I love variety. I love variety in food, coffee, and travel.

But what if we learned to dislike variety— and prefer the same things?

Society tells us to hate monotony

In modern society, people always want novelty. Novelty of things. Novelty of experiences. Novelty of places, food, clothes, gadgets, and stuff.

We are told that “variety is the spice of light.” We look down on those who have no variety in their lives— and who do the same simple things, day in and day out.

What if?

What if we preferred the same, without variety?

What if we could eat the same meal everyday, and not get bored?

What if we could always travel to the same places, and not get bored?

What if we could always do the same work, at the same coffee shops, and not get bored?

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I feel there are some benefits to doing the same thing everyday.

1. Less decision fatigue

One of the benefits of doing the same thing, at the same place, all the time is that we have less “decision fatigue” in life.

For example, one of the causes of stress in my life is to figure out what coffee shop to go to, in order to get work done.

I will often waste time, thinking, and trying to optimize the “best” coffee shop to go to.

But in reality, the most effective strategy is to always go to the same coffee shop, always order the same coffee. Because the less mental energy needed to make these small decisions, the more mental energy I can have to do work. To write. To be creative.

The same is in photography. Sometimes we waste a lot of time wondering where to shoot. But if you choose one part of your town that you always shoot— you can use that area as a “creative constraint”. By being constrained to one area, you force yourself to be creative with that limited area.

By wearing the same clothes everyday, we have less decision fatigue of what to wear for the day. We don’t need to figure out our outfit for the day. This is why I wear the same “all black, everything” outfit everyday. Less mental energy on my outfit means more mental energy to do creative work.

2. Depth over breadth

If you always photographed in the same place, always ate the same foods, always met the same people, and always did the same thing — you would gain depth over breadth.

If you always photograph in the same places, you gain a deep understanding and knowledge of an area.

If you always eat the same foods, you learn to discern the flavors and textures of your food more (than if you always ate something different).

If you always met the same people, you gain a deeper, more personal, and more meaningful relationship — rather than always socializing with acquaintances.

If you always do the same thing, you learn to master that one thing. You learn the nuances and gain a deeper understanding of truth.

For example, if you always shoot with the same camera and same lens, you learn how to master that setup. You learn all the quirks and benefits of that setup. You also end up getting less distracted by all that superfluous gear out there.

3. Bliss in simplicity

Lastly, the benefit of doing the same thing all the time is that there is less stress, anxiety, and frustration in your life.

You learn to prefer simplicity— rather than complexity.

Why seek to have a complex, and complicated life? This kind of complicated lifestyle is more stress, anxiety, and more money.

By doing the same thing day in and day out, drinking the same coffee, eating at the same places, and meeting the same friends— we learn to appreciate the small, simple, and beautiful.

Simplicity is bliss. Complexity is the enemy.

Conclusion

Of course I think we should have some variety in life. But let us not make variety the focus of our lives.

Let us relish in the simplicity of everyday life. Let us focus on depth over breadth. Let us value the friendship of our few close friends, rather than trying to over-extend ourselves with everyone we know.

Let us avoid complicated and complex living. Let us settle for the simple and blissful.

Assignment: Stick to the same things for a week

As an assignment, try to do the same routine and same things everyday for a week. Seek if it liberates you, or frustrates you. Of course there is no “right” or “wrong” way of living— you just need to learn what works for you.

As for me, I know that having fewer options and fewer choices leads to less stress and complexity to my life. And that means more energy to be creative, to be loving, and to be valuable and useful to others.

Some things which I have applied to my life:

• Shooting with the same camera, same lens everyday
• Using the same device to work
• Wearing the same outfit everyday
• Always ordering the same coffee everyday (usually an espresso, but if not, just a hot black coffee)
• At restaurants, always sticking to my preferences (duck or lamb as entrees, whenever possible)
• Spending more time with the same people, rather than trying to expand my friend-base
• Re-reading the same books over and over again, to let the wisdom soak into my mind (currently re-reading Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Nassim Taleb)
• Always using the same applications on my devices, rather than trying to install new ones (as a practice, I try to uninstall one superfluous app from my devices everyday)

Learn more: Life Lessons >