Simplicity

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

We often run after the desire of acquiring more and more and in this race, we unnecessarily complicate things. I want a closet full of dresses, shoes and accessories. I want a fleet of cars in my courtyard. I want 5 bedrooms in my house just for myself. I think with this I will be having more choice, but what I don’t know is that with choice, I am also adding unwanted complication and confusion to my life.  Now, even trivial things like what to wear would require at least an hour of contemplation.

In order to look fancy, sophisticated or intelligent, we unnecessarily complicate things. But complications look fancy just from the outside, but when you have a closer look, there is a lot of confusion and chaos.  You may be momentarily impressed by a person’s excessive use of jargons, but the moment he stops speaking, you will immediately forget what he said. The most impactful conversations are those which are simple to understand.

If a book, fiction or non-fiction, is written in a complicated language, you may start reading it but would never finish it. You will read a book from start to end only when you find the language lucid and understandable.

Everyone wants to look sophisticated but they forget that humans love simplicity. Things that are simple attract our attention and have the highest recall rate. There are some TV ads that fail miserably and then there are other ads which make a product or a brand iconic. A lot of money and efforts have been spent on both then what is the difference? The difference lies in how simple or complicated the ads are. When an ad is simple and easy to understand, it creates a connection between the brand and the audience.

Simplicity, whether it is in our habits, our life style, our work process or our business, will always give better results. When you are at your home, open your closet and empty it on the bed and then select the dresses/shirts/trousers that you have never worn. Then ask yourself, why did you buy them?

Go to your kitchen identify the electronics, the fancy cookware, the silver crockery that you have never really used. Why did you buy them? Go to your office; look at your to-do list, how much of this work is actually necessary to fetch results. Why are you adding unnecessary burden to yourself? Keep a log of your day and see how many things you did which you could have easily done without. Why did you do them?

The answer to all these questions is “to look sophisticated”.

“Shun sophistications, embrace simplicity and see how the world becomes a better place”. If you are able to manage with 10 pair of clothes, don’t buy 100, if you can walk till the supermarket, don’t use your car, If a single course meal is sufficient to satiate your hunger, don’t yearn for a 7 course meal, If the work can be done by 2 people, don’t hire 10 to look big, If the nature of your or your employees’ work is such that it can be done from home, why waste your office space and time.

 Eliminate complicated systems and replace them with simple systems. Use technology to make life better.  Instead of manual reporting, use online tracking. Replace paperwork with online real-time documentation. Use CRM and MIS to create marketing and sales database. Use software to track your employees’ attendance and performance.

 Instead of having an isolated system for everything, have a centralized system and integrate all the systems to it. Create apps and software to let your customers and employees interact and do business without being physically present at the same time. Deliver products and services to your customers’ doorstep. Minimize the time and effort of your employees and customers. “Decrease the quantity of time spent and works done to increase the quality of time spent and work done.”

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness, weakness.” – Henry David Thoreau

 

Wishing you Peace and Abundance…

Ashay