Now I want to tell you about a podcast that can help you sleep, created by a dad who couldn't

find any sounds that would play long enough to last through a whole night of his baby sleeping.

12-Hour Sound Machines has episodes that mask outside noises, promote deep restful sleep

for yourself and for your baby, and that helps slow down your brain, reducing anxiety,

and aid in thoughtful meditation. Join the millions of listeners that tune in every week

to zone out the increasingly busy, distracting world around them. Just search for 12-Hour Sound

Machines wherever you get your podcasts. It's a minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living

Daily, episode 1396, minimalism in the real world, a life without sidebars, a brain gardener of

nosidebar.com and of just a malloc. Happy Monday, welcome back to Optimal Living Daily,

the OLD podcast, where I read to you from some of the best blogs I can find and get permission from,

mostly covering personal development and minimalism on this show. We cover a bunch of other topics in

the Optimal Living Daily Podcast Network, which includes four other shows. Definitely subscribe to

those if you like this one, just search for Optimal Living Daily to find them. For now,

let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

Minimalism in the real world, a life without sidebars, by Brian Gardner of nosidebar.com.

The idea that a simple life is a happier life is not a new one, but for me as a web designer,

and a guy who was hesitant to sell all my possessions and going to live in the world's tiniest

house somewhere, I have to admit, I wasn't sure this whole minimalism thing was for me.

That is until the day I got rid of my sidebar. I've been designing websites for years,

I've seen all the trends come and go. I've done a little bit of everything, but I'll never

forget the date several months ago when I thought to myself, you know, what if I just got rid of my

sidebar? In the web design world, sidebars had become something of a necessity. It's where bloggers

...