Essentialism? Hell yes.

Life is complicated. I sense you agree. So far so good. However some people discovered better ways of coping than others. One of them is Jordan. Jordan Page, the queen of thrift living, who I stumbled upon by accident trying to figure out ways to deal with school meal planning, organisation hacks and maybe (dare I say) productivity tips.

Jordan proved to be much more than that. Having 6 kids and a set of twins on the way, everything she says and does is rather a tested and trialed thing than something copied from other people. From the way she keeps her house clean, manages her kids, does laundry or organises her day/month/year, to the practical financial advice she gives, everything, and I mean everything, makes sense. Everything this woman does is productive and efficient and she abounds of common sense.

Having already applied and accepted some of her advice in my life, I can say that there has been some progress in the mess I don't manage every day. I think I should mention here the grocery buying techniques (one big shopping/week within a budget 100 dollars per person per month, buy on sale item in bulk following the "one for now and one for later" principle). I also applied the 30% savings from everything that comes in, regardless of how much that is, sent into 3 different accounts that I treat differently. Oh, and it works.

The latest thing I learnt from her was that she was a follower of the "essentialism" school of philosophy. In a nutshell, instead of doing more things in the same time, it is rather pausing to ask yourself "Am I doing the best thing I could be doing now?" or "Am I investing my time in the right activities?".

It makes sense, doesn't it?

To live all the time from a place where all your energy is wasted to a place where you are in control about how you spend that (limited) energy. Living by design, not by default.

Why it really makes sense to me (at least) is that I feel informationally bombarded every single day. My brain looks exactly, exactly like the jumbled drawing on the left of the picture above every single day. I would really like my brain to look like the somehow ordered jumble on the right of the picture.

I feel I work all the time without much to show for at the end of the day. So in other words, I do everything and achieve nothing.

But it seems there is a way out and it certainly proves very successful for Jordan. She has to be a success. She has 6 kids for crying out loud. She cannot waste a second without being productive and efficient. When I asked my 3 year old (as a joke, people) if he is being productive and efficient, he replied "Yes, I like fish!". This is a more apt description of my own type of efficiency.

Do you feel the same? Well, just in case you do, here's the link to the book and good luck. I know I need it.