I am a big believer in systems – but only systems for certain things. If something doesn’t require you to be creative you should create a system for it. Realistically you should try to automate these processes but sometimes this is not possible.
I am also a big believer in creativity. Creativity is a tool that must be used in your life if you truly want to be successful. But I also believe creativity can be wasted. You can use creativity up on things that really shouldn’t require a creative process.
First I want to identify for you some of the areas of my life that I have systemised – those areas where I think creativity can be wasted. Obviously there are different admin and business systems that need to be streamlined but the four points below are generally things from my personal life that can be better managed.
Food – I do like good food but when I want good food I can go out. I don’t need to spend hours slaving over a stove or thinking about what I want to have for dinner every single night. For the most part I eat the same things fairly regularly – breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don’t eat non-tasty things but I eat things that are relatively easy and relatively quick to prepare. For breakfast I might even have a high-protein meal replacement shake if I am struggling for time.
Clothing – I wear nice pants, a shirt and sometimes a suit. I have generally plain colours so that I can mix and match clothes quite easily – whatever I pull out of the cupboard. This way I do not need to be stressed out by picking clothes and wasting my creative energy on something so minor.
Exercise routines – I do play lawn bowls which is a lot of fun but I also try to exercise regularly in order to keep up my energy levels and general health and fitness. I don’t want to be wasting too much energy on deciding a routine so I stick to walking/ running with the dog (we both benefit) and kettlebell swings for a full body workout.
Email Responses – With my business and with the Community Work I do with various groups there are some regular responses that I need to send to people with similar messages. Instead of having to write up a different email each time I need to send one of these I have created a number of template emails to send to these people. That way, with only a few minor changes, I can have a response out quickly and be moving onto the next task.
These are just the first 4 areas I have started to systemise in my life. I may add others and outsource items as well to concentrate on the important things – meeting new people, networking and marketing my business.
My ideal day would be to spend my day’s catching up with different people for a meal, coffee or some other activity (Keith Ferrazzi recommends exercise) and have staff do all the admin ground work as deals are made. I know it will happen and I am working towards it.