Take the easy way out

Biking is by far the best way to get around Amsterdam. (Image by Peter Smits)

When a kid cleans her room, she may use some unorthodox tidying tactics.

Theoretically, everything should find a home where it is grouped with like items. However, there isn’t always time and energy for that. Shoving everything into drawers and closets, while hasty and perfunctory, is actually a good start. At least the room looks tidy. The details can be addressed later.

There are many situations in school, work, and life where we get stuck because we want to to do things well. We might spend hours, days, or even years trying to summon the energy to approach our task the right way. In the meantime, the deed remains undone. If we give ourselves permission to take the easy way out — to do the work badly or take shortcuts — we may actually accomplish what we set out to do.

I remember when I used to spend whole weekends intending to update my website. I saw it as a giant, overwhelming project, the results of which had the potential to transform my business and finally allow me to share my vision with the world.

Not surprisingly, with this kind of pressure, I was unable to complete the project. In fact, each weekend would pass by without any movement at all.

One solution would be to break the project into small pieces and set deadlines for each one. Another would be to keep things in perspective and realize that the website isn’t a measure of my worth as a person.

However, here’s what really changed: I recognized that I was using my website as an excuse to avoid the actions that I needed to take. It was a convenient place to hide. Therefore, instead of waiting around to fix my website, I created programming that was useful to people. I focused on building connections and helping others. In turn, I gathered the help I needed. A perfect website was a lot less necessary, but now it was easy to create one — and I didn’t have to do it all by myself.

There are always so many ways of reaching our objective if we’re willing to consider them. As a young adult, I used to get locked into a weekend morning scenario that went like this: I wanted to work out, but I was hungry. I couldn’t eat because I had no groceries. I couldn’t get groceries because I hadn’t showered yet, but I didn’t want to shower until after I had worked out.

Looking back, I feel compassion for the rigid thinking of my younger self, but I can see so many solutions now: Shove your dirty hair under a baseball camp and get takeout from the restaurant across the street (or head to Publix and get just what you need to make a quick meal). Eat whatever is handy, even if it’s not a healthy meal. Skip the snack and go for a quick run on an empty stomach. Take a shower if you want. Work out later. Whatever.

These days, it’s much easier for me to seek shortcuts and “cheats” because I am less concerned with the “right” way to do things. There is no right way. For example, I recently had to cancel a flight and rebook one for a few days later. And then I had to cancel the one I had rebooked. At that point, I felt the familiar feeling of stuckness creeping in. “I can’t afford to book another flight! I don’t know yet when I can travel, anyway!” And then I thought, “Wait…what if we just drive?” Problem solved. It wasn’t the ideal solution, but it was the best one.

It’s hard to let go of perfectionism and the fear of doing it wrong. For some of us, “do your best” is so deeply ingrained that to do shoddy work feels like a moral failing. Though it is challenging to make this shift, it is liberating once you do. Ironically, you may find that you’re more satisfied with your accomplishments because you actually get more done. When you drop the fretting that gets you nowhere, you have a lot more time and energy.

Time and time again, we’ve heard that we shouldn’t take the easy way out. But sometimes, the easy way is the best way. Where might you give it a try?