I remember in Year 10 Biology Mr Roddy explaining plants to us; how they fertilize, grow, photosynthesize and regenerate. How something as wild as a jungle or rainforest would grow from a very systematic process. He explained that if one factor wasn’t right, if one cell didn’t do its job the plant had no chance of survival or growth.
“You need a system to grow.”
That sentence has stayed with me all these years on. I think it has stuck in my head because I’m yet to learn the lesson. I have never have taken the time to consider the metaphor for living that it contains.
It seems obvious now that the people who flourish in life, those who are effective, productive and achieve great things, don’t spend time worrying about day-to-day tasks. They have developed the skills to deal with everyday life without expending any extra effort. Organized people don’t waste time worrying where their car keys are. They don’t put off cleaning the house or filing their tax returns. They have a script for doing these things so they happen almost without thinking. The system they have in place leaves their minds free to focus on their big projects and passions without the little stuff hanging over their heads or their lives falling apart intermittently.
By not developing system and habits I thought I was freeing myself from the boring and mundane but instead I have chained myself to it. Each time I do even the most basic thing requires a process of assessment. “So, where did I last drive to and what did I do when I got home?” Followed by, “from now on I’ll hang my keys on the kitchen hook!” Concluding with a frantic search… “Seriously, where the heck did I put them!” That frenzied cycle of activity is far more involved than having a habitual process that is automatic to complete.
With a system and routines established to take care of these things I would be free and able to grow in far more important and interesting areas of my life – how awesome would that be!