1. The Power of Minimal
Finding balance to empower your creativity
by Kelsey Ruger
with speaker notes Added

2. The Power of Minimal
Finding balance to empower your creativity
by Kelsey Ruger
Note: It’s not just
about products. The
greatest work we
do is on ourselves

3. Partnership for a Drug-Free America - So I can do more coke (1980)
[VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGAVTwhsyOs]
Note: The gap
between what we
can do and what we
think we should do
is growing.

4. Minimal?
If your job requires you to create ‘things’
you’ve probably been challenged
by this word before.

5. Minimal?
I wasn’t sure I knew how I would
describe minimal if someone put me
on the spot for a definition.

6. min∙i∙mal (adj.) [min-uh-muhl]
1. very small or slight in size or amount.
2. smallest in amount or degree.
3. relating to or being a minimum.
4. a minimum amount, quantity, or degree; negligible.
5. barely adequate or the least possible.
Maybe the definition isn’t the best place to start.

7. If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come.
Simplicity is extremely important for happiness.
Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what
you have, is very vital.
- Dali Lama

8. If that’s the case, pretty much everyone is chasing
the dream of achieving a minimal lifestyle.
Right?

9. Meet Jason
Back to reality. Design BS?

11. People actually don’t seem to want or like
the idea of minimal - and maybe aren’t satisfied
with what they have.

12. How do you get someone
excited about the idea of
minimal?

13. Minimal isn’t necessarily about getting rid of
everything you own, living in a white box with a
shaved head.
First of all…

14. min∙i∙mal (adj.): relating to or being a minimum.
Minimal works best when you stop thinking result
and start thinking about mindset and process
Second…

15. For me ‘minimal’ is a process of
uncovering the meaning or
building blocks needed to
maximize your output.

16. For me ‘minimal’ is a process of
uncovering the meaning or
building blocks needed to
maximize your output.
Note: The Goal is
to align with the
underlying motivation
s that drive those
moments when we
seek less

17. Most people and companies don’t understand the
process of finding essence or meaning. It’s having a
profound effect on our ability access our creativity.
Especially for creative output

18. Most people and companies don’t understand the
process of finding essence or meaning. It’s having a
profound effect on our ability access our creativity.
Especially for creative output
Note: Our
underlying motivation is
to seek out meaning. That
is never going to change.
It’s a fundamental part
of who we are.

19. my creative journey

20. I came to a realization

21. Creativity Isn’t Complex
If you do two very minimal things you will always
maximize your creative output.

22. Stop living in your head.

23. Stop living in your head.
Note: ‘creatives’ have difficulty getting the rest of
the world to embrace some of the fundamental
things we believe because we have a tendency to
be way too ethereal or in our heads about
concepts like minimal, and our explanations of
these topics are anything but minimal.

24. Stop living in your head.
Practice creative habits.

25. Stop living in your head.
Practice creative habits.
Note: Habits help make the
most of your creativity by
activate the right behavior
when the time calls for it

26. Focus on problems
not just outcomes
Balance periods of
exploration and execution
Externalize the
creative process
Build comfort with
ignorance
Get used to
breaking things
Tell Stories
Create connection
through overflow
Embrace periods
of play
Foster your
inner child
Nine Habits for Raw Creativity
The essence of creativity

27. Practice creative habits.
…well one habit in particular
Balance periods of
exploration and execution

28. The goal isn’t to properly define
Being Minimal

29. The goal isn’t to properly practice
Being Minimal

30. Three ways to practice minimal
How I learned to balance complexity and simplicity
Be Human Rethink Opposites
Shift Simplicity

31. Be Human.
LESSON 1

32. There is a lot of
confusion with how
most people view
‘minimal’.

33. Spending more to get less?
The trouble with minimal living is that, though it
can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn’t easy, and
we often spend more to achieve it.

34. Simplicity is human.
It’s real. It’s natural.

35. Rethink Opposites.
LESSON 2

36. We all talk about the idea of simplifying
Somewhere inside we crave complexity because
we think we can produce more with it.

37. The intention of voluntary
simplicity is not to dogmatically
live with less. It’s a more
demanding intention of living
with balance. This is a middle way
that moves between the extremes of
poverty and indulgence.
- Duane Elgin

38. Work actively to balance meaning by subtracting the obvious
and adding the meaningful.
New ideas about opposites
Simplicity is not good or bad.
Simplicity isn’t a value judgement.
Focus on actions not definition.
Balance is not an end state.

39. LESSON 3
.

40. You can’t solve your problems with the same thinking you used
when you created them. Take a break from the problem by
shifting from a “working” state to a resting state. take a
productive pause. Work and play dont’ have to be opposites.
Fun and rest are a part of a productive workforce.
“Work Productively” “Work For Balance”

41. Multi-tasking is a myth, you need to be present to be
productive. Lack of attention and focus creates additional
stress and makes us less productive. To work toward
balance, be present in the moment.
“Managed Mind”
“Managed Time”

42. Hard work is over rated. It is depleting and is rarely
rewarding. Intensity in work is about passion. When we
are passionately engaged we are instantly energized. You
goal should be to find more work that will put you in flow.
“Work Intensely”
“Work Hard”

43. Work life balance isn’t what it used to be. The lines
between work and non-work have been blurred. Stop
trying to balance your work and your life. It’s all the
same thing. Instead focus on doing things that drive
your energy reserves.
“Work Life Energy”
“Work Life Balance”

44. Don’t overthink it, it’s always easier than we think.
Get out of your head
Be Human
Rethink Opposites
Shift Simplicity
Practice the habit of balancing execution and exploration
Whether you call it simplicity, reduction, or life-editing
being minimal is an active state.
To Recap….

45. You might have less, you might have more
but if you can be human, understand opposites, and shift simplicity
you’ll earn more freedom, more creativity and ultimately
more happiness.

46. Kelsey Ruger
http://www.themoleskin.com
http://www.twitter.com/themoleskin
Thank You.

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