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I want to talk about something I do a lot. It tends to paralyze me. It keeps me from moving forward on a project or goal because what’s out in front of me looks too hard. I’m talking about complexity.
We add complexity to everything. Even the simplest things. We over complicate. I’m speaking to myself.
The complexity I create gets into my head. It makes me think the project needs to be more difficult than it has to be. It could be simplified.
Why do we over complicate? We have a lot of ideas. Some of them good and some terrible. But there our ideas so they are kinda precious, know what I mean. We want to fit them all in some how. They could add something of value.
It’s difficult to filter those ideas down. So we try to work them all into the project. When in reality we need simplicity. Eliminate the distractions and simplify the idea.
Don’t get too attached to your ideas. They don’t have to go into this project. If the idea is good it can wait. It could be the key ingredient to another project.
Focus on creating the simplest thing you can. Don’t add complexity when you don’t need to. I’m going to give you an example.
When I was in architecture school we have these studio classes. There about three hours a day where we develop our ideas around an actual project. Focusing on one problem for hours at a time.
It could be the simplest of problems, but we would over complicate it. We’d try to fit more into the idea by over complicating it and adding complexity.
Cool ideas would come up during the creative process. We could do this or that. or this. You want to work them all into the project. So you start to say well this space speaks to this idea. Then this space transitions to this other idea.
See how they’re connected? Hmm not really.
The building becomes this hodgepodge of information that makes no sense to anybody. You over complicated it. You added too much complexity.
Simplify. One concept. Pick an idea and let that be your driver. Another idea comes up. Ok jot it down and put it aside for right now. You don’t want this shiny new idea to disrupt your simplicity.
Complexity will stop you from taking action. It will keep you in this hamster wheel of confusion. Simplify what it is your doing.
