Simple Tip Saturdays are all about giving easy ideas for you to grab and run.
In at least one area of your life, you are ready to make a “good enough” decision that will enhance your productivity. Today I want to tell you why and what that means for your scrapbooking.
When I was growing into an adult-like person, I was always trying new bathroom and beauty products. It wasn’t because that one moisturizer didn’t work, it was because I wanted to see if there was one that worked just a little better and maybe had prettier packaging. I didn’t try those 8 kinds of toilet paper because I was horribly dissatisfied with the performance of one. I tried them because I could and there wasn’t much to lose.
If you’ve ever taken an economics class, you might recognize that I was a little wrong there. There is certainly an opportunity cost, especially to my brain power, of still thinking about what kind of moisturizer or toilet paper I wanted to use. I recognized this over the past year or so and started making decisions, one-by-one. (I use Quilted Northern and Vitamin E Oil.)
I was listening to a podcast recently that helped me bring this to scrapbooking. In this audio, I was reminded that even when we aren’t engaging in activities like checking email, we are spending a lot of precious brain power anticipating being interrupted by those activities. Be honest, how often are you peeking at your phone, checking for that blinking red light?
Be instantly more productive in scrapbooking
While its great to try new things and experiment and play, a great deal of simplicity and thus, enhanced productivity can be gained from just make a gosh darned decision. By eliminating the endless ruminating on the next ever better decision, you’ll free up brain power to be more creative and have more fun.
- Is your current adhesive good enough? Great, then make that your chosen brand and stop looking at alternatives. It’s just sticky stuff, not life or death.
- Do you love the people in a particular forum, then hang out there. Stop browsing to see if you’re missing action somewhere else.
- Are the photos you print good enough for your albums? Awesome, then stop sending photos to different printers.
- Does your organization system allow you to find what you need and get to business? Then its totally good enough!
Is there a “good enough” decision you can make today? This change in my thinking has transformed my life and my scrapbooking. I’ve greatly reduced the time I spend on finding a tool, product, service or idea that might just work a little better. While I still comparison shop, I rely on a faith in good enough. This approach helps me get unstuck and move forward in my creative process.
If you’re looking for more ways to get unstuck and find your mojo, I would love if you checked out my new class called Light Your Fire.
Such wisdom!!! I talk about this at length in my time-management program, Time Suck. We waste so much time trying to get at that elusive 20% that we miss on our first pass through a task. Love the idea of applying this to scrapbooking! Thanks!
I loved this post! I also loved your link yesterday to Simple Mom and her perfectionism article. I am one of those people paralyzed by perfection. I’ve often lamented about why I’m not one of those over achieving perfectionists, but alas, I’m the one who says “If I can’t do it perfectly, then why do it?” I’m always looking for the best product, the most effective diet, the tastiest chicken soup recipe or the perfect digital kraft paper. I struggle knowing the difference between good enough and lazy, lack of effort. I’m making progress though, and with posts like yours and Simple Mom’s, I’ll get there! Thanks again!
There’s a book about all of this ‘The Paradox of Choice’ by Barry Schwartz. Its theory is that more choice really isn’t – we become paralysed when the number of choices goes above 6 items. The author divides us into maximizers or satisficers; the maximizers drive them selves crazy looking for the best, the perfect; the satisficers realise that it’s best to reserve your choices for the things that really matter and don’t beat yourself up over the 47 different breakfast cereals. It’s an interesting read and you’ve basically captured the essense in your blog entry. I know it’s made me more relaxed because I’ve decided NOT to make choices in certain areas – I just pick and go, the same thing every time especially in the supermarket or the scrapbook store – same adhesive, same brand of album, same plain cardstock colours…
So TRUE! Sometimes choice is the enemy of peace- it’s better to just stick to what works instead of constantly torturing yourself with thoughts that there are “better” alternatives. Great article- food for thought!