Why Does Simplicity Advice Often Backfire?
Oliver Burkeman says simplicity advice often backfires because every system creates overhead. A practice sold as a way to make life simpler becomes one more thing to maintain. Barack Obama, he notes, famously wore about two shades of suit to avoid clothing decisions. Obama had a team to keep that wardrobe ready. For Burkeman, keeping a closet of clean copies of one work uniform means setup and upkeep. He thinks it is probably easier to open the wardrobe and wear something that is there, clean, and good enough.
Time boxes fall into the same trap. Blocks for calls and podcasts are meant to protect writing time, and they add hard moments: saying no because someone does not fit, or bending the rule for a person who seems important. A bare minimalist apartment can be beautiful and still high maintenance, which for him is the opposite of simple.
What has actually simplified his life, especially from Zen, is an attitude rather than a technique. He is less clenched about how the outside world is arranged. A messy home does not have to be cleared before work starts. After an interruption, the useful skill is finding a way back to focus, not a rigid box that prevents every interruption. He takes a line from Krishnamurti, to not mind what happens, and he does not mean being passive. Reality is what it is. From there he wants vigorous action on the things he actually cares about.
