Alyson Stanfield

Why do we make things so difficult for ourselves sometimes? We don’t mean to. It’s our nature to appreciate simple solutions that we can quickly grasp and execute.

This topic came up back in episode 96 when I talked with Jill Soukup about what she has done to increase profitability and happiness while reducing the things that lead to frustration and stress.

I think we unnecessarily complicate our businesses because we lose focus. We get distracted by social media posts and emails. The next great invention makes it to our line of vision and we suddenly wonder how we ever did without it.

Before we know it, we’ve typed in our credit card number, ordered or downloaded the professed solution to all of our problems, and upended the momentum we had built.

This insight that you are distracted by the latest and greatest isn’t my clairvoyance into your world. It happens to me. All. The. Time. I am not immune to searching for magic tools that will make my life easier, help me be more productive, or increase my bottom line. And during this month that we’re working on improving productivity, it’s even more tempting to search for solutions outside of ourselves.

The truth is, you probably already have everything you need except, perhaps, community, support, and accountability, which you can find in Art Biz Success programs.

To help me unpack this idea, I’m joined on this episode of The Art Biz by Amelia Furman, who says that her to-do list was out of control before she took charge and started eliminating obligations from her life. She tells us why simplifying has become a way of life for her, what, exactly, she has simplified, and how she has done it. But first, let’s hear about how she got to this point.