Efficiency vs. Simplicity: Remembering to DO with LESS

Lists a mile long. Steps in a sequence. Oftentimes we find ourselves organizing and programming our lives ad infinitum, even when our stated goal is the pursuit of simplicity.

It’s a worthy goal, and how else can we truly get a grip on our life, turn it over like a wastepaper basket and shake loose all the rubble and unnecessary steps? To attain a life of simplicity, awareness of self is paramount, as is a conscientious tilling of our gardens to grow only what our souls truly need to be happy. Efficiency of self, and clarity of path…these are foundations of a life of simplicity.

However, it can be alarmingly easy to get derailed in the pursuit of simplicity, and find ourselves addicted instead to the quest for efficiency.

Are the two things the same?

Sometimes. Efficiency and simplicity can and do work in harmony. An efficient life means one can be streamlined like a well-oiled machine. With an efficient life and mindset, simplicity becomes a much more tangible and – more importantly – practical goal.

But for those of us with “busy hands” syndrome, the pursuit of efficiency can be addictive. For efficiency is an even more tangible and immediately rewarding kind of game. This is where the lists upon lists show up, as well as calendars and categorized boxes and index cards. Again, these are all useful and can belong to a life of simplicity. But don’t be fooled; an efficient life that is crammed with the pursuit of efficiency leaves little time for the very reflection, peaceful life and long, relaxed breaths we might have initially longed for. In this kind of scenario, efficiency ironically becomes a barrier to simplicity – in fact it is the worst kind of barrier, for it whispers the promise of simplicity without leaving much time for it. Instead, it is something we must work hard to stay on top of and over which we must maintain control.

Simplicity, on the other hand, is about letting go. There is one word on simplicity’s list, and that is “Less”. Simplicity is not a job to work on; it is a zen state of taking life in and giving back in equal measure. Simplicity is a meditation in action. It should be a constant act of doing, not of planning to do.

Simplicity lies in the spaces between breaths, and in the nooks between words. Stop, for simplicity is all around you here, now.

Be.

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