My “Uniform”

A while ago I decided to simplify my work attire. I was probably inspired by some combination of articles on Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg always wearing the same thing, discussion of decision fatigue, and general laziness. I decided that I would just adopt a navy polo and jeans or khakis as my typical work attire. It seemed like a decent, simple look and was something that I mostly already owned.

A few months later, I’m really loving the overall model of a simple wardrobe. I’m not adamant about always wearing the same thing, but I have greatly simplified my closet overall. I’m really keeping to the navy/khaki theme with generally grays for sweaters/outer layers. I’m really enjoying the simplicity of getting ready — and importantly the fact that when I travel pretty much everything goes together. Simpler packing for trips may be the biggest win for me.

I have not gone out and replaced my existing clothes with new ones (that feels a bit excessive to me). However, I have found that I removed a lot of clothes from my closet. It really made me realize just how many shirts and sweaters I had accumulated over the years — many of which were almost never worn! I’ve now removed most of this from my closet (keeping a few Stanford shirts for game days, of course!) and it’s quite freeing.

I think finding ways to live more simply is a very useful thing. It’s so easy to get caught up in accumulating more — and sometimes not even to notice when it’s happening. But there is power in simplicity and having less. The closet may be a mundane example of this, but it’s also an easy place to start.

Originally published at https://jeffkeltner.com on January 29, 2019.