Hello.
This time, I’ll look at 10 things a man who wants to become a minimalist has let go of.
1.Choosing clothes
In summer, I basically only wear white shirts and black pants.
In fall and winter, I just add a jacket over that.
In the dead of winter, I wear a down vest.
But one of each isn’t enough,
so I own three identical T-shirts.
I have two pairs of pants.
In other words, it’s like a uniform for my personal wardrobe.
For better or worse, I have zero interest in clothes,
so this style works perfectly for me.
But if you love clothes, it might dampen your spirits a bit.
I wouldn’t recommend it for those who enjoy the daily ritual of “What should I wear today?”
But for those who find choosing clothes a chore, it’s highly recommended.
I know this sounds extreme,
but when you’re running a business,
you want to reduce the number of small, trivial (and ultimately unimportant) decisions you have to make every day.
2. Taking a train
I absolutely hate riding trains (especially Japan’s uniquely crowded commuter trains),
so I generally avoid them.
I only take them in emergencies, like if my car tire goes flat.
3. APP Notiification
I generally keep notifications turned off because they become noise.
However, I do keep phone, email, and LINE notifications on since turning them off would interfere with work.
For apps like Slack where I can select notification times, I turn them off after 6 PM.
Every time a notification pops up,
my concentration breaks and my work gets interrupted.
I truly believe they are harmful.
4. Smart Watch
As mentioned earlier, I ditched my smartwatch and switched to a cheap Casio.
The main reason is that notifications are just too annoying.
5. SNS account
This was truly unnecessary.
I tested using LinkedIn to raise company awareness,
but I still dislike social media, so I won’t be doing it at all going forward.
6.Taking notes on my smartphone. (Important matters)
I’ve gone back to using paper notes.
Strangely enough, I find I remember things better when I write them down on paper.
Also, I feel that writing down things I want to do or goals makes them easier to achieve.
7. Low-paying work
This may sound a bit harsh,
but I’ve decided not to take on work below a certain threshold (in my case, photography).
The reason is that it becomes nothing but physical labor.
I used to actively take on jobs at that rate,
but now I find it impossible with any kind of work.
As a photographer, to put it bluntly, there’s an endless supply of low-paying gigs.
Occasionally, it’s fine, but photography and videography
which should be enjoyable
risk becoming mere labor to fill my schedule. So, I generally decline them.
Instead, I focus on work I can approach with a positive, proactive attitude.
8. Making phone calls (except in emergencies)
I usually communicate via text messages,
but for some reason, there are people who insist on calling to confirm things
that could be handled with a few lines in an email.
Every time, I find myself wondering, “Was that call really necessary?”
So, in my case, I only make phone calls
for emergencies.
9. Board and paper purchases
Before becoming a photographer, I used to be involved in music,
so I bought over 10 CDs every month.
I also loved movies, so I bought a lot of DVDs too.
And both of those were important collections to me.
As for books, there was a period when I only read business books (self-help books),
and during that time, I also bought over 10 books a month.
Now, I don’t read self-help books at all,
and I absolutely won’t buy them in the future either
(I’ll explain the reasons in a separate article later).
Currently, all of these are available digitally.
I don’t think I need to elaborate on this point.
・Spotify (YouTube Music)
・Netflix
・Kindle
With these services, you can achieve a good state without owning the
“physical items” themselves.
About five years ago, I got rid of everything (digitizing what I could)
and haven’t bought any of these kinds of things since.
10. Smoking and drinking
Regarding alcohol, I can’t drink, so I don’t spend money on it.
As for cigarettes, I used to smoke over three packs a day in the past.
(I quit about 10 years ago.)
I was a chain smoker, and while it’s really bad,
I started in my teens, so my dependence was extremely high.
Because of that, it was very difficult,
but I used nicotine patches and somehow managed to quit successfully.
Ten years later, I absolutely hate cigarettes now, despite loving them so much back then.
Honestly, I don’t really want to work with people who smoke.
In our generation, there was this trend where smoking was seen as kind of “cool,”
and I admired that, so I started smoking as a teenager.
Looking back now, it wasn’t cool at all.
All I can say is,
“Follow the law, you idiot.”
I never knew what pears tasted like until I quit smoking.
Then, about three months after quitting,
I was genuinely shocked by how incredibly sweet a pear tasted.
At the same time, I vividly remember being genuinely moved,
realizing just how much human taste and smell can recover.
They say it’s all harm and no benefit,
and I truly believe that’s exactly right.
