Ditch the Hard Mode: Sometimes, Easy Does It

If you're anything like me, you've probably spent a good chunk of your life equating "hard" with "good." We've been fed this notion that the path to impact is paved with grind—trekking uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow. Deep down, we both know that's a load of nonsense, and yet here we are.

Part of me is—and probably always will be—that person who picks hard mode in every game even though I have the fine motor skills of a soccer mum on Xanax. I'm the one doing every side quest in Skyrim, and writing things nobody will ever read. And you know what? I'm kinda okay with that. The struggle teaches you things. Embracing the suck builds character, especially when you don't have a choice.

But here's the kicker: Sometimes you do have a choice. Sometimes it's okay to hand in your struggle badge and gun, go rogue, and get things done your way. Embracing the chaos of doing things differently is ok!. Shoutout to the Cult of Tim Ferriss.

One of the many nuggets of wisdom I've snagged from Tim is this simple, game-changing question:

"What would this look like if it was easy?"

Go on, try it on right now. Think about whatever's got you feeling stuck. That thing you need to do that's making everything feel overwhelming. Feeling your blood pressure spike? Yep, thought so. Now, ask yourself: What would this look like if it was easy? For me, it's like flipping a magic switch—it helps me jump the tracks I've put myself on and start coming up with ways to shrink that mountain back into a molehill.

Automate Everything

If a machine can do it, it can do it faster and better than you. Harsh? Maybe. True? Absolutely. No matter how old your phone is, it's more than smart enough to land rockets on the moon, brute-force the Enigma code in milliseconds, and definitely savvy enough to shuffle data around in a spreadsheet for you.

Yet here we are, wasting precious seconds copying and pasting, while millennia of wasted clock cycles tick by—your devices patiently waiting as you drag your mouse around, miss and redo the whole thing again. If I catch myself manually moving things around more than a couple of times, I hit pause. Instead of burning more time grinding, I invest that time figuring out how to automate it. Ask your friendly AI how to get things like a Vlookup going and get the job faster than we puny humans can perceive reality.

Benevolent Gatekeeping

We community managers often excel at benevolent gatekeeping—acting as helpful intermediaries between our members and the team. I've caught myself doing this more times than I'd like, often just copying and pasting conversations between members on community forums and our teams on Slack channels. Let's face it—that's not scalable. You can't keep that up, and it's a waste of everyone's time. The sooner your team starts seeing themselves as part of the community, the easier it is to steer things in a direction that benefits your business.

I caught myself being a helpful gatekeeper recently. Instead, I jumped on a call with an engineer or product manager, got them set up with an account, and showed them how easy—and awesome—it is to talk directly with a customer. Help them build that confidence by supporting them to understand that chatting with customers really isn't a big deal? and gets you where you’re going way faster than playing the telephone game with your community team. Just be sure to put on your moderator hat to maintain the boundaries they need when it's time to get back to deep work. You'll quickly see folks dipping in and out on their own, finding the right feedback or testing opportunities without you holding their hand. Let them fly solo and watch how quickly the dynamics change.

Time-Traveling Teamwork: Don't Lose Your Shit

Reality moves at a second per second, but projects? They're on their own fucking timeline. Deep work and collab time jumps into the future in bursts of calendar invites and tickets. Weeks or months can pass between project sessions—context, knowledge, and resources vanish into thin air.

This tip sounds basic as hell, but here's the deal: scribble down notes, actions, next steps, and links to your docs. Dump it all in your next calendar invite, reminder or ticket. Future you and your team will thank you for not forcing them to go figure out where in the past you left everything lying around.

Let Go of Your Lego

There was this Sysadmin I used to work with who treated access to every tool and system like a tightly controlled, behind-the-counter drug. Each request was a gauntlet of increasingly esoteric questions and ticket processes designed, It felt, to make you give up. Their whole team was burned out, shouldering what should have been shared responsibilities. It was an albatross around the company’s neck.

We all have LEGO hoarders like this in our teams, and we’ve all been that guy at times, clinging to control when someone else wants to step in. But just like Elsa, it’s time to let it go. Hand over the reins and care a little less. Trust me, it’s going to be okay or at least more okay than it will be if you don’t start sharing the load.

Still a Work in Progress

Even in writing this, I’m probably making things harder than they need to be, but i hope I helped you do more with less effort because life’s too short. If you enjoyed this, and want to give back, then share a tips or idea that helps you stay on easy street.