Barbara Hemphill shared a story on her YouTube channel that perfectly captures what so many people are feeling today... life just keeps getting more complicated.

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While renovating her home, Barbara ordered what she thought would be a simple doorbell. To her surprise, it came with 52 different ringtones. Even more surprising, there was no list describing them and no way to remember which ones she had already played.

“I couldn’t help but laugh,” Barbara recalled. “Who really needs 52 doorbell tones?”

That moment reminded her of something her colleague Matthias Miller once said:

“Most people want something new, but need something old. Set up habits to get you grounded in the fundamentals.”

Barbara reflected on how often people get distracted by what’s new... new tools, new technology, new systems... when what they truly need is a return tothe basics. As her father used to say,“Common sense isn’t always so common.”

Whether it’s in business, relationships, or personal productivity, we often make things far more complicated than they need to be. Barbara encourages individuals to pause and ask themselves:

“What am I really trying to accomplish, and what’s the simplest way to do it?”

She recalled meeting a woman on a flight one January morning who perfectly illustrated this lesson. The woman was holding a beautiful red leather planner her husband had bought her, but she sighed deeply and admitted, “I’m hopeless, I’m too disorganized to even know how to use this.”

For the next two hours, Barbara helped her simplify the planner... removing pages she didn’t need and focusing on the essentials. By the time they landed, the woman was smiling again. She didn’t need a different planner. She just needed to make the one she had work for her.

Barbara often points to Proverbs 10:22:

“The blessing of the Lord brings wealth without painful toil for it.”

True wealth, she explains, doesn’t always refer to money. It can mean peace, focus, or a sense of fulfillment.And often, those blessings come when we choose tosimplifyrather than complicate.

At Productive Environment Institute, Barbara’s message remains clear: the foundation of a truly productive environment, whether at home or at work, starts with returning to what matters most.

So, before reaching for that “next new thing,” take a moment to ask yourself:
👉Do I really need this?
👉Is there a simpler way?

Sometimes, the most powerful solutions are found not in what’s new... but in what’s fundamental.