Category: minimalism (Page 1 of 2)

Day 5 – Integrating the apps back to the home screen.

January 11, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

The more the week passed, the more certain apps were needing my attention. I had notifications from family and acquaintances on Facebook Messenger, I had numerous times that I had to access the Internet from an email, and a few other things. I decided to cut the week short by a few days, and moved apps back to the main screen under a few conditions.

Only move the apps that I have paid for, and only move the apps that I use.

Starting from scratch, Day 3.

January 9, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

1:58 pm: My current home screen has changed a few times. I realized that because of certain functions of the Fitbit Versa, I was going to need to be able to access the applications. The Bluetooth was not working at all, and it was extremely difficult to sync the watch to the Fitbit online dashboard that I finally had to call “uncle” and move the apps back to the home screen.

This made me wonder. What ESSENTIAL apps do I need on a daily basis at the moment to manuever efficiently and effectively? I came to the conclusion that I would need:

A calculator.
The Phillips Hue application.
The Ring doorbell application.
Amazon’s Marketplace application.

Starting from scratch, Day 2 (cont.)

January 8, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

Or, “What do I have to work with today?”

Upon waking up this morning, which is usually around 3-5:00 am, I grab my phone, turn on the flashlight on the phone, get on some comfy clothes, and make coffee.

Starting from scratch: Day 2

January 8, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

If you read yesterday’s post, you would have seen that I am minimizing what I am using on my iPhone X for the next week. Link to the post is here.

Because of getting a Fitbit Versa from my wife, I looked to see if there were any minimalistic phones that were compatible with the device. It looks like I am stuck in the smartphone world until I no longer need the help to physically get better. Plus, there was an article I found somewhere on the internet that stated that Fitbit is slowly changing to utilizing smartphones in their technology and phasing out some of the older technology.

Everybody needs a buck.

“What if you started from scratch?”

January 7, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

This is another gem from Fumio Sasaki’s book. I wondered if I could start from scratch, starting with my phone. I have an iPhone X with 256 GB of space.

Now, let’s be honest. I did not delete things off my phone. There was a lot of items that I do use, whether it be daily or occasionally, but I do use those apps. Instead of deleting the apps off my phone, I merely moved a lot from one screen to the next. I did this because I tried an app called Moment from the App Store, and it was shit. I couldn’t get it to track properly, it was too busy, and it just would not suit my needs.

The art of discarding an item for the sake of appearances.

January 5, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

Sasaki believes that if you are keeping something only for the sake of appearance, to fit in with the Jones’s, or to merely feel adequate in an inadequate world, discard it. I did this exact thing last night.

I used to own an Apple Watch, merely for the compatibility with my phone, and for the sake of appearances. Most people I knew had either an Apple Watch and an iPhone whatever, or they had an Android phone and a Garmin watch/activity tracker. I gave it to my daughter, who I feel is old enough for a watch such as that, and could probably get more use out of it.

Removing something is hard.

January 3, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

I refer back to Fumio Sasaki’s book and his “55 tips to help you say goodbye to your things.” Yesterday, I looked at my phone and asked the question “Why can’t you part with your things?” and “If you lose it, will you buy it again?”, or in this case, “download it again.”

I went through my phone and started to delete applications that I downloaded and touched once. Then, I went back through and decided that there were a few more that could be removed from the system.

Remove. Rinse. Repeat?

January 2, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

In looking at writing today, I went through the “55 tips to help you say goodbye to your things” from Fumio Sasaki’s book “Goodbye, Things” that I continually discuss and use as my personal workbook for minimizing the clutter in my life.

Two of the things that he mentions were sticking out to me today. The first is, “Ask yourself why you can’t part with your things.” and the second is, “If you lost it, would you buy it again?”

Let’s talk about what it is to be a minimalist in 2019.

January 1, 2019 / The Great Fartsupial

I had a heated conversation with someone over what it is to be a “minimalist”. I realized that there are probably a few readers of my site that don’t fully understand what I am trying to do in my life, and what I am striving for.

“This one goes out to the one[s] I love.”
– R.E.M.

Minimalism comes with a price or lack thereof.

December 30, 2018 / The Great Fartsupial

I bought some items yesterday for the first time in a long time. Granted, I had to trade in things to Vintage Stock to get to money to spend, but I was able to purchase things nonetheless.

For someone who used to spending money occasionally, this was a thrill. I finally got to impulse buy since losing my job, and I didn’t have to worry about the consequences, as long as I stayed within my means.