Joshua Becker has a fantastic article out, entitled “7 Minimalist Lessons I’ve Learned From My Kids.” A quick snippet:

A funny thing happens after holidays. A mountain of new toys enter my childrens’ lives. The toys are initially meant with incredible excitement. However, after two or three days, they are pushed to the side as my kids return to the tried-and-true toys they had been playing with long before the holiday ever occurred.

Kids are absolutely fascinating creatures. We’re always trying to teach them how the world works… but really we should all spend more time learning from kids. They haven’t been corrupted by the world that we know and live in – they live in their own, much simpler world.

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You’ve probably heard of a little e-book called Minimalist Business, written by Everette Bogue. It was on sale briefly a few weeks (months?) ago, to test the waters. The reviews have been solid, and Everett even took some advice from early readers to improve the book.

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with Everett, this cat a hardcore minimalist. I’m talking the kind of guy who owns a ridiculously low amount of stuff, and travels across the country on a whim. He takes minimalism to an extreme that doesn’t suit me.

And that’s okay.

You and I don’t have to agree with how this cat chooses to live his life. That doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from him though, and this book is a pretty great chance to do just that. See, this guy’s approach to business is what allows him to live the life he wants. Location independent. Traveling when he wants.

Sure, you say, those things don’t interest you.

Fine, they don’t do much for me either. But what does interest you? What would you do differently in your life if you could?

Perhaps operating a minimalist business could help you achieve your life’s goals. Whether that’s traveling the world, quitting your 9-5, or just earning some extra coin. Keeping your expenses low is key. Re-learning what a business is and what it takes is huge. Minimalist Business can help you with this.

So, what’s it cost?
Of course it isn’t free. Nothing good is. Except the wonderful articles here at Simple Llama. (Shameless plug, anyone?)

There are two choices: The basic, e-book only version will set you back a cool $37. Not too bad. If you want the pimped-out e-book and 30-day Quick Start Guide, that’s another ten spot.

So, less than forty bucks. Not chump change, but if it helps you get started on a minimalist business of your own? Why not?

The Guarantee – it’s a whopper
Everett calls it the Forever Guarantee. In his own words:

Paypal only allows for refunds up to 60-days, but I don’t care. I’ll send you a check if I have to in order to get your money back to you.

So if you read it, and it’s not what you expected, request a refund. Any time. Still not sure? Read the first 37 pages free. Thirty seven pages of the book – no cost to you. If you don’t like how it starts, don’t buy it.

I love minimalism. Making money is necessary to live. Putting them both together just makes sense.

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Simple and useful.  That’s how I would describe my Mac setup.  I have removed everything that I don’t need – everything that is a potential distraction.  I didn’t remove *everything*, though – some OS X features are amazingly useful.

If you feel overwhelmed every time you turn on your Mac, this article is for you.  If you have tried every highly advanced, convoluted, and just plain complicated filing system known to man, and still can’t get organized, this is for you.

Step 1: Simple Wallpaper.

Your wallpaper matters.  How can you expect to relax if you have a very busy wallpaper that just screams action?  Stick with something very, very basic.  Something simple, calming.  Perhaps an image of a waterfall, or a very short inspirational phrase.  Even a single person, relaxing.  It doesn’t really matter *what* you use for a wallpaper, but it does need to be calming.

For months I had a plain black wallpaper with the phrase “Stop Complaining.”  Very simple, very basic, and yet inspiring.  These days I have a very simple Apple logo, white on black.

While not wallpaper related, this last bit is directly related to your desktop.  There should never be any icons on your desktop.  None, zero, zilch.  Move any files that are currently on your desktop into your download folder.  If your hard drives and CD drive are showing, they need to go.  Open up Finder Preferences, go to the General tab, and un-check all the boxes under “Show these items on the desktop.”

Step 2: Clean up your Menu Bar

The Menu Bar is the area to the left of your clock.  Applications love to put little icons there, for some reason i cannot grasp.  Save one application, I have never clicked on an icon in that bar – have you?  Since these icons are useless, they simply must go.  Many of these icons can just be dragged off the bar.  Hold the command key, drag the icon off the menu bar, and it goes *poof*.  Some are a little trickier – especially one of my favorite apps called Dropbox.  Fortunately, there’s a way to remove this one too.  Here’s a screencast that details the steps.

You’ll notice that my lone menu bar icon is for Mozy.  This is my automatic, online backup service.  I keep the Mozy icon there so that I can check in on it now and again.  While it’s pretty good at doing what it’s supposed to in the background, it forgets sometimes.

Step 3:  Clean up your Dock

When I see a screenshot of a dock running “edge to edge”, maybe 30 applications long…. I die a little inside.  Only your absolutely most-frequently used applications should sit unopened in your dock.  Currently I have these applications in my dock: Finder, Mail, iCal, and Safari.  As you can see in the screenshot, I currently have iTunes and Text Edit open, though they don’t have Dock shortcuts.  My Documents and Downloads folders are also in the dock, just to make document access handy.

Removing unneeded Dock icons is very simple.  Hold Option and drag these icons off the dock – they will go *poof* and disappear.  The Dock is not the most efficient way to launch applications anyway – go nuts here.  You can always add apps back if you really feel the need to later.

The last, optional step is to auto-hide the dock.  Option-Command-D is the shortcut, and it will make your Dock disappear except when you hover over the area where it sits.  When I’m writing or coding, I like to be focused.  Not having a row of icons staring at me is definitely a benefit.

Step 4: Re-Learn how to File

Since we use our Macs to work, we tend to have tons of files.  Text files, spreadsheets, images, .PHP files, whatever the case may be for you… the fact is you probably have all sorts of files.  There are many schools of thought on how to best organize your files.

I’ve heard suggestions to create a folder for each letter of the alphabet… or for each month of the year…. or for each category / subcategory of files.

Before you go off and start creating dozens of folders to “organize” your files, stop for a moment.  Is that really going to help you? Sure, your files will be pretty.  But will it help you find them in a timely manner?  Or, more likely, will you just rack your brain trying to figure out which sub-folder your stuffed the particular file you need into.

Instead of creating an intricate filing system, do something different.  Do something better.

Don’t file.

There is no good reason to organize your documents in any sort of complicated manner.  None.  Mac OS X has a built in feature that you should be very familiar with – Spotlight.  Spotlight is the best application launcher on a Mac, and it can also find any file you need with a few simple keystrokes.  Hit Command-Space, and you get a little search box.  Type the first few letters of the file name you need, and Spotlight finds it for you.  No need to sift through dozens of folders; just type the name.  Simple and elegant.

If I’m actively working on a  project, I keep the needed files right in my Documents folder.  Anything else gets put in an “Archive” folder inside the Dropbox folder.  It’s out of sight, but accessible at a moments notice using Spotlight.

Step 5: Enjoy your Simple, Productive Mac.

There are plenty of other things you can do to simplify your Mac experience, including using Dropbox and Evernote.  I’ve written about Evernote before, and I’ll get to Dropbox one day.  But following these four simple steps will help you unleash the power of your Mac, and the productivity that you’ve been missing.

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During my occasional frequent stumbling around the internet, I came across an article. A well-written article, mind you, but one that I disagree with one hundred percent. The title of the article?

Why You Should Write Your Minimalist Manifesto

The article says that everyone who strives to be a minimalist, or is moving in that direction, should basically create a manual.

A manual on how to be a minimalist.

This manifesto should contain your goals, and a list of things *not* to do. Things that needlessly waste time or complicate your life.

This guide should also be referenced daily.

Wow.

As I tweeted earlier today, if you need a manual to simplify your life, you’re doing it wrong. You’re making it too hard. You’re missing the point entirely. Referring to a guide every day, with every decision I make…. this is not simplicity.

There is no set definition of minimalism. Simplifying your life means whatever you want it to mean. It means something to me, and probably something entirely different to you. Heck, it means something different to me today than it did six short months ago.

Creating a manual / manifesto / whatever you want to call it does nothing to help simplify your life. It’s an added layer of complexity to an already complex life. If you cannot easily decide if you need something in your life, no guide is going to make that decision for you.

Goals and minimalism don’t go hand in hand. In fact, one might consider them to be very contradictory. This silly goal that some bloggers have of owning a set number of things (100 seems to be popular these days) is absurd. It’s chasing an arbitrary goal, a meaningless number. Is this something you really want to have in your “manifesto”? Is it a worthy goal in life?

Before embarking on any mission, before following anyone’s advice, ask yourself just one question.

Does this make my life simpler?

I would say that creating a minimalist manifesto would certainly not make your life simpler. It would do quite the opposite, which is not what we’re striving for.

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Don’t doubt it for a moment – minimalism is green. The act of buying less stuff is unquestionable better for the environment. All the crap we normally buy has to be made somewhere, usually using fossil fuels, in factories that spew crap into the air. That crap then has to be shipped to the store – again, using fossil fuels, more crap spewing into the air. Whether you’re a pot-smoking hippy or not, you can see that’s not exactly ideal.

Being green doesn’t have to mean selling your car so you can bike everywhere. (Though, if that’s for you, then go nuts and rock out.) Being green doesn’t mean feeling guilty for everything you do purchase, because an extra ounce of CO2 was produced. Being green doesn’t mean you have to stop using toilet paper and start a giant compost bin. You can help just by doing something that already interests you.

So, pay yourself on the back, I say. Your choice to cut back on things, to buy less, is helping improve the world we live in. You don’t have to be an environmentalist to see the benefit in that. You improve your life through simplicity, and the world through reducing pollution. You’re a green minimalist. A greenimalist.

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When beginning to embrace the concept of minimalism, it’s easy to take things to an extreme – to go too far. The goal shouldn’t be to end up naked in a cave, surrounded by nothingness. ( Unless that’s really what you want. In that case, go nuts. )

Everything you take away should improve your life.

That’s the secret to minimalism. Just put it to the test. Does removing this from my life improve my life? If the answer is yes, get rid of it. On the other hand, if you hesitate, or say no, then keep it around. You can always change your mind later, and get rid of it then.

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You can try and try, but you will never get to minimalism. If this is your goal, then everything that you take away, everything you cut out or drop, every single method you use to simplify your life – all these things are meaningless.

You can never get to minimalism.

Minimalism is not a place; it is not an end result. Instead, think of minimalism as a theory or a guideline. Moving toward minimalism in our lives is a positive thing. Relying less on “things” and “stuff” is absolutely a step forward. There is a point of diminishing returns however, when you may begin to get rid of things and see negative effects

If you get rid of something, and it causes any sort of discomfort or anguish, it’s probably not worth getting rid of. Minimalism is a great guideline to live by, but it should not take over your life. In fact, it should do exactly the opposite. Remember, the goal is to cut back on the things that don’t matter, so you have more time for the things that do matter.

Embracing minimalism should be very freeing. Enjoy the feeling that minimalism brings, but never feel rushed into going further.

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Recently I set out to design my first skin for Thesis, my current WordPress framework of choice. My goal? A bold, simple, very minimal design. I am currently using a slightly modified version of this skin here at Simple Llama – my only addition was a very small header image. In the official version of the skin, there is no header. In fact, I’ve used no images at all, to keep it as simple as possible.

Introducing GL3 Minimalism – Bold, Clean, Minimal.

The entire skin weighs in at a welterweight 4.6 kilobytes. Installation should take about 5 minutes. So please, download it, install it, and tell me what you think. Your feedback will be appreciated, and I’ll use it for my next design.

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Hi there - could you help spread the word about The Simple Llama? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Carnival of Minimalism Episode III is a post from: The Simple Llama - where you can learn to live a simple life today.