Can you streamline your life like you can streamline a business?
There is little debate that those with a well-organized business built on systems will be more efficient, more productive and more profitable. What if we apply those same principles to our hectic, crazy life?
Many write on the subject of systematizing a business, and in fact, I write about it often as it is what led me to my freedom in my own business.
But can the same tactics be used in our own lives?
I believe they can!
People who build systems in the workplace already do it in their own lives. The brain becomes wired to look for processes and create checklists to streamline the activity. The more it happens in the workplace, the more it starts to happen in your own life and vice-versa.
In the workplace, it has become more and more common for employees to want to streamline their work and work on things that excite them. In a recent article by Laura Quiambao of Wrike, “Employee Engagement Statistics to Kick Off 2020”, she reported that 26% of employees said that, “automation for the repetitive or mundane parts of their job so they can focus on doing something more impactful and strategic work would help them be more engaged and productive.”
This is because the brain gets fatigued making decisions on mundane things. Deep Patel, in an article he wrote for Entrepreneur Europe, “9 Ways to Combat Decision Fatigue”, noted that, “by bedtime, the average person has made 35,000 decisions. Every decision requires time and energy and depletes our willpower.”
Thus, it makes sense to streamline in a workplace to keep each person applying their energy to tasks that need good decisions, rather than waste them on mundane tasks. I think the same goes for each day of our life. Why waste your decision making energy on mundane tasks?
The question then becomes, how would you streamline your life like you streamline business processes?
Let’s start by looking at how systems help in business and how you set them up.
In well-run companies, many of the mundane tasks are systematized such that the task happens efficiently and with very little need for substantial brainpower.
Here is the basic infrastructure for creating systems in a business:
- Look for tasks that happen often.
- Determine if the is task done consistently the same way such that it can be streamlined.
- Document the process with a checklist or procedure.
- Set the automation or delegate the task to someone through proper delegation methods.
- Spot check to see it is working and look for further improvements.
Given that’s how it works in a business, can this process be used more generally in life?
Let’s take your morning routine, for example. Does it happen often? Yes. Is there a set routine? Yes, you wake up, and most likely follow your regular, repeated pattern – whether it be to exercise, brush your teeth, bathe, eat a healthy breakfast, etc. Could you document the process with a checklist? Absolutely. Could you simplify, automate, or delegate part of your morning routine? Probably. Would having a set sequence help you streamline your morning, so everything runs smoother? Unequivocally, yes!
Why? Because just like in a business, without a system in place, each step in your morning routine is a unique decision you have to make. Systemizing it removes the energy taken by that decision making. People tend to do the same thing each morning, so why not take advantage of that and opt for the low energy approach to starting the day?
Morning start tends to be fairly simple. What are some other things you could do to streamline your life? Well, how about:
- Weekly or monthly grocery shopping lists
- 4-5 “go-to” clothing outfits
- Automatic bill pay
- Clear routines for exercise
- Habits to make time for hobbies
- Bedtime schedules
Bottom line, when you take the time to create daily routines that simplify your choices, you can streamline your life and save time & energy, just like a business can streamline its processes.
Do you agree? Do you have your own routines that streamline your life? Comment below!