How can we simplify our lives in order to maximize our lives? Isn’t this a question to which many of us deeply desire an answer? Simplification is a state of mind as much as it is a set of actions that we carry out. For years I travelled three to four days each week. This, for me, who needs to pack extras of everything just to attend the opera, pushed me to simplify, streamline and mass customize my entire life so that I could travel and do my work. To give you an example of how I did this I’ll detail the clothes I packed for the trip. For one week of travel, I packed two suits and several different shirts to mix and match. Each suit would match my black shoes and black purse. This wasn’t one bit glamorous, but it enabled me to simplify in a number of ways. First, I was able to carry my suitcase on to the airplane rather than checking it which prevented countless catastrophes of being without my luggage. Second each morning I was able to sleep later because all of the clothing decisions for the day were made. Third because everything was interchangeable should an unwanted substance arrive on my pants or jacket it was easy to improvise. Fourth, I “mass customized” my clothing, a term best defined by Josepha Pine and Jim Gilmore in The Experience Economy. Mass customization refers to the production of large quantities of goods that are mass produced, but also customized for the individual. I use this term for my clothing in that every day I wore black pants and customized with a colorful jacket or scarf. These four strategies made my travel each week simple and gave me freedom to attend to the job at hand – client meetings and sales. That is the ultimate goal for each of the last several blog posts – to minimize the choices we each must make which in turn will give us greater freedom and flexibility.
My request is that you consider ways that you can un-complicate and simplify your life. Think of how you can take simple, basic activities that are chaotic and create minor shifts that will streamline your experience.
- How can you simplify, streamline and mass customize areas of your life? Here are some suggestions, use them as a point of departure to create your own:
- A handful of standby recipes that you use for the majority of family dinners
- Select three or four colors for the majority of your clothes
- Pre-printed list of groceries that you get each week
- A morning routine to get the kids off to school and you to work
- A system of checking emails three to four times each day
- What activities do you do each week that seem tedious?
- What areas of your life do you repeat each day or week that continue to drain time and energy?
Now, look at these areas critically what can you simplify about these routines? If you cannot arrive with a solution, ask a friend. Friends are good at seeing where we are stuck. When we simplify we have space and time to make optimal choices and decisions for our lives. Check out other articles on MargaretPundmann.com: Globalized Workplace Integrity - We Are Our Word Connect to me: Margaret Pundmann's LinkedIn.com Profile Margaret Pundmann's MySpace.com Profile
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