My Footprint

I was happy, not long ago, to report that I had had 3 workstations:

• “the big” imac to deal with video. (28″ with a dual monitor setup, loads of space).
• a mac mini standup desk (and 30″ monitor) to deal with customer contact.
• a white macbook for “writing.”

This was 3 workstations for just me. I wasn’t making a ton of money.  I was a poseur, hopped up on lists, GTD and other kludges that simply aren’t generally good ideas.  I wanted to be this serial entrepreneur.  All I was doing was spinning my wheels, reinventing my productivity systems time and time again.  I had it all: google notebook, evernote, Jott.

I had my own office, a place with my company name on the door that cost $1,000 a month or more, walking distance from my place.

All these tools. None of them necessary.

Fact is there was nothing that I did that needed to be “managed.”  I would have been infinitely more productive had I just gone to where I was drawn.  I kept thinking that this next tech gadget would be the one that recreated me. That saved me.  That changed things. That made me thin, happy, and rich.

Thing is, I was human sprawl. I was going wider without attacking real problems. I spent hours on productivity overhead, and before I could start to work, I had this convoluted system to manage.

Now, I’m making more money than I have in my life, I have a more stable business, and I’m happier.

My whole business fits in a small bag, on a 13″ macbook air.  I have an iPad for pitching. I have a PO Box for getting my mail.  I use things like Tout  and Batchbook. I could probably get  by without them just fine. I work from the back bedroom of my house, and the odd coffeeshop.  I do more real work than I did when I had these endless GTD lists.

I had a productivity apparatus that had become a one person bureaucracy where I barely had permission to get anything done ever.

There’s a lot of waste and failure points when you have a system with a ton of tools, and one that requires a ton of gear changes.

Now, it’s time to look at reducing my footprint in other areas:

• What I wear
• What I own
• How I eat.