What Is Wrong With Easy?

Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.

We were driving to my daughter’s birthday party, and she was giving us instructions to get off the highway. She wanted to take the first exit, which would point us away from the party location, instead of taking the second exit, which would put us in the right direction.

When my husband pointed this out to her, she still insisted we should take the first exit, and then do a U-turn. He told her that it was easier to take the second exit. Upon her insisting that we should still go her way, he asked, “What is wrong with easy?”

The Easy Way

I started thinking about this. What is wrong with easy? If two courses of action get the same job done in the major points, and the minor points don’t matter, why not take the easier course?

Yet this isn’t how most people operate. It is almost as if we believe that there is some inherent value in complication.

Complicated Isn’t Lazy

One of the reasons I study productivity is because I am lazy. And doing things the complicated way threatens my laziness.

Unfortunately, I have to consciously work to keep things simple, or in other words, I have to work to be lazy.

Rethinking Difficult Tasks

I have to remember that if a task is difficult, there is usually a few possible reasons:

• I am making it too difficult by complicating it – adding side tasks that don’t have to be done.
• I don’t have the skills or knowledge to complete the task easily
• I am trying to force something to happen
• I am trying to go about the task in a way that is not straightforward

All in all, I have learned that if I am experiencing a significant amount of difficulty, I need to look at the reason why.

Perhaps I have decided that in addition to weeding the garden, I need to weed the entire set of garden beds…I need to scale it back. Perhaps I am trying to tune my sewing machine and I can’t get it apart…I need to take it to a person who services the machine. Perhaps I am trying to do everything I can to assure a particular outcome…I need to step back and let things unfold. Perhaps I am trying to make a tunafish sandwich because I am really hungry, but instead of opening the mayo, I decide to try and make my own…I need to get the jar of Hellman’s out.

The Results Matter

What I have to realize is that it is the results that matter. If I take care of the big things, the little ones generally fall into place…or they don’t matter that much to begin with.

But as long as I can keep my focus on the results, I can figure out a way to simplify something that has become difficult.

What do you think? Is easy good? Share below.

Photo by FireChickenTA99. Licensed under Creative Commons.