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Simple Is Not The Opposite Of Complex
How to get more done in less time with chunking
I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but I made one this year.
I decided to keep it simple: Do more of the things that make me happy, and less of the things that don’t. But, this isn’t about my new year’s resolution. Well, not directly.
It’s about the word simple.
As a technical writer, I’ve focused for years on crafting simple explanations of technical topics for audiences of all levels, whether through my own writing or by reviewing drafts by others.
At the same time, I’ve neglected to simplify the systems and processes that organize my daily life. So, what do I do? Less of the things that make me happy, and more of the things that don’t.
Maybe you see the problem.
Easily the most influential book I read last year was The Programmer’s Brain by Felienne Hermans.
In it, Hermans presents a framework for understanding how your brain processes information, specifically while you are programming. The framework is general enough that you can use it to identify sources of confusion in just about anything. Some people know this framework as “the rule of seven plus or minus two.”
I like to call it “the rule of six.” It’s simpler.
The framework consists of a useful model of how the brain stores and processes information, and a condition that can lead to confusion.
Memory is divided into three parts: long-term memory for knowledge, short-term memory for recent experiences, and working memory for processing and learning. Working memory can only hold a limited amount of information (around six or seven chunks) and confusion is more likely when it is overloaded.
The rule of six not only transformed how I code and how I write, it transformed how I think about simplicity:
Simple is not the opposite of complex. It is the absence of confusion.
