Bare Bones is all about keeping things simple and finding the good times.
One thing I’ve really benefited from this year is ‘automation’ - automating all the mundane things in your life so you can give all your attention to the things that matter. Here's three ways I'm trying this idea out.
1. PRE-BOOK YOUR HAIRCUTS
My whole life I’ve been getting my haircut at the point of being too annoyed with it's length.
After each cut I’d be asked
“Do you want to book another appointment?”
I’d react as if it was a weird question like “Do you want to join my cult?” or “Would you like some mind-altering drugs?” I don’t know why I thought the concept was so weird.
A friend of mine and I were talking about this and he said “Paul, you’ve just got to do it. My hairdresser berated me and told me to ‘Grow up, everyone does it!’, so I did and it’s wonderful.”
Next time I got a haircut, I confessed my reservations to my hairdresser, we worked through it and now, I have a standing appointment - every 6 weeks.
I don’t have to think about it, it’s in the calendar, I just turn up. I don’t procrastinate about it anymore and I’ve freed that small thing from my headspace.
2. THE DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB
I've mentioned this before, and here’s another shameless plug for a company that I think is really impressive.
Dollar Shave Club. Apart from having one of the funniest adverts, the idea is simple and it’s so well done.
Every month, you get sent razors. They’re disposable and after 3 shaves each, I’m throwing it out. I don’t have to remember to buy razors, I don’t have to worry about extending the life of the one I’m currently using, I know that in 4 weeks time I’ve got fresh ones on the way.
3. SCHEDULE THE MUNDANE
There are many things I’m bad at doing, but the most pressing are: cleaning, accounts and exercise. I avoid all of these things like they’re an Andre Rieu DVD (ie, I freaking hate them).
Yet, unlike Andre Rieu, they have to be apart of my life. So, I’ve tried to put on my big-boy pants and figure out a way to deal with it (... at 32 years old). I’m starting to schedule them into my week so I have less choice in the matter.
How does this help? I’ve found that if I make the decision once and schedule the the task, then I don’t dwell on how much I hate it. I put aside a small amount of time each week and it achieves a lot more than if I’d let the work pile up to critical mass (I mean that in relation to my cleaning, accounts and my waistline).
It also means that since I’m not thinking about that stuff, again, I’ve got more headspace for the things I enjoy.