one of the biggest benefits I've
received from living a life with less
has been that I've been able to create
more I know it sounds ironic so hear me
out eight years ago just after
graduating college I decided to become a
minimalist it forced me to ask some
important questions about the life I was
pursuing and eventually led me to
redefine my idea of success instead of
the house tucked behind the white picket
fence I imagined a life where I had
enough I had work that was fulfilling
and relationships that fueled me
sometimes I think people get caught up
in the rat race because it's just an
easier target to aim for an intentional
life requires a bit more thought and
it's not as easy to find b-roll for
here's the thing about minimalism a lot
of people think that once you become a
minimalist you no longer have ambition
they picture someone sitting quietly in
their home happy to watch the world pass
them by but that version didn't really
sit with me even if I had millions of
dollars and all my bills paid until the
end of time I'd still be driven to
create so for me I quickly realized that
I could apply some of these minimalist
principles that worked really well for
my personal life to help me with my
creative work here's how minimalism has
made me more productive setting
priorities when you identify what you
really want to create say to direct a
documentary or write your first book you
need to drop every non-essential work
task that doesn't support that how many
phone calls meetings or lunch dates are
distracting you from achieving your goal
someone wants to have coffee to pick
your brain sorry your friends want to go
out drinking on a Thursday night not
this time
you need the discipline to say no so
that you can put everything you have
into the few things you say yes to
eliminating distractions have you ever
opened up your web browser to search for
something real quick and then all the
sudden two hours have gone by and you're
on your 15th time of watching that
Karma's a [ __ ] video the same tools
that allow us to create our work are
also booby-trapped with infinite
distractions for half the population
it's literally a booby trap Instagram
Twitter even email I found that I
couldn't use these in moderation since
I'd compulsively check now so I cut out
the distraction I schedule all emails
and social media for a small block
during my work day and sometimes I fall
back into my old habits but when I'm
doing my best work or I'm closing in on
a deadline I will be vigilant about this
practice feeling productive and being
productive are two completely different
things staying organized one of the
first benefits people find from clearing
away their physical clutter is they
remove friction from their lives less
cleaning less distractions less things
to bump into I applied that same
approach to organize my digital files
online when I created a system for
editing and organizing my files each
project had a similar workflow I was
able to fall back into these pathways
that I've previously paid at the time of
making this video I've filmed and edited
over 50 podcast episodes each one has an
almost identical structure of folders
tags and deliverables create a process
that can carry you through all your work
adjust when necessary but don't reinvent
your approach for each project focusing
on the essentials I once had a job
interview with CollegeHumor back when I
was still a junior at Temple University
I didn't press them enough with my real
and some of the videos that I made that
they decided to bring me in this is a
photo of my actual trip up to New York
from Philadelphia
I bought the t-shirt and tie from a
thrift store the day before anyway as a
part of the interview they had me edit a
project of theirs to see what I could do
in 30 to 45 minutes and I completely
[ __ ] it up
I spent all my time tinkering away with
the audio and the sound effects in the
transitions completely ignoring the
story and here's the lesson you gotta
save the polish for the very end imagine
writing a book chapter by chapter making
each sentence perfect but then three
chapters in you decide to take the story
in an entirely different direction now
you've wasted all your time perfecting
things upfront when you could have saved
it for the very end focus on the
essentials first finding passion I only
chose to work with clients and projects
that I was truly passionate about when
you find work that you love it's still
work but getting started it takes just a
little bit less effort procrastination
is rare and I find myself naturally
drawn to create rather than forcing
myself to sit down to just knock out
another video if you find yourself
constantly complaining about the work
you're doing pissed off or annoyed at
the clients of God or your boss if you
hate your job make a change productivity
isn't about cramming as much work as you
can into one day you'll burn yourself
out before you ever develop a routine
true productivity is about creating a
sustainable and balanced life that you
can keep up every day
thanks for watching if you like this
video check out my podcast the ground-up
show it covers the intersection of these
two ideas minimalism and creativity I
interview some amazing guests about
their stories how they made things
happen and practical lessons for
building something for yourself get it
at ground-up show calm