Making It Look Effortless

As we go about problem solving in our lives we usually find that the simplest solution is the best fitting. But it’s not like the simplest option just pops up and waves its arms at you... You need to discover it and think it through from a number of different angles. Simplicity comes from understanding a complex objective and distilling it down into its most basic parts. And the reality is, that process involves a lot of hard work. 

You need to work hard in order to make something look effortless.

We’ve all been there… We’ve been struggling at something for long enough that we look around to see how other people are managing, only to find someone who makes it look so easy. How nice it would be if it was that easy for me! What you don’t see is the trial and error process, the experimentation, and the failures that preceded what they’re now making look so easy.

It’s counterintuitive because when observing someone that looks so effortless, you do not see the complexity or even recognize that what they are doing is inherently difficult. But that’s only because they have worked through the learning curve to synthesize the task into the most simplified form of action. Simple solutions seem to exist in plain sight and they don’t appear to be that clever. But that’s exactly the point - They appear to be so effortless that they aren’t noteworthy, they just fit.

I say this all to help you understand that the people around you who seem to be in a flow state, and the user-friendliness of your life is there by design. It required a lot of thought and hard work to make it look so effortless.