16/1/2023

This week I want to talk to you about the need for simplicity again. But this week, I want to talk about things that you can do practically to make things simpler for yourself, rather than just talking theoretically again about the concept of simplicity.
Remember, it is always harder and takes a longer time to make something simple. There is a lovely quote from Mark Twain, the writer and humorist, which says: “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one instead.”
When you simplify something, it always takes up more time to first deconstruct it before you can then construct it again into something else. So, always try to start with simplicity in mind first before you do anything, if or where you can.
We waste a lot of time redoing things, just because we initially rushed them, so that we can say we did them. It’s a false economy. It’s about quality, not quantity and not about how much you do, but about how much you do effectively, even if not as many.
But to do things simply initially requires a lot of focus, thought and planning. Some people only do one big task, one medium task and one small task during their waking day (not necessarily in that order).
Personally, I try to do lots of little tasks in the morning and only one big task in the afternoon (please do not think this is an exact science – this method usually works for me, but you have to try a few times to find out what works for you).
I then split my waking day into 4 blocks of 4 hours and split those hours into four, 1-hour blocks. I think of a sandwich, with 1 hour to ‘warm up’ to something, 2 hours to do it and 1 hour afterwards to ‘cool down’ or transition to the next thing.
It is really simple if you think about it, when you know what you can do realistically within a timeframe, you stop wasting time worrying about not potentially being able to do it, or making it worse for yourself by trying to do too many things unrealistically within that time.
Finally, the most important thing is to enjoy doing simple things. There is real joy in a simple life and it is so amazing to find how you can do more when you keep things simple. Mark Twain also said: “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated!”
So, this week, remember that the simpler that you make things in your life, the less amount of things that you need to do, leaving you with more time to enjoy or do other things you want to do! “




