Derek Sivers’ Minimalist Approach to Projects
Whenever Derek Sivers appears on The Tim Ferriss Show, I can’t help but feel a spark of excitement. Tim Ferriss has hosted many incredible guests over the years, but Sivers is a personal favorite. I enjoy his books, too: they’re refreshingly minimal, just like his approach to life. Or his website.
But enough of all this promotion. Let’s talk about Sivers' latest podcast visit.
In this episode, Sivers shared a story about a piece of land he bought. He plans to build a house there, based on a unique idea: instead of adapting himself to a house, he’s designing a house that adapts to him. And he’s taking that idea to the extreme. His goal is to build only the things he really needs to live a good life. That means he’ll make sure he has water, a bit of food, a mattress to sleep on, and a workspace. But that’s about it. No complex, overcomplicated plumbing infrastructure, no TV, no multimedia. Just the essentials.
His guiding principle? Don’t over-engineer for future needs that may never become real.
It’s a cool (and OK, maybe also a bit weird) concept. But, it's one that makes a lot of sense as well. When we start any new project, there’s always this risk to overcomplicate things. We can drown in planning, spending hours, days, or even months obsessing over every little detail. And then, after all that preparation, we’ve made no real progress. Nothing has been built.
Only by starting do we learn what’s essential. Only then we start to understand what's possible. So, just begin. Or as Nike famously puts it: just do it. You’ll figure it out along the way.