Adopting a minimalistic approach at work

By Sandeep Das

We live in a world where multiple fads rage every few years. From specialist hobbies such as photography, exotic dance forms such as Zumba and dietary prescriptions like keto, the ‘age of fads’ is truly here. The latest fad that seems to be taking over corporates, especially high-end management professionals is professional minimalism. This doesn’t refer to the minimalist workspace but the entire outlook to a professional career.

Minimalism, as a concept, owes its origin to Buddhism. It is linked to the principles of detachment, mindfulness and focus. The philosophy looks down upon rampant materialism which constantly leads to unhappiness. The ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ syndrome rarely ends up making anyone happy.

Minimalism aids in eliminating unnecessary stress and focusing on more productive activities. The application of the philosophy is not new to business. Its role in design and development of key Apple products is legendary; so is the design of clutter-free, paper-free workspaces.

Professional minimalism builds on this philosophy in everyday interactions. This is not to be confused with the preachy ‘follow your heart’ type of speeches which list out five ways to find happiness by quitting your job and doing something you love.

Being efficient

Rather, it starts with minimising unnecessary discussions. As a guideline, all meetings should forcibly end in an hour, if it doesn’t end, another slot should be fixed later on.

The first meeting might be unfruitful but over a period of time, meetings become efficient. All memos, discussion notes should be crafted in one page. More than that implies the organiser lacks clarity in thought.

Another corollary involves minimalistic written communication. A lot of us are guilty of typing out long emails with complicated sentences with unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. The philosophy advocates that emails are three to five bullet points long. Any new idea should be explained in one page.

Presentations should not have more than five main slides. The human mind takes 30 seconds to implicitly decide ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to something. Three to five slides are often good enough to impact that decision.

Unfortunately, the number of slides in a presentation is often taken as a proxy for competence and hard work. The golden principle for presentations is simple — will the idea collapse if that slide is not there? Often, it is only three to four slides that stand this test.

Networking

Professional networking is often stressed upon as a key driver for success in modern-day business. The minimalist approach focuses on adding only two to three key contacts per year but investing significant time and effort in them.

Over a period of time, it makes sense to have a few solid professional relationships rather than a gamut of low-quality ones.

Don’t like someone? Just block them on your phone and your social media pages. It is advisable to give no space to unfavourable interactions.

Common parlance in minimalist theory suggests the number of material possessions should not cross 51. While others say the magic number is 101, the larger point is to limit the number of material possessions. It is fairly obvious to go easy on the number of gadgets and possessions.

If the tablet is not adding any tangible value to your life, it is not required. Same with the fitness band and the music player.

It also involves minimising the number of bank accounts, credit cards, pens and contacts on the phone. The share of mind space occupied by them is completely unproductive.

From a work perspective, it often involves doing only three to five things every day and leaving the rest. Once the most important things get done every day, work stabilises automatically. The philosophy of working efficiently and leaving office on time every day goes along with it.

(Excerpted from Hacks for Life and Career published by SAGE Publications India)