Norway: The Art of Living (and Working) Simply

1 Oct

2 weeks, 6 days and 3 hours ago, I returned from an insane, awesome, inspiring, life-changing solo adventure wild camping and paddleboarding on the Norwegian Fjords. The days were spent paddling, eating, hiking and sleeping, on repeat…a week spent living perfectly in the moment.

(I’ve added some of my favourite photos at the end of this post if you are interested)

🏕️ In the morning it was get up at 7am, tent down, mattress and sleeping bag rolled away, pack all your stuff into the dry bags, eat breakfast, drink coffee, load your board.

🛶 Most of the day was spent on a paddleboard, and because the weather was so beautiful we were able to stop multiple times and sit quietly and take it all in (and enjoy our snacks to keep us going of course).

⛰️Late afternoon was spent putting up your tent, hiking up a waterfall, swimming in the fjord, and at one campsite…a sauna…what a treat!

🔥 Evenings were spent eating reindeer stew, chatting with new friends, roasting marshmallows and drinking duty free rum.

😴 Bedtimes were early because we were simply too damn tired to stay up beyond 9.30pm (and you never knew it was going to be the sheep or the need for a “wild” wee that was going to get you up at 4am!)

There was no choice but to live in the moment - we were simply too busy in the moments to do anything but.

So what, I hear you ask, does this have to do with my tech business?

Well everything actually.

I was already reflecting on my way of working before I went away, and now I’m back I crave the more simple life. I don’t want to change my life as such, I just want to make it more simple.

In Norway, did you know it’s someone’s actual job to load the goats into a boat in the morning, transport them to a beautiful, lush piece of grass on the inaccessible edge of the fjord, so they can have a lovely day doing goaty things literally hanging off the side of the mountain, and then return to transport them back to the farm before sunset?

How wonderful does that sound?

A bit boring actually, I’m not sure this would be for me, but what about applying this kind of simplicity to my life and work? Norway has helped me to reconnect with my core values.

To live life as simply as possible and invest my energy in the present.

Even the booking process for my trip was ridiculously simple, at no point did I have the need to ask a question, the information was all there, clear and without clutter.

I want to remain in my Nordic bliss bubble for as long as possible.

This is what I want when I set about a days work, and this is what I want other people to feel when they work with me. It doesn’t matter how you present the information, there will always be a question or two, but I want it to be easy for people to work with me, without fuss, without adding to their already overwhelming mental load.

Here are some of the things I’m focusing on to keep my business simple and stress-free:

🌼 Stripping back my tech stack to the bare minimum. I have done this already and cut some of the monthly costs. I want to be really clear on how my workflow works, cutting out all the unnecessary fluff and faff.

🌼 Keep my digital files and emails organised and clutter-free. It’s easy for these two things to get out of control, so I am finding methods that ensure it stays that way.

🌼 Strictly spending less time at my desk. I often migrate back to my computer when I don’t really need to ultimately not being very productive. I need to be stricter with my own boundaries and make sure that I schedule work, and when it’s done I close the laptop down.

🌼 Working outside as much as possible. When I ran my fitness business this was easy because I held classes outdoors most days regardless of the weather. Now I work at a desk not so much and obviously I can’t work outside when it’s raining! I can at least take my coffee breaks in the garden and I recently bought myself a gorgeous new dry robe so there are no excuses.

🌼 More action and less planning. I have lists and lists of ideas for lead magnets, blog posts, social media posts, courses and workbooks I’ve downloaded, but I spend too much time procrastinating on what I should do next. I’m trying to think more organically and instinctively about what I’m doing, building momentum and seeing where that takes me rather than worrying too much about “strategy”. Strategy is important but it’s not getting things done for me right now!

And for my clients:

🌼 Cutting retainers and only offering two clear services; a Tech Sprint and Tech Sidekick For A Day.

🌼 Making the booking process crystal clear, super simple and clutter-free. Book, pay, as few emails as possible, and all the information they need at their fingertips.

🌼 Removing the need for clients to login to yet another system, such as a client portal, to work with them. Finding ways to decrease their mental load not add to it!

🌼 Adding all my resources and help videos into one useful repository. I’ve been trying to do this for ages but never managed to get on top of it. I realise now how important it is, to avoid repetition, sharing the same information over and over.