Robert Heinlein wrote five rules for any writer to follow if they wanted success:
- You must write.
- You must finish what you write.
- You must not rewrite, unless to editorial demand.
- You must put your work on the market.
- You must leave your work on the market until it sells.
He had no trouble writing those rules because he knew they were so simple, nobody would follow them. Any writer who has a successful career with the craft today can attribute that success to following Heinlein’s rules (although there is much debate about rule 3)… which were written in the forties.
The simplest rules, which are the ones that work, are the ones nobody follows.
I dove into the realm of productivity ten years ago and the complicated systems and apps emerging from this field are astounding. Every new discovery is an opportunity for people to try it out, until they realize it’s nothing more than a tweak on something else.
Then you get to the bottom of it and productivity is nothing more than two simple rules:
- Block distractions.
- Get ‘er done.
The simple rules of health?
- Eat healthy (by avoiding processed foods)
- Exercise
Raising kids?
- Don’t kill them
Intuitively, we know the rules to most things in life are simple. Yet, we can’t help but seek complications in the hopes that if it’s incredibly difficult to follow, it’s an instant fix.
A simple path isn’t an easy path, but it works.
Stop trying to complicate it.