Lately I notice myself thinking about the word 'calm' a lot. Calm as in peaceful and quiet. And as in free from anger, anxiety, worry, fear, noise and disturbance.
Calm is how a person can feel. It's also what a place or situation can be. A house, a job, a work environment, a meeting, an user interface: they can all be calm.
Calm has a lot going for itself. It's pleasant to be around. It maintains focus by not letting distractions get in the way. It gives clarity by weeding out irrelevant details. It deescalates as it does not let emotions run the show. It doesn't suffer from stress. It's timeless. It can be wildly successful.
Even so, calm seems to be underrated. Houses are full of clutter. Jobs are busy busy busy. Work environments are hectic. Meetings are crowded. User interfaces have annoying pop-ups, unnecessary notifications, inconsistent styling, messy features.
That's strange to me. A calm house is a great place to live in: tidy but cosy and spacious without needing to be large. A calm job is enjoyable because it lets you do your best work without over-asking for commitment. In a work environment, calm means being able to focus. A calm meeting has a clear objective and as few participants as possible, making it efficient. And a calm user interface gets out of your way and lets you focus on the job to be done.
We can use more calm in our lives. I know I can.
Calm is how a person can feel. It's also what a place or situation can be. A house, a job, a work environment, a meeting, an user interface: they can all be calm.
Calm has a lot going for itself. It's pleasant to be around. It maintains focus by not letting distractions get in the way. It gives clarity by weeding out irrelevant details. It deescalates as it does not let emotions run the show. It doesn't suffer from stress. It's timeless. It can be wildly successful.
Even so, calm seems to be underrated. Houses are full of clutter. Jobs are busy busy busy. Work environments are hectic. Meetings are crowded. User interfaces have annoying pop-ups, unnecessary notifications, inconsistent styling, messy features.
That's strange to me. A calm house is a great place to live in: tidy but cosy and spacious without needing to be large. A calm job is enjoyable because it lets you do your best work without over-asking for commitment. In a work environment, calm means being able to focus. A calm meeting has a clear objective and as few participants as possible, making it efficient. And a calm user interface gets out of your way and lets you focus on the job to be done.
We can use more calm in our lives. I know I can.