You might not need a system

Systems only save time if you're spending a lot of time on something in the first place

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that while systems can be great for streamlining
your life and reducing mental load, you might not need

(00:23):
a system for everything you do. There is no gold
star for having a system that doesn't actually serve you.
Today's tip is inspired by my Best of Both Worlds
podcast co host Sarah Hart Hunger. On the podcast We
host Together, she mentioned not having a system for keeping

(00:43):
track of hand me downs. There's a big gap between
her older kids and her youngest kid, and between her
youngest kid and her niece. Years pass before an item
needs to get from one kid to the next, so
she does just fine without an elaborate system of labeled bits.
It turns out that for many things in life, you

(01:04):
don't actually need a system. Some things can just happen
as they happen. For instance, I recently bumped into a
friend in the grocery store who said she was there
most days. The grocery store is really close and it's quick,
so why not she didn't need a more efficient meal

(01:25):
planning and grocery system. Some people keep their homes clean
without a system as well, especially if you live by
yourself or only with adults and don't have pets, you
can just clean what's dirty. When you think about it,
this would probably not work for my household with seven
people and a dog, But if your house stays clean

(01:46):
without a system, there's really no need to feel bad
about this or to start perusing the web for cleaning schedules.
Spend your time on other things. It is all good.
Some people seem to believe that systems are intrinsically virtuous.
They feel obligated to have a system for everything, or

(02:07):
perhaps proud of having a system for everything. And trust me,
I get it. I have a lot of systems. But
systems are best for things that would otherwise consume a
lot of mental energy or time. If you are not
currently spending a lot of time or mental energy on something,

(02:28):
then a system probably can't reduce that. A system might
even increase the mental cost. So if you don't actually
need a system, you are wasting your bandwidth in developing
and maintaining one. Instead, let things take care of themselves.

(02:48):
No one's life is perfectly optimized, and if you go
to the grocery store a few times a week and
kind of like it. That is absolutely fine. In the meantime,
this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

(03:16):
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

(03:38):
listen to your favorite shows.