Do What Works, Even if It’s Not Hard

I think there’s a tendency to feel like if we don’t do something the hard way, we’re cheating. While that is true sometimes, most problems are best solved through easy solutions even if they might be harder to find.

Example: My time to write is often on Sundays, but I’m exhausted on Sundays. I used to wait until late at night, stare bleary-eyed at my computer, type for 15 minutes, and call it a day. Now I draft the post on my phone and edit on my computer. Is it the fastest way? No. Is it harder on my muscle issues? Yes. Does it produce a better result? Also yes.

Do what works now, and figure out the rest later. I guess you could call it strategic laziness. I’ve learned (in some ways) to let go of how I think things should work. And I’ve ironically written more blog posts on my computer since I’ve started doing this. Writing on the phone just gets me started.

Accept It

I used to fight falling asleep in a chair, now I accept it. I often wake up in pain because of my muscle issues and the fact it’s not meant to be a bed. But I sleep more if I let myself fall asleep in a chair, especially before early mornings.

Why not just go to bed?

The short answer: Acid reflux. It’s worse when I lie down.

The longer answer: I skip my long health routine and just sleep when I feel like sleeping (hopefully taking my meds first). I can do the health routine tomorrow. I can’t skip it every day, but sleep is more important. I’m working on a middle ground between the two approaches, hence: “Do what works, figure out the rest later”.

Conclusion

There are many things I used to do that I have learned to let go of. It really isn’t worth having my hair combed, sleeping in bed, or blogging on my computer if it costs me energy I could spend taking care of my health. If God wants it done, He’ll supply the ability.

There are some things I purposefully do the hard way. It’s worth investing more effort up front if it saves me more effort later. But if it costs me more effort now and later while making no significant difference in my life, why do it?

Question

“What if this was easy?” (Question from Greg McKeown in Effortless)

Josh