Less is More

Nov 26, 2025

This is my first blog post — and if you’ve clicked around this website, you can probably tell I try to do things simply. No animations, no colors, no ten tabs of content. Just words, a few links, and a page that loads fast. Part of that is because I like the aesthetic, but mostly, it’s intentional.

In tech, we often hear about MVPs and proof of concepts: building the smallest version possible to validate an idea. You don’t start by trying to do everything at once.

I think life largely works in the same way.

Minimalism, as an aesthetic

I stumbled on this quote a long time ago from Dieter Rams:

Less, but better.

Minimalism isn’t about empty rooms or owning fewer things. It’s about removing what’s unnecessary so what matters is visible again. Every time I've decided to strip something away, not buy something, or throw something out, I felt lighter. More intentional.

Minimalism, as a way of thinking

Most recently, I read this idea from Ray Dalio about how every day you encounter infinite “dots” — information, opportunities, opinions, impulses. Some people collect these dots like pocket lint, but the real skill is choosing which matter.

The skill is knowing which dots are worth paying attention to.

Some of the happiest people I know say “no” to a lot of things (the pocket lint). But the things they say “yes” to are things they are fully present for.

Allocating “points”

I’ve had way too many conversations with friends about how life is like an RPG. We all have a limited number of skill points, and how we allocate them shapes who we become.

When I choose the few things to go all in on, I feel the most fulfilled.

For me, I’ve found the four buckets to invest all of my time in:

• A physical hobby: climbing
• Something mentally challenging: engineering
• A creative outlet: photography
• Relationships: family / friends / girlfriend

But all this to say that NONE of this is prescriptive — just something that has helped me feel more fulfilled.

MVP Living

It’s easy to spread ourselves thin, especially as an adult with infinite inputs and expectations. Life is noisy, full of motion, and not necessarily meaningful.

So the question to keep asking is: What really matters to you?

Closing thoughts

If any of this resonates, great. If not, also great — it's not that deep. Just sharing what’s helped me live with fewer open tabs in my mind and more energy directed toward what matters.

Andrew