From Chaos To Calm

As I sit here trying to write an article for LinkedIn staring at my desk, I see only a few things: my phone, my cup, my keyboard, my screen, a small plant and a few holders with pens and other bits and pieces.

What I'm reminded of as I look at this sparse scene in front of me is the need to keep things simple. As an entrepreneur, business owner, and managing director for the last 25 years I've made a very good effort to make things as complicated as possible. 

Whilst these wonderful complex systems may appear to be very clever they were in fact very difficult to teach, use, and maintain. It's easy to get lost and forget about all these wonderful spreadsheets and checks and systems that I'd created, especially when I was busy creating new ones, and my team was busy forgetting about the last ones. 

What I've learned, the hard way, is that it's far better to keep things simple, to set boundaries on the tools and systems I use, and to be focused on what I'm doing rather than trying to do too many things at once. It is disappointing to give up all the clever things I created, and want to continue creating, but what I realise now is that it is far wiser to actually see the problems they create and the unnecessary complexity, and instead to move faster, be happier and less stressed, and lead a more effective team and successful company, by just keeping things simple.

A good example of this would be my time management. Up until recently I made a good effort of trying to maintain a long list of things I have to do, and to try and keep that in front of me at all times. This has led to me feeling stressed, tired, and disappointed as I was unable to get all these things done, especially when I kept adding to these lists in the middle of the day or night.

What I learned is to look at my day, and my available time, and to spend the start of each day planning what I can actually do, and mapping those time blocks out on my calendar, being very clear about what's going to be on my calendar and what's not, and removing any other lists from my view. Anything that I need to do is added to the calendar for that day. 

This has led me to be more realistic about what I can achieve on that day, and to focus on what is absolutely necessary for me to do on that day, and everything else can live on a list somewhere else to be looked at another day. 

This simple change dramatically affected how I feel during and at the end of each day. I feel more accomplished because I get done what I set out to do. I feel more on top of things because I get done the things that are most important for me to get done. I feel more relaxed because I'm not thinking of all the things I'm not able to do. This means that I'm more relaxed with my clients and with my team.