Boost your productivity with constraints
You’ll often find that when you’re put in a position that’s out of your comfort zone, you’ll deal with the situation with resources around you and get it done. It’s no different when you have less tech.
Transcript
Summary
I’m on a mountain in southern Spain looking at Gibraltar, which is basically a rock that became a country with an airport and everything else. Limitations force you to build with what you have. It’s the same with tech, limiting your tools makes you more productive. Apple Notes is a perfect example, simple, and something to write with. Don’t let limitations stop you, use them to your advantage.
Raw
So I’m still here in southern Spain and I’m on top of this mountain, which is the national park. I’m basically standing in the street because there’s nothing else here. But that’s Gibraltar.
Kind of amazes me how that rock is a country on its own effectively. It’s kind of a wart on Spain. But it got me thinking about how not having much, having constraints can actually help you and build. That was a rock. It was literally a rock. There was nothing on it. We all know the political reasons why England still has it. But that’s not what I want to get into. The point is it was a rock. And out of a rock basically came a state, effectively, a country.
So they had that limitation of it’s a rock. Just a freaking rock. But they’ve been able to build everything there. There’s an airport on there. And when the plane comes in, they actually close off the road because it’s so small. You can’t have an airport on that rock, so they’ve built it kind of on the water. And it’s crazy. It’s crazy.
So having limitations are actually a good thing. So you’ve got to think about your technology. This is Tech Minimalism after all, as to how do you limit your tech so you don’t have to have so much stuff that you don’t need, basically. So if you limit the amount of stuff you have, the kind of software that you have, you’ll find that you’ll be way more productive than you actually are. Because it’s crazy.
Like Apple Notes, for instance, I use Apple Notes. Why do I use Apple Notes? Because it’s simple. And it gives me nothing other than something to write on. So that limitation enables me to do more, enables me to have more time because I don’t have to think about all these bells and whistles, as I call it, in software that you just don’t need. So limitations are a good thing. Gibraltar had a limitation of it being a freaking rock, but they’ve built a state out of it, with airports and shops and everything.
Limitations. Thinking about my own limitations: I’ve got no skills, but I’m a fast learner. I should lean into that. Don’t let limitations stop you. Use them to build. Maybe even use Apple Notes as a simple start. Fuck it, why not? But keep it simple. Always keep it simple. Bye.