Alright, so a few of you have been pinging me about this “McKenzie Brandon” stuff I touched on a while back. Figured I’d just lay out how I bumped into it and what I actually did. No fancy theories here, just what went down in my own workshop, so to speak.
How It All Started
It really kicked off when I was looking at my own way of, well, getting things done. Or more like, not getting things done. I had a couple of personal projects, you know, little things I tinker with, and they were just sprawling. Notes everywhere, ideas half-baked, a proper mess. I was reading some forum, late one night, and someone mentioned this “McKenzie Brandon” approach to streamlining your focus. Wasn’t a big popular thing, just a comment, but it kinda stuck.
So, I did a bit of digging. Not much out there, to be honest. Seemed like this McKenzie Brandon was more about a mindset, a way of stripping things back to bare essentials. That appealed to me because, frankly, I was drowning in complexity I’d created myself.
Taking the Plunge
First thing I did was take one project – my attempt at crafting custom leather key fobs. Sounds simple, but I’d overcomplicated it massively with too many designs, tools I didn’t need, and chasing perfection that wasn’t coming.
Following what I pieced together of the McKenzie Brandon idea, I literally emptied my workbench for that project. Everything off. Then, I only put back the absolute essential tools. One knife, one type of leather, one design I felt good about.
The next step, as I understood it from the sparse notes I found attributed to McKenzie Brandon, was to define a super simple, achievable goal. Not “sell 100 key fobs,” but “make one key fob I’m happy with, efficiently.”
The Nitty-Gritty Process
- I timed myself making that one fob. Took ages, way longer than I thought.
- Then, I looked at each step. Where was I faffing about? What was clumsy? This was the core of it, this “McKenzie Brandon” self-reflection thing.
- I repeated the process. Make one, analyze, tweak. Sounds boring, right? It kinda was. But also, strangely clarifying.
- I resisted adding back complexity. My brain kept saying, “Ooh, try this new stitch!” or “What about a different color leather?” And I had to actively tell myself, “Nope, stick to the McKenzie Brandon basics for now.”
What I Reckon Now
So, did this McKenzie Brandon thing revolutionize my life? Nah, not really. It’s not a magic wand. But it did help me get that one small project unstuck. I ended up making a batch of decent key fobs, and actually sold a few at a local market, which was more than I’d managed before with all my overthinking.
What I learned was that sometimes, the biggest hurdle is just the sheer amount of noise we let into our process. This McKenzie Brandon idea, for me, was just a label for “shut up and do the simplest version of the thing first.” It forced me to be honest about what was truly necessary versus what was just distraction or procrastination dressed up as “preparation.”
I don’t use “McKenzie Brandon” as a daily mantra or anything. But when I feel a project getting bogged down, I do find myself thinking back to that exercise of stripping it all back. Sometimes, less really is more, especially when you’re just trying to get something off the ground. It’s about practical steps, not grand theories. And that’s pretty much my experience with it.
