In honor of Henry David Thoreau’s birthday, July 12th was National Simplicity Day, a day to celebrate a simpler, uncluttered, and slower pace of life.

Who knew?

I didn’t before I watched a video that mentioned it and challenged viewers to use fewer apps and online tools in our work.

The hosts mentioned 3 apps they use every day in their business and how those apps replaced other apps they had previously used, simplifying their work process and saving time and money.

I thought about my use case. I have many apps and online tools at my disposal but only a few I use every day. I’m re-reading The 80/20 Principle and thought about how I get 80% (ish) of the value of these tools from only 20% of them.

I could eliminate many of the rest–the ones I use only occasionally or haven’t used in a long time.

How about you?

How many apps, programs, and online tools do you have in your arsenal? How many do you use regularly? How many of the others could you eliminate?

Okay, apps are easy. Here’s something that’s a bit more complicated:

Which of your cases or clients or practice areas contribute a preponderance of your income or projected income? Could you safely eliminate the ones that don’t?

I asked myself that question many years ago when I had a general practice. I took a leap of faith and jettisoned everything that wasn’t related to the one practice area that was producing best for me, and my income and happiness skyrocketed.

Thank you, Henry David, for showing us the value of keeping things simple.

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