Clutter

Think Simple, Lead Better

January 26, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Managers sometimes make decisions that unnecessarily complicate things, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Newbie MBAs often bring in their overly rigorous perspectives, frameworks, and analytical tools. However, if they don’t use them wisely, the theoretical frameworks learned in the comfort of the B-school classroom can actually make things more complex in the trenches of the workplace. Collaborating with someone experienced, practical, and familiar with the company’s ins and outs can significantly improve managerial decision-making. Effectiveness comes from finding the right methodical balance and simplifying things when it makes sense.

Idea for Impact: Not everyone is naturally inclined to simplify, but with some on-the-job experience and feedback from the crew, managers can learn to cut the fat and make things smoother over time.

Busyness is a State of Mind

January 2, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Refrain from judging how busy you are based on how much you must do. When there are too many things to do, you feel busy, and when there isn’t much to do, you feel not busy at all.

Busyness is generally in the mind. It’s the feeling of being scattered about what you don’t have. You can only ever do one thing at a time, so when you claim you’re busy, you’re referring to all the distractions, regrets, apprehensions, fears, and uncertainties that keep your mind unsettled. Busyness is the mental clutter, meaning there’s scant space to think. An overwhelmed mindset can contribute to a sense of being overly busy, even in situations where the workload might be manageable.

Idea for Impact: Being busy is indeed a state of mind, not a state of affairs. When you get overwhelmed, ask yourself, “Am I actually busy, or does it just seem this way? The things I’m doing—and supposed to do—don’t inherently mean I have to keep believing I’m too busy.” Find your focus.

The 5 Habits of Highly Organized People

June 26, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Discover the recipes to productivity and peace of mind by adopting the habits of highly organized people:

Instead of obsessing over perfection, embrace imperfection. Remember the 80/20 Principle, and focus your A-level efforts on the most critical projects. Don’t stress about every minor detail that doesn’t require your attention.
Start with small steps to declutter your space. Set aside time for short decluttering sessions, whether five minutes after lunch to tackle a messy Tupperware drawer or a 15-minute nightly kitchen tidy-up routine. These micro-habits can save you a lot of time on the weekends or during deep-cleaning days.
Avoid problems by anticipating them in advance. Don’t wait until something becomes urgent to take action. Be proactive and plan for contingencies, such as bringing an umbrella on an overcast day. The best time to change is when you want to, not when you’re forced to.
Develop a plan, commit to it, but also be willing to adjust it when necessary. Avoid excessive planning and rigidly sticking to a plan that may no longer work. Stay open to change and be flexible when circumstances require it.
Drop unnecessary work. Examine rituals that can be improved or eliminated. Work with colleagues to streamline decision-making if your workplace has too many rules, approvals, and forms. Take a fresh look at things and find ways to simplify your work processes.

Bonus: Don’t touch anything twice. Put every object in its proper place. Don’t sit on decisions.

Finding Peace in Everyday Tasks: Book Summary of ‘A Monk’s Guide to Cleaning’

June 24, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Shoukei Matsumoto’s book, A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind (2011,) provides spiritual insights into the approach to cleaning and maintenance in a Zen monastery. These practices not only align with Buddhist principles but also form an integral part of meditation and mindfulness.

Matsumoto emphasizes that cleaning the home shouldn’t be considered a burdensome task to be hurriedly completed. Instead, it can be a peaceful and fulfilling practice that purifies and nurtures the mind. It is an ascetic and transformative endeavor that restores our inner being. Matsumoto says, “We sweep dust to remove our worldly desires. We scrub dirt to free ourselves of attachments.” Each clean surface reflects our inner radiance, shining brightly.

Buddhist spirituality extends beyond formal religious rituals and encompasses everyday actions. Simple tasks are seen as sacred rituals, providing opportunities for cultivating mindfulness, compassion, and presence. By clearing away the dust obstructing our vision, we uncover the pure essence of things: “Nothing starts out as rubbish. Things become rubbish when they are treated as rubbish.”

This widely popular book in Japan offers practical cleaning tips and delves into the Buddhist perspective on life. It challenges the wastefulness prevalent in modern society and advocates for a deep reverence towards spaces and objects, highlighting the profound humanity within. Matsumoto, a Buddhist monk at Komyoji Temple in Kamiyacho, Tokyo, shares insights into monastic life and introduces various Zen concepts. Additionally, the book provides guidance on bringing the tranquility and serenity of a Japanese temple into ordinary homes. It reminds us that even in the simplest tasks, such as cleaning, enlightenment can bloom, dispelling the darkness in our hearts.

Decluttering: Getting Rid of the Stuff Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Getting Rid of Everything

June 8, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Marie Kondo the renowned Japanese organizing consultant and author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (2010) presents a radical approach to decluttering. Her philosophy challenges us to reassess the value we attribute to our belongings and discard anything that fails to “spark joy.”

However critics argue that Kondo’s minimalist approach can detach us from sentimental attachments and oversimplify the decluttering process. They particularly question her suggestion of limiting books to a maximum of 30. Yet Kondo emphasizes that her approach is tailored to her own preferences and that the critical aspect of tidying is discovering our individual sense of value. In a recent interview with IndieWire Kondo explained,

The most important part of this process of tidying is to always think about what you have and the discovery of your sense of value what you value that is important. So it’s not so much what I personally think about books. The question you should be asking is what do you think about books. If the image of someone getting rid of books or having only a few books makes you angry that should tell you how passionate you are about books what’s clearly so important in your life. If that riles you up that tells you something about that. That in itself is a very important benefit of this process.

Ultimately the purpose of decluttering is not to let go of possessions that hold meaning for us. It’s about creating space for the things that genuinely bring us joy and contribute positively to our lives. If your personal library brings you happiness there’s no need to limit it.

Idea for Impact: Sort sentimentality from satirical simplification. If certain items hold sentimental value such as mementos a record collection or family heirlooms it is perfectly acceptable to keep them. The important principle is to let go of possessions that no longer serve a purpose and make space for what holds greater significance in our lives.

Addition Through Subtraction

June 5, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Humans are obsessed with adding extra elements to attempt to solve our individual and collective problems. When companies want to change, for example, they almost always add something to the mix: a new department, new requirements, a new business strategy, or new ways of doing things.

Strangely, we’re drawn to complexity even if it’s far simpler to make things difficult and far more difficult to make things simpler. Sometimes it’s to signal that we’ve done something to build upon what was. According to Leidy Klotz’s Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less (2021,) “The problem is that it can be harder to show competence by subtracting. When we transform things from how they were to how we want them to be, we need proof—to show mates, competitors, and ourselves. … . No matter how beneficial an act of subtraction is, it’s not likely to leave as much evidence of what we’ve done.”

Simpler solutions are often harder to spot. Many great inventions made things simpler, not more complex. Besides, the most creative people thrive not by devising intricate complexities but by exploiting overlooked simplicities—splitting stuff up into its constituent parts to reinterpret, reduce, reconstitute, or even eliminate them altogether.

Idea for Impact: Addition through subtraction can be an exceptionally effective mental model in business as in life.

Actively pursue subtractive changes. Relentlessly look at everything in your work- and home-life to discover if there are simpler options and fewer “moving parts” to achieve the same goals. Subtract your priorities. Subtract obstacles to our goals. Subtract jargon and complexity from your presentations. Subtract barriers to a more engaged team. Subtract to eat better with more nutritious, less-processed foods. Subtract your software of unnecessary features. Subtract all clutter for faster, clearer decision-making.

When it comes to building more fulfilling life practices, addition through subtraction doesn’t always work, but it surely won’t work if you don’t even consider the possibility.

Life’s much easier when kept simple and streamlined.

Mise En Place Your Life: How This Culinary Concept Can Boost Your Productivity

May 24, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

“Mise en place” may sound like a highfalutin term, but it is a French phrase that means “set in place.” In the culinary world, it refers to the practice of preparing all ingredients and equipment in advance of cooking. This means tasks such as chopping vegetables, measuring ingredients, preheating ovens, and organizing equipment are taken care of before cooking begins. The benefit of this preparation is that cooks can concentrate entirely on cooking during service, free from the need to stop and gather or prepare ingredients. Mise en place is an essential aspect of professional cooking and symbolizes a well-organized and efficient kitchen.

When it comes to exceptional cooking, chefs take their craft seriously. Mise en place isn’t just a time-saving technique; it’s a way of life. Messing with it is like kicking a hornet’s nest, as Anthony Bourdain, the culinary world’s travel documentarian, underscored in his bestselling book, Kitchen Confidential (2000): “Mise en place is the religion of all good line cooks.” Everything from their station to their tools, supplies, and backups should be arranged with military precision, and disturbing this sacred set-up is like throwing the universe off balance. Things can quickly spiral out of control, and anyone in the restaurant is advised not to mess with a line cook’s “meez” unless they want to face their wrath!

The same concept can be applied to any project or task. Pre-planning and careful preparation reduce the risk of interruptions and distractions. Take time to plan ahead, gather the necessary resources, and know your goal before starting. Keep the mundane concerns from keeping you focused on the job you’re there to do.

Think of it as a personal mise en place. Sit down and plan out what you need to succeed, including the necessary skills, resources, and people. Doing so allows you to channel your full attention to the task at hand, avoiding distractions and increasing your overall effectiveness.

Tidy Up in a Snap: Harnessing the Power of 3-Minute Chores

May 1, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The root cause of clutter is often procrastination when it comes to making decisions, even small ones. For instance, choosing to toss your keys and wallet in random places instead of setting them in the same spot each time you arrive home. Neglecting to hang your coats or putting away your tennis racquet can also contribute to the problem.

Many of us tend to ignore household chores until the mess becomes overwhelming. But even if you feel like you can’t tackle the entire house, committing to just three minutes of tidying up can make a huge difference in the appearance of your home. This small amount of time can be incredibly valuable if you use it intentionally.

Here’s a hack to help you get started:

Recognize the power of three minutes.
Set a timer for three minutes and choose an area to focus on until the timer goes off.
Confront the mess and clean it up.

You’ll be surprised at how much more orderly your home will look in just three minutes. Making your bed, picking up clothes from the floordrobe and the chairdrobe, stowing away shoes, unloading the dishwasher, vacuuming one room, or taking the recyclables to the car trunk are all simple tasks that can transform your living space. By repeating these tiny time investments throughout the day, you’ll see a significant change in the overall cleanliness of your home.

Idea for Impact: As you begin tidying up even a small portion of cluttered areas, you’ll notice momentum starting to build. Before long, you may find yourself actively seeking out additional spaces to tidy. Within a matter of days, it becomes clear that letting things go unchecked is what led to being overwhelmed by clutter in the first place. This sense of progress can be incredibly motivating, making it more likely that you’ll stick to your new habits and achieve success in your efforts. In an ideal world, we would all adopt the mindset of cleaning up as we go.

How to … Stop That Inner Worrywart

February 22, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

I’m one of those incessant worrywarts. Risk mitigation is a significant facet of my work. Thus, I worry about the prospect of non-optimal results; I worry about the unintended side effects of my decisions, and I worry about what people aren’t telling me. I even worry that I worry too much (now, that worry is entirely unfounded.)

If, like many people, you’d like to worry less, perhaps you may find the following approaches helpful. Most of my over-worrying comes from thinking ahead, but after a reasonable effort to understand risks and make plans to adapt more flexibly to developing situations, I’ll just let up. I’ll self-talk as though I’m addressing a team, “Not everything is within our control. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s deal with it as it appears and course-correct.” Beyond that, I’ll get really busy with something else that keeps me too occupied to fret about the previous thing that worried me.

The Creativity of the Unfinished

December 8, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Don’t dot every I and cross every T. Leave a stone unturned.

Ignore a rule. Don’t tie up every loose end.

Leave some questions unanswered. Let something be out of place.

Violate the expectation and usher a realm of potentiality. As the American artist Julia Cameron noted in her seminal self-help book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (1992,) “Art needs time to incubate, to sprawl a little, to be ungainly and misshapen and finally emerge as itself. The ego hates this fact. The ego wants instant gratification and the addictive hit of an acknowledged win.”

A piece of art, a movie, a melodic line, or a production all tend to be more captivating when they leave you wondering—when they urge you to explore the possibilities your mind has to offer.

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Idea for Impact: Addition through subtraction can be an exceptionally effective mental model in business as in life.

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