We live in a complicated world. Very complicated in fact. And it seems to get busier and busier, and hence more and more complicated, with age.
When I was growing up my Dad always used to tell me to remember the KISS method: keep it simple stupid. In fact he was the master at it.
Just the other day I was stopping in at one of my local cafes and to my surprise they had changed their takeaway cups to this one. It was a very pleasant update because, for me, those two things right there are two of my most enjoyable.
I always have time for a coffee, as I can make one from the kitchen, even if I don’t feel like a walk to the local café to buy one. But surfing: well, my days are so full that the one thing that helps me to just relax and not take it all so seriously is the one thing that I don’t make enough time to do.
With the way our company and team works I am literally on call – from the moment I wake, to the moment I go to bed. Sadly it’s not unusual for me to wake in the night, go downstairs, and reply to more and more emails from other countries so I can then get a ‘restful’ night’s sleep.
So one of the key things that is really great for de-stressing is the one thing I don’t make enough time to do. However while I say that life is complicated, it in fact really is not. It’s actually a pretty simple life that we humans then over-complicate.
And one of the key ways I find to un-complicate it is to keep it simple. Be organized, keep a diary, make a list of to-do’s for the day, then what is not done gets moved to the next day. Simplify your banking, move everything online so you can manage it from your desk and you’re not racing around to get everything done.
Racing around makes me feel exhausted, so I have learnt to do pretty much everything – except all of the children’s sport, music and play etc – from my desk. I call my desk my ‘control tower’. From here I have everything I need to run not only all of my work, but also all of our personal side as well.
And if that’s still not enough? Well, it would be amiss of me not to go to the one place where I get all of my inspiration from: the Bible. In it it says “Come to me, all of you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest!”
It doesn’t get much better than that. When I am absolutely exhausted and need to recover my thoughts from the day, for me there is nothing like a 30 minute walk to spend time with my Maker to let it all re-align. In that time my whole life – and there is a lot going on – all just falls back into place, and I can see clearly. I am immediately rested and feel clarity across a number of projects.
If you’ve never tried it, can I encourage you to?
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Matt Danswan is the CEO of Initiate Media, publishers of Christian Woman. He is also the author of NOT Business As Usual.
