Simple steps for simplifying.
Why do we make things harder than they should be? I’m not sure of the answer, but I do know that overly-complex systems, plans and methods, as well as clutter, often lead to confusion and inaction.
So how can you avoid complexity quick sand? Simplify, simplify, simplify.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” -Leonardo Da Vinci
“In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in language comprehensible to everyone.” – Albert Einstein
Over the next six weeks many of us will surely get ourselves wrapped around the axle, so to speak. We’ll over commit, we’ll race around, and we’ll wonder why we’re doing it.
Here are a few (simple) reminders on how to simplify almost anything:
Eliminate – be thoughtful in evaluating extra stuff – tasks, objects, people. Take another look around and remove what you can.
Automate – put as much as you can on auto-pilot – alerts, accounting, marketing, posting, etc. (But don’t automate customer care!)
Delegate – hand off to someone that can do it better, faster and cheaper.
Execute – if something makes it through the above filters, then it must need you – your special skills and abilities. So get going.
Have a great holiday week!
Photo courtesy of flickr.com/photos/thomasrstegelmann at photopin
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