(In this series of posts, we are looking at ways to better manage time).
Simplicity
Complexity is the nemesis of productivity. One of the fastest ways to gain time is to reduce the complexity in your life. Sometimes this means trimming functionality to the things you actually need to do instead of trying to do everything. For example: Rather than invest a bunch of time and effort in setting up our home theater to show broadcast television, the VCR, game console, etc. I just set it up to play DVDs. We could move some wires around to watch something else, but since that only happened 2 or 3 times a year, the simplicity of having one remote was well worth it.
I used to have a PDA, but I finally got rid of it because I found I
could do everything I needed with a pad of paper and my contacts on my
cell phone. The simplicity of a pad of paper instead of my iPaq saved
me a few hours each week and reduced the amount of clutter I had to
carry around. All of our stuff seems to require more stuff. My iPaq
had a base station, a charging cord, a sync cord, etc. By 3×5 cards
have a little folder I keep them in and that’s it.
When it comes to simplicity "low hanging fruit" can have a big impact
with the least amount of effort. Complicated things can take considerably more work to simplify, but in many cases the results are well worth the effort.
The less complicated you make your life, the more time you have to spend on things that are truly important to you.
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