Simplify Work for Happiness & Productivity

Most of us have more complex (work) lives than we need to have. The complexity is probably not intentional but it robs us of task related motivation and it makes positive change harder to conceive. Here are some tips:

Tasks | Think (for as long as it takes)

When you are about to do something you have done many times before or when are challenged by a new task, think. Think and ask yourself some questions:

• Does this need to be done? Know the outcome or if you can't identify a clear outcome then challenge the need for this work.
• Can the outcome be achieved in any other (better) way? Get the result faster with less wasted effort by thinking about the outcome and the audience. Who reads this report and which bits don't they read?
• Is this best done by me? Is there someone else more skilled, more motivated or with more time? Make sure you don't hoard tasks that someone else is better place to do.

Doing this also gives you greater satisfaction by knowing you are doing what is necessary.

Please also bear in mind Lisa Bodell's golden rule for simplification: “What’s the golden rule of simplification? For every new task you take on, you need to eliminate a task you are already doing” Lisa Bodell.

Communications | If a conversation goes past three emails, make the call

Email is essential but also the biggest distraction we all face. Nothing is worse than a long chain of emails but we are all guilty of adding to the pain because it’s easy, we want our thoughts recorded and it avoids outright confrontation.

Think about it. Does most of you email traffic increase productivity, simplify tasks and reduce stress? Probably not, so make the call and talk about it.

Taking the email topic a bit further this research article "Ping read, reply repeat" identifies that in sales quick and relevant replies to customers are likely a good habit but for technical staff emails can be a distraction and lead to stress. It was no surprise to me that the team identified email alerts increase stress.

Meetings | Change hour meetings into 30-minute meetings (about making decisions)

Luciana Paulise wrote this "30 minutes meeting challenge" article putting forward Harvard research that pre covid VP’s spent 35 – 44 hours a week in meetings most of them last an hour or more and commented that in the new normal the C-suite is holding even more meetings to keep the human connection. Luciana sets us the challenge to give back time and focus.

Shorten meetings, carefully consider attendees. Bain has these 9 tips to get meetings back on track as essential decision making tools.

Conclusion | It takes confidence

Even simplification feels risky. In fact even challenging the need for a regular task might cause offence. It takes confidence to show that it's your duty to always focus on simplifying what you do now so you have more capacity later.

To end with a famous Jack Welch quote “For a large corporation to be effective, it must be simple. For an organization to be simple, its people must have self-confidence and intellectual self-assurance. Insecure managers create complexity"