Thank God It’s Monday!!

Can I just start off saying I’m excited for a new week! I don’t even have anything special that is causing this, I’m just looking at this week as if someone hit “reset” and I’ve got a fresh start on this week, nothing holding me back.

I apologize for my optimism, I understand the unwritten social protocol is to only let people know how bad your life is, and I’m sorry if the smile on my face as I’m writing this rubs off on you.

This week I’m taking a step that for me is both scary and exciting: iPhone Detox.

Declutter Everything.

I have been pondering the possibility of going minimalist when I move to Northwest University (with the exception for books. I’m not holding back on my books.). I think it would be a great experience to remove as many visual distractions and start with a fresh start in a new environment. Then last week a question invaded my mind: why not start now?

I then spent two days going through everything in my room and removing all the clutter. I’ve done deep cleaning before, but this time I was ruthless, I removed as much excess material as possible. Less is more.

I cannot express how liberating it has been! The surprising things is how easy it has been to manage. I know it probably makes sense in theory—less items take less time to manage— but since there’s significantly less items on the surface, anything that is out of place might as well have a mariachi band accompanying it; you can’t ignore it!

After a few days of living in a excess-free environment, another thought rudely invaded my mind: What else can you declutter? How about your phone? If you know anything about me, I have a sad iPhone addiction; I’m always using it and have way too many apps than I know what to do with. But I let that thought fester in my mind over the weekend and now I’m ready to take action.

iPhone Detox

This morning I started my iPhone detox: I started with 151 apps and about 3gb of space to now 53 apps and over 8gb of space. Just in the few hours following the detox, I can actually see a notable difference in processing speed as well!

Before:

After:

After I deleted all the unnecessary apps, I still didn’t feel satisfied —isn’t that weird? Deleting my cherished apps was not only fun but I wanted to do more!— so I replaced the apps on my dock (phone, internet browser, text messages, & music) with my audiobook apps, Evernote (for GTD), and my Excel app (for secret project I’m working on). That way I’ll be filling my random free moments with productive use rather than just being on Facebook.

I cannot believe how liberating this process has been. If you haven’t gone through and clean out all your old songs, apps, and photos, I would highly recommend you try it out. Start this week off with a victory over yourself, maybe it just might gain momentum and start a series of small victories that can produce exponential growth.

—Grant X.

Currently reading:
“Breakthrough Rapid Reading” -Peter Kump
“Crazy Love” -Francis Chan

Life verse: “But a generous man devises generous things and by his generosity he will stand.” -Isaiah 32:8

Life Mission Statement: To be intentionally focused on providing opportunity and adding value to others.