Take a good look at the site. Notice anything different? Does it look cleaner and less cluttered? That’s because I just went through a major phase of simplification. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
MailChimp
After nearly a year of running this site, I’ve decided to abandon MailChimp
. This was such a relief for so many reasons. For one, I don’t need to share my address with y’all anymore. In addition, I don’t have to bother with newsletters.
To be fair, I wasn’t really using the service anyway, but I know it would have brought me a ton of grief if I started getting subscribers. At least I nipped that problem early.
About
Have you seen the new about? I decided to remove the FAQ and simply share my basic values. In addition, instead of linking all these important pages in the about, I have linked them directly from the home page in via a drop down.
I was thinking about making some pages about myself, but I figure you already read enough of that in my blog. Let’s keep it simple.
Amazon
I may have mentioned this last week, but I was forced to drop my Amazon affiliation. As a result, I’ve decided to drop all affiliate links from all future posts. If you still want to help out, you can head over to the shop or contribute directly via my PayPal link.
I won’t be going back to remove those links – at least not right now. If I get some complaints, I’ll clean up after myself. For now, it seems like wasted effort.
Logo
If you’ve had a chance to take a look at the logo, you might notice something different. It’s a proper transparent PNG. This was a big deal for me because I didn’t actually make my own logo. If you recall, I had someone make it for me on Fiverr. They supplied me with a PNG with a white background and the source. After nearly a year, I decided to use the source to export a transparent PNG. Also, I removed all references to poorly formatted logos on the site. How’s that for simplification?
Wunderlist
In my effort to declutter physically, I’ve decided to reduce the number of electronics I rely on. For instance, I love to game, but I don’t really play my Xbox One of 3DS anymore. So, I’ve decided to get rid of them. In the future, I want all of my tech focus to be on my PC. No longer will I be purchasing the latest gadget.
In the this tech decluttering process, I’ve found that Cortana has a ton of nifty features. For instance, it supports lists through Wunderlist. Not only does this allow me to eliminate sticky notes, paper lists, and calendars, but it also allows me to share all these lists with Morgan.
As you can imagine, the two of us now have all kinds of fun lists. In fact, we have one we use just for decluttering. Now, I track all the things that bring my life discontent to that list with plans to purge it. Of course, I also use the tool to track regular tasks like when to write this update.
Free Time
The beautiful thing about decluttering is that it has given me so much free time. No longer do I spend an hour everyday cleaning and organizing my “stuff.” In addition, I no longer sit around trying to remember what I need to be doing. I’m clean and organized now, and it has freed up loads of time.
With this newly available free time, I am able to focus on some of my passions like practicing trombone and playing Overwatch. These things help me wind down, and my overall mental health has vastly improved.
Also, did I mention I deactivated my Facebook? Talk about loading up on the free time.
Song of the Week
I’m torn this week because The Wonder Years teased us with a preview of what’s to come, and I don’t want to wait for it. Instead, I guess I’ll just share this rendition of Happy Birthday for myself.
In the future, I’m thinking about changing this section to the “added value” section inspired by The Minimalists.
Coming Soon to The Renegade Coder!
At this time, there are no concrete plans for posts until March 30th. In fact, I’ll be mostly traveling the next two weeks, so even my updates will probably be lacking. Don’t worry though! I plan on working through an article or two in March. Then, I’ll be focusing on the store when my engineering series is released. Until next time! 🙂
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