power, we leave less for important decisions during the day. As well as taking up so much time in the morning, we're probably rushed and now stressed.
Now, I'm not saying unleash your inner KonMarie on your closet, despite how much it sounds like a wicked form of martial arts. What I am saying is minimize ourselves. By reducing some personal clutter, we may alleviate some of the negativity in our lives. We have this strange notion that if we aren't busting at the seams with work, activities, and possessions, we won't be happy. If our schedule isn't full, we can't be full.
Anyone that's left a program running in the background on their computer or smartphone knows the appalling drain it can be on the device battery. Then to add on, we forgot to connect to Wi-Fi so now this thing is sucking up our data faster than a shop vac in a dust plant. I once had over 1GB of used data that way, it hurt.
Take a personal inventory. There's nothing wrong with having some stuff, (I have a spot on my desk for my really geeky collectibles). However, don't let our joy be tied purely to material possessions in our world. Rust and dust can find most our possessions at some point. All these things can drain us like that program in the background, we don't even realize it's doing it, yet it is all the same. As I've written previously, get in the habit of keeping a journal and finding gratitudes; execute a few random acts of kindness, and find some time to pray or meditate. Grab control of our time, and our mind.
Comments
Post a Comment