45 of 365: On the effortless work: Minimalism design principle

45 of 365 – minimalism design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

One of the most lovely things that I have enjoyed as a part of my design and consulting practice is the ability to stay fairly stress free in the effort. Because of the flexibility afforded by consulting, I am able to step back, look at the entire spectrum of the work, and let it flow. There is a certain kind of joy in doing work that you are good at, enjoy doing, and are compensated well for. I have been lucky enough to have a few jobs like this, mostly longer term positions, and the reasons that I left had more to do with leadership, staff, or situational variables. Never the work. The work is joy. The work is the light of the day. The work is the thing.

In this illustration of the idea, I wanted to focus on a minimalism approach, one in which there is just what is called for and nothing else. I illustrated a quote from the Tao te Ching (the book of the way): Act without doing; Work without effort. It speaks to me as an ideal of work: work that is not work at all.