May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow
Photo by Jeremy Jenum
I’m a big fan of efficiency and for quite a while I’ve been caught up in the internet efficiency mode.
But as I get older and wiser :) I come to realize the internet is not always as efficient or effective as it seems.
A lot of the tools on the internet like socialmedia, apps and cloudbased stuff that is supposed to make your life easier, (easier for you to communicate, network, save and share) will eventually leave you with just more work and more things to do. It doesn’t make your life easier, it makes it busier.
So I decided to quit facebook, quit twitter, quit saving my stuff online. Back to simplifying. And you know what? It feels great! Back to playing guitar and spending quality time with the family. That’s all there is to it.
Okay I could dive a little deeper and talk about those nice late morning cappuccinos, how I spend my days with coolest guitar workouts and that kind of stuff, but I’ll save that for later posts. Patience… please!
And then I also decided to give up goals. Meaning: Learning a certain skill or working on a project (how small it may be) with a deadline in mind. No more of that. Nowadays I wake up and just do whatever comes my way and do it passionately and mindfully. With the emphasis on “mindfully”.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have a saying in how I spend my days, I certainly do, but my days flow more naturally and best of all…. I get more done without having the intention to do so. Try it and you’ll be pretty amazed. Just live in the moment and be open and openminded for whatever or whoever shows up on your path. You’ll come out as a better guitar player because of it.
I’ll leave you for now with a beautiful quote by Lao Tzu:
“The world is ruled by letting things take their course, it cannot be ruled by interfering.”
Does this mean no more articles on here?
thanks dude!
Hi Zoobdo,
I love writing and I love this blog, so there will always be more articles.
Klaus
Glad you’re not giving up the blog, it could be the valuable thing you do on the internet. And I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
I’ve been dogged by deadlines and feeling an urge to just throw them off, but that would mean giving up performing (I’m up to at least one show a week). I think maybe it’s the anxiety about it that I need to throw off. Just run through my songs, add some new stuff as I go, and stop worrying. The worrying is probably what brings about the onstage mistakes, too. This is all new to me, and I haven’t gotten to the point yet where I can “make it look easy.”
More power to you! I took a break from Facebook at the start of the year, don’t regret it at all. Books to read, music to play….down with distractions!
PS your blog is well good, keep on with that when you can :-)
Someone’s been reading Leo on ZenHabits :)
I’m try to simplify, but in the sense of stripping down things like FB to their most important uses, which for me is keeping in touch with family 3000 miles away.
It’s not always about goals as much as *habits*
You’re right Kyle, I’m a big fan of Leo, Wayne Deyer and many other great (blog) writers and we’re all inspired by Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching”. That’s a good thing. :)
You’re using FB the way it should be used. Nothing less and nothing more. Good for you!
Best regards,
Klaus
I like that Dom,
“Books to read, music to play….down with distractions”
Klaus
Oh Phew!! I thought you were going to quit the blog. Glad to hear ur going to keep it going. It has definitely helped me as a guitar player and i always love seeing the new articles that you post. They are lots of fun!!
Hi Klaus,
Recently found your blog and really like it a lot. I agree with your simplification statement. I guess the guitar level/stage that you are at also matters when to comes to setting goals and having a plan. At the intermediate level, I find it really helps to have a structure in place. I try to keep track of what I want to practise and what I havent done for some time. Keeps me motivated.
However, some days I just do whatever I feel like anyway and so the plans go ouf of the window :-)
Keep up the great work mate. Cheers.
Raj
Hey Raj,
What you said that hit the spot with me is about sometimes doing whatever you like. I find that when I’ve been going with a practice schedule for so long I need to step back and take break from it.
It’s those times that I just go back to what I love, like learning a song that’s really fun.
Good luck with all your practicing :)
-Kyle
Good decision Klaus.
I completely understand where you are coming from. I too have way too many distractions and too many things going on at the same time. I had a good friend tell me that I needed to simply say no to the distractions and get back to playing.
Life is to short to spend time and effort on things which are not important and that you don’t have a passion for. Many great thinkers have written about the simple life, and the joy it brings. Thanks for sharing your new philosophy with us, and remember- Don’t relapse!
Just found your blog while looking for blues chords.
Zen and Guitar … my 2 favourite practices … perfect
Hi Christoph,
Search the archive and you’ll find enough posts that combine zen and guitar. :)
Thanks for visiting.
I hope you enjoy the blog!
Best regards,
Klaus Crow
One practical tip I can give is to get a very simple recording device (a portable digital recorder or tape recorder, or a recording app on a phone if possible) for doing demo recordings. It’s very simple, effective, and all you have to do is hit one button (usually) to record your entire jam :)