“That’s been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs
Beyond the Quote (42/365) Part 2: On Simplicity
Read First: Steve Jobs Quote on Focus and Working Hard To Keep Thinking Clean (Part 1)
Once we become aware of the fact that we’re in the midst of a full-blown battle for attention and that we’re literally being wired to enjoy distractions, we can start taking the proper steps to regain control. If we don’t even know we’re in a battle or that we’re being rewired, after all, how can we know to do anything about it? If we want to produce the best work of our lives then blocking out distractions and focusing our attention on the deep and thoughtful type of work is key.
But, how do we get the ball rolling once we can create for ourselves distraction-free environments? Once we take all the steps we need to silence our cell phones, turn off the notifications, make our inner circle of friends and family members aware that we are not to be disturbed, and we finally sit down and open up a blank page so that we can begin our focused work… Now what? Now we have to face a whole new type of scary… The blank page.
My goodness how the dreaded blank page has scared away some of the best work we never saw. If you’ve ever opened up to a blank page to do some important work and felt the weight of the work ahead, the resistance of not knowing how to get started, the insecurities associated with producing and getting judged, and faced the thought in knowing that this type of work is optional and above-and-beyond and doesn’t need to be done, then you know what I’m talking about.
In order to do the deep work you have to sort through deep thoughts—and they’re not all supportive and pretty. “Who are you to produce work?” “You think you’re good enough to make something great?” “Have you seen what you’re up against?” “You’re not good enough to produce.” “You’re not going to say anything meaningful.” “You’re going to get laughed at.” “This is going to be a waste of time…” “Stay in your lane.” “…Maybe I should check and see what’s going on on social media?” Click. Close. Crisis averted. This is an all too relatable situation, especially in our distraction driven world, that keeps our greatest work inside.
So what do we have to do? Following Steve Jobs’ advice, we start by keeping it simple. Complexity leads to heavy resistance, confusion, and excessive effort. Simplicity is the key to less resistance, clarity, and efficiency of effort. Tony Robbins shares a beautiful example of the power of simplicity with how we perceive going to the gym versus how we perceive going to the beach.
He elaborates that, in order to exercise, we must 1) get up; 2) find some workout wear they don’t look too fat in; 3) pick out the right athletic shoes; 4) pack everything up in their gym bag; 5) schlepp over to the gym; 6) find a parking spot; 7) climb the stairs; 8) sign in; 9) go into the locker room; 10) squeeze into the workout clothes; and 11) finally attend the class, hit the stationary bicycle, and sweat like crazy. And when we’re done, 12) we have to do all of this again in reverse. Complex. Of course, these same people can easily get themselves to go to the beach. They’re ready in a heartbeat! If you ask them why, they’ll tell you, “Well, to go to the beach, you just hop in the car and go!” Simple.
In his book, Essential Zen Habits, Leo Babauta also shares examples of how he utilizes the idea of simplicity to get his best work done in his life. He comments, “For meditation, I just had to get my butt on the cushion. For writing, I just had to open up a document and write a few words. For cooking healthy food, I just had to get out a knife and an onion. For studying a language, I just had to press ‘play’ on the audio lesson. For yoga, I just had to get into child’s pose. For blogging, I just had to open up the form for writing a new post. For flossing, I just had to floss one tooth. For reading, I just had to open up the book and read a sentence.”
He boils down each task to finding and extracting the minimum viable habit; the smallest increment of doing the activity; the least objectionable version—and the resistance is overcome. Keep your tasks simple and find your least objectionable version. Don’t let the blank page be your biggest fear—we have spiders, sharks, and tight spaces for that. Overcome your fear of the blank page by writing just one line. Then try writing another. And sooner or later, as you persist in following this, you’ll be looking back at chains of sentences (or small actions) that might very well move mountains. For all of our sake, get started. And from all of us, good luck—we can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Read Next: 16 Leo Babauta Quotes from Essential Zen Habits and How To Master the Art of Change
Don't Let the Motivation Stop There...!
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