If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend ages every morning deciding what to wear.
Is today a shirt day? Is it a t-shirt day? Is a client going to accept me wearing a hoodie?
These (micro) decisions may sometimes take up to 2-3 minutes of hunting through clothes; deciding what matches, what tone I want to set for the day, and so on.
Around the same time that I read Steve Job’s biography, I realised, this man is famous for his signature uniform of blue jeans and a black turtleneck. He certainly didn’t waste his time on something as trivial as what to wear.
Now I’m not saying we should all wear turtle necks and blue jeans everyday, but wouldn’t it be easier it these decisions were already made for you beforehand? Here’s what I do:
Monday – Shirt, Blue jeans
Tuesday – Shirt, Blue jeans
Wednesday – Shirt, Blue jeans
Thursday – Shirt, Blue jeans
Friday – Casual, T-shirt, hoodie if required, same blue jeans as before.
I still have the freedom to decide exactly how I want to look (I don’t wear the same shirt every day, week in, week out), but removing the decision of whether I’m going to be smart or casual alleviates a lot of the thinking I had to do every morning, and on Fridays I’m free to have a dress down day.
If your work is a suit affair, expect this to be even simpler.
Routines always save time, reduces stress and frees up thinking for bigger and better things!