My hard disc was almost full, so I was faced with a choice: buy more space or clean up. I chose to do a cleaning session and now have 40% free space. Here’s how I did it. Clean up iTunesHere I found the most potential. I stopped the syncing of podcasts with my iPhone and…
Tag: Essentialism
Why I stopped drinking alcohol
This thread reminded me that it is now 10 years since I stopped drinking alcohol. I haven’t had one drop since. Sometimes people ask me: Why not just one glass? Why stop completely? Why not enjoy life? The simple answer is: It simplified my life. It’s easier to quit something 100% than 98%. It eliminates…
Will I Buy the New Apple AirPods?
Will I buy the new AirPods? The short answer is: No. Should you buy the new AirPods? The short answer is: Yes. (If you don’t own any yet.) I bought my AirPods exactly two years ago. To be honest, I was reluctant to buy them. I have been pretty happy with my regular headphones, and…
The Cost per Use Principle
Do you want to spend less money than you earn, so you can save more, invest more, and ultimately achieve financial freedom? Then I suggest you pay attention to the Cost per Use Principle: For each material possession (especially the most expensive ones), calculate and minimize your cost per use. Crave a swimming pool? Then…
31 Takeaways from START Summit 2019
My main motivation for going to START Summit 2019 was to meet old friends and acquaintances from the St. Gallen area, but also to learn from the talks. I was positively surprised. It ended up to be one of the best and most innovative tech/startup conferences I have ever attended. Check out the opening video…
Zero Browser Tab Policy
Open browser tabs are just another nagging reminder of unfinished work. I used to have 5-10 open tabs on my laptop and 50-100 open tabs on my phone. It served as my reading list, my video list, things I was researching. It didn’t feel right. And it was a source of anxiety. Then, I implemented…
Disable your notifications
For many years of iPhone usage, I became a victim of The Power of Defaults. I didn’t question the notification settings. Then it dawned on me: I can change them! So I did. My new default is inspired by Zero-based budgeting. I went through all notifications and disabled most of them: Sounds? Gone. Badges? Gone….
Stop wasting your attention
Ever since reading The 4-Hour Workweek a decade ago I started applying the Low-Information Diet and stopped following the news: no newspapers, no news websites, no news on TV. The principle is simple: Quit the news. If it’s important enough you will hear about it from the people around you. In most cases, you won’t…
Zero-based budgeting
Simplify your life by using this powerful principle: Remove something completely. Then add back what you miss. Instead of “I want to use Facebook less often”, remove it completely and then add the elements back that you miss. Instead of “Let’s keep this, because I might need it someday”, get rid of it now and…
The benefits of going offline
I recently returned from a vacation in Italy, spending two weeks completely offline. The benefits of going offline: Old habits are broken. No Facebook, no Twitter, no checking emails, no wasting time. More time to listen to audiobooks and podcasts. Experiencing the true benefits of the internet: Google Maps, Wikipedia, Google, messaging apps. These were the services I missed…