Why I work in a closet

Recently, I was given an option: go work out in an open space with plenty of leg room, ventilated air, and easy access to what I needed, or I could go work in a small closet that offered none of these amenities. I picked the closet.

Several factors converged to inspire this decision.

1. I went on a week-long mountaineering seminar with RMI. The most important idea I learned from the mountaineering guides: simplify your tools. Climbing big mountains requires an intimate knowledge and respect for the tools that work for you. One of the guides was wearing winter chainsaw gloves that cost $12, and they were more effective for him than the $120 gore-tex North Face gloves that other people brought. Simplifying your tools and knowing them intimately is much more important than having fancy tools.

2. In his book “Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity”, Hugh McLeod states “As the artist gets more into her thing, and as she gets more successful, the number of tools tends to go down. She knows what works for her. Expending mental energy on stuff wastes time. She’s a woman on a mission. She’s got a deadline. The last thing she wants is to spend three weeks learning how to use a router drill if she doesn’t need to.” I don’t want to spend mental energy on stuff, so I eliminated everything down to the essentials: a notepad and a computer with internet. That’s it.

3. I watched the Lord of the Rings yesterday, and in “The Two Towers”, there is a scene that shows Aragorn and King Theoden getting ready for battle. The King gets dressed in fancy garb and has many accessory pieces, as well as all his weapons. Aragorn, on the other hand, has a leather vest, a dagger, and a sword. He doesn’t have all the accessories. He doesn’t dress up. And yet he is the better leader, the better fighter, and the better warrior. Why? Because he knows what he needs to be EFFECTIVE, AGILE, and FOCUSED.

These experiences brought forth a single idea: I need to find what makes me effective and agile, and then (here is the important part that I had been neglecting until recently) I need to eliminate everything else because everything else just gets in the way.

The work I do is not dependent on the props that I have around me. I don’t need big paintings on the wall to inspire me. My work inspires me. I don’t need comfortable leg room to ease my day. Doing work that matters is what eases my day. I don’t need pictures of my family and friends. I pray for them while I work.

A computer, a notepad, and an internet connection: with these things, I can change the world. In actuality, I don’t even need the computer or the internet, but since they work for me, I’ll keep using them.

A final quote from Hugh's book: “Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece on the back of a deli menu would not surprise me. Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece with a silver Cartier fountain pen on an antique writing table in an airy SoHo loft would seriously surprise me.” Does that mean you should work on the back of a deli menu instead of on an antique writing table? Probably.