Life Simplified
For some time now, I’ve focused on simplifying my life. For the past several years, I’ve been notoriously busy, and I finally got to the point of being “tired of it.” I envied people who have a 9-5 job and nothing else going on in their life. The type of people who tell you what happened last night on television because they had nothing else to do besides watch the latest shows. It’s not that I envied their television-watching. I just envied their free time.
If there’s anything I’ve learned in 2007, it’s how to say “no.” I’ve decided to not take on any more recording commitments. This has freed up a large portion of my time. With recording comes the following - packing and loading up equipment, traveling to the gig, setting up equipment (usually very early and waiting a while before the performance), recording the gig, tearing down the equipment, packing and loading up, traveling back home, unloading equipment, mixing & editing the recording, mastering, and finally, producing the master disk. In some cases, waiting on CD orders to come via mail, duplicating CDs and shipping them out. Tired yet?
Lately, some of my simplifying has happened on its own. Little things like my church buying their own sound system has enabled me to simplify my setup at church. I was able to bring equipment home that I no longer needed at church. In turn, this enabled me to (finally) have a recording setup at home for my drums. Also in turn, this let me simplify my computer setup in the office. It was a chain reaction. I’ll spare the details of all of this, but just know that it has made life more efficient.
By saying no to some things, I’ve been able to say yes to other things. This past Saturday, I was able to pass out water for several hours during the 127 Yard Sale. I’m able to read more. I don’t really have an excuse for spending time with God each day anymore.
So, the main keys to my life being simplified has been learning to say no and making things more efficient. I’m not an expert at this, but I’d say a lot of us could benefit from these two points. I’d be interested in hearing some of your stories of simplifying your lives or ways to be more efficient.
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Now playing: Matt Redman - A Greater Song
via FoxyTunes
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Now playing: Matt Redman - Take It to the Streets
via FoxyTunes