Is Workplace Simplicity A Precursor to Productivity? Working More is Not Achieving More!
Is there such a thing as workplace simplicity? Can workplaces be simpler?
Here’s the problem; a common mistake of people, who aspire to stop at nothing less than success, is their tendency to bite more than they can chew. They have a knack for complicating their lives unnecessarily, such as accepting responsibilities and over analyzing beyond their capacities. For them, working relentlessly and overhauling their minds with responsibilities is the key to a fulfilled and productive life, and they never seem to see the flaws in their plans.
For instance, when a company or individual depletes too much time perfecting and planning a product, by the time that product passes their harsh judgment and is launched in the market, the contenders would have already dominated the market. However, being productive neither entails working long hours, or analyzing too much; if only you knew how to keep things simple.
According to Simplicity Expert Lisa Bodell, “I believe that productivity isn’t about doing more on your to-do list. It’s about ensuring what’s on your to-do list is worth your time in the first place.” Unfortunately, Only one out of five employees find their workplace truly simple.
Even Science is of the view that simpler workplaces help make innovation easier, A new study by global brand strategy and experience firm, Siegel+Gale, reveals that simple workplaces lead to better results and more engaged employees.
In addition, 54 percent of employees find it easier to innovate in simpler organization. Complexity in the workplace is a real issue that can significantly impact company productivity, brand experience, and ultimately, the bottom line.
How Does Workplace Simplicity Help you?
1) Clarity
Workplace simplicity helps achieve clarity; the directness of purpose and expression. It contributes to your capability of gleaning a clear description of what you need to do to achieve your goals, why your ambition is so important to accomplish, and how you can go about realizing it.
Instead of trying to accomplish everything at once, breaking your goals in to sub goals, and dividing them recurrently in to small and realistic sub tasks, not only gives directions to your purpose but also helps you stay focused and organized.
2) Focus
Here’s a big problem with most ambitious people; they can’t stay focused on one thing for long! They can easily be lured away or distracted from their purpose. This lack of perseverance makes them lose attention to what needs to be done and what is really important. This is the major cause of a stressful and unproductive life!
One of the greatest benefits of workplace simplicity is focus! By keeping things simple and realizing that you can’t have everything at the same time, you can maintain appropriate attention on the most vital task at hand, at the appropriate time and perspective. Staying focused nurtures more output with less time and efforts invested.
3) Elimination
As David Ellen has said, “A key to eliminating queasiness is to focus on the horizon.”
Exhaustion and stress are at the roots of most chronic maladies and wreak havoc on your health. In order to make it up the cut throat ladder, a person tends to abuse their bodies and minds. They cultivate an excessively off-putting habit of sacrificing the most crucial main stays of their lives, such as emotional and physical health, friends, social and financial life, and their family.
Your ability to allow things to stay undone, without clutching on, is another benefit you garner from simple living. It motivates you to center your entire energy to the most imperative things in life and say no to trivial ones, and saves you energy and time. You would no longer have to forfeit essential areas in your life!
4) Effectiveness
When it comes to increasing numbers, most people readily give up on quality without a second thought. In order to accomplish and accommodate more tasks, they overlook the small details, and minute cracks in their plans, which leads to error and poor quality of work.
Getting more things done effectively is another benefit of simple productivity. When you are focused and clear on what you want to achieve, and how you want to achieve it, you can put all your concentration in producing top-notch, efficient work.
5) Tranquility
People who are bent on succeeding often find themselves unable to relax, rest, and achieve peace of mind. They tend to carry their stress and the weight of their work responsibility wherever they go, which become all too apparent in the expression of their tone, body, and face.
On the other hand, simple living infuses your life with tranquility. Simplicity assists you in getting more things done, focusing on your actions, and creating clear goals. These factors help in eradicating the stress and clutter produced by undefined purposes or goals.
6) Work-life Balance
Before I begin writing on this section, let me confide in you something; I used to be a work-aholic. A few years down the road, I couldn’t fathom how anybody could achieve that much hyped “work-life balance”. Most of my life could be summed up working overtime at work, in order to climb up higher in the corporate ladder and achieve what I deemed to be “success”.
But it was only after I learned the beauty of workplace simplicity, that I realized how life doesn’t center on work. There are so many other areas that are just as important as financial success and career. Here is where simplicity helps you. It frees up so much of your time.
Not to mention, you are better able to achieve work-life balance when you are staying focused on what needs to be done and are clear about your goal. This helps you eliminate the needless activities that always lead to fatigue and stress.