When you’re feeling the heaviness of overwhelm, perhaps it’s time to take a step back and make intentional efforts to simplify.
Simplification can bring immense joy and peace into our lives. It’s like a breath of fresh air that clears the clutter from our minds, allowing us to focus on what truly matters.
Often, we can make things much more complicated than they have to be. Perhaps it’s because we’re venturing into doing something that we’re uncertain of or even nervous about.
For example, we may agonize over a presentation for hours or even days, attempting to perfect every design element. However, what really matters is the content and clarity of the message of the presentation, not the intricate details of the design.
Or, things just seem to get complicated over time. For instance, perhaps long ago, you’ve set up your social media plan and as time passed, you added to it, changed it, and then the frequency became overwhelming and message strayed off course from your goal.
Regardless of how overcomplication happens, you can make your work life so much easier with an intentional focus on simplifying. Here are three areas to where, if you simplified, would make work easier for yourself.
Simplify Your Calendar
When feelings of overwhelm begin to set in, your calendar should be the initial point of scrutiny toward simplification.
Are your meetings scheduled back-to-back without any breathing space in between? Have you overextended your availability throughout the day, intruding upon your personal leisure time?
Don’t forget to consider the amount of time spent on scheduling alone. Are you in a constant back-and-forth conversation trying to figure out the most convenient meeting time and date?
Using a scheduling tool like Calendly is a major time-saver. It allows people to choose a time slot that works for both parties, eliminating the need for prolonged discussions. Incorporate a few pre-meeting questions during the booking process to help set the agenda, saving your precious time during the meeting. Also, when you take advantage of the automatic reminder feature, you can reduce the likelihood of no-shows.
Avoid complicating your Calendly appointment types. Keep the number minimal, perhaps two: a Discovery Call and a Check-in Meeting. Remember not to make your availability too broad. Also, include buffer time between appointments.
The Discovery Call is typically for sales calls. Include a pre-scheduling questionnaire with this type to understand your prospect’s needs better. This will guide the conversation and help self-qualify the prospect. Place this scheduling link on your website’s contact page and in emails or social messages to potential clients.
The Check-in Meeting is more general and can be used in various circumstances. Use this link in emails, texts, or social direct messages to streamline scheduling. Allow the other party to choose a convenient time from your available slots.
Review your calendar. If you’re overcommitted, consider reducing or eliminating some commitments. Remember, your calendar should serve your needs and respect your time, not drain your energy or overwhelm you.
Simplify Your Brand Messaging
The complexity or vagueness of your website could serve as a key indicator that your brand messaging needs simplification.
Donald Miller, author of Building a StoryBrand, frequently states, “When you confuse, you lose.” Often, marketing messages are vague or complex, causing potential customers to spend excessive mental effort trying to understand how you can assist them. If they’re confused, they move on.
The fact is, if you over-complicate how you communicate what you do and how you can solve your prospects’ problems, you may spend too much time trying to close sales.
By evaluating and constructing your brand narrative using the StoryBrand framework, your entire marketing and sales process becomes more straightforward and easier to manage.
Attending the two-day StoryBrand Marketing Workshop Livestream can be beneficial. In the Livestream, you’ll walk away with your clear brand narrative using a simple and repeatable framework with training on placement in your marketing and sales assets.
Clear marketing messaging not only simplifies the process for prospects to do business with you, but it also makes it easier for you to communicate and create brand collateral.
Simplify Your Workflows
Automation and templates can be powerful tools for simplifying your workflows, saving you valuable time, effort, and reducing overwhelm. Utilizing these tools can streamline your processes, eliminating repetitive tasks and making your work more efficient.
Automation involves setting up a system to perform tasks automatically. This could be anything from scheduling social media posts to automating email responses. While setting up automation can take some initial time and effort, the long-term benefits are significant. It can free up your time to focus on more important tasks, reduce the risk of human error, and ensure consistency in your work.
Templates, on the other hand, can provide a consistent structure for your work, making it quicker and easier to produce high-quality outputs. They can be used for anything from emails and contracts to social media posts and blog articles. Once created, templates can be reused again and again, saving you the effort of starting from scratch each time.
However, it’s important not to try and automate everything all at once. Start small. Identify one or two tasks that take up a lot of your time or cause you stress. Then, look for ways to automate these tasks or create templates to make them easier. Any tiny step that can be updated to cut down on your time is worth it. Over time, these small changes can add up to significant time savings and a much simpler, more streamlined workflow.
The Relief of Keeping Things Simple
Simplification is more than just a practical strategy; it’s a pathway to emotional relief. When you simplify, you experience a sense of release and lightness. It’s as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders, leaving you feeling more focused and at peace.
For me, simplification is synonymous with authenticity. It allows me to be genuinely myself, without the need to conform to external expectations or pressures. Listen to the full episode of this Live Full Work Fun podcast where Fran Groesbeck and I discuss how to alleviate overwhelm through simplification.
In short, embracing simplification can reduce stress, boost efficiency, and most importantly, bring about a sense of fulfillment and joy. So, start small, keep it simple and watch as your life transform in ways you never imagined possible.