Less is More

How and Why Less is More

We’ve all heard and have probably said the phrase, “Less is more.” In context, it’s easy to know what someone means. But have you thought about its implications for your life? Your wellbeing? Your time?

Many of us struggle with doing #allthethings. We check off twenty tasks from our list only to add thirty more. We can get a lot done but, at the end of the day, still feel like we accomplished nothing. We get behind one day and swear that we’ll get caught up the next. We grind through the day and push the limits on when we will actually stop. One more chore. One more email. One more TikTok.

David Allen has said, “You can do anything, but not everything.” It’s foolish to think that we can do #allthethings because it ignores our humanity. We are meant to exercise wisdom by CHOOSING to focus on the RIGHT things among the many. Inherently, this means deciding WHICH tasks to get done and accept the fact that some (or many) other tasks will NOT get done.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the sweet satisfying sensation of checking off a task as much as anyone. But I also love the feeling of finishing my day with a list of tasks that has check marks next to the ones that were most important. Just completing tasks for its own sake quickly leads us down a path of doing more for less. That’s the definition of being unproductive! We mask our unproductivity with a façade of activity.

So how do we DO LESS to GET MORE?

By CHOOSING to do less!

Don’t complicate it. It really is that simple. And if you don’t believe me, try it for a week. You’ll be shocked at how much MORE you will accomplish by focusing on LESS. Here’s some quick tips on how to do this:

1. Write your 3 most important tasks each day – Derrick, are you crazy?! Only 3 tasks?! YES. When you are deciding what you will do for your day, looking at your miles-long list and calendar, choose the 3 MOST IMPORTANT tasks. And make sure they’re doable in a day.
2. Commit to completing those 3 tasks each day – You will, of course, get more than those 3 things done each day (hopefully). But even if you didn’t, by committing to the 3 most important tasks of your day, you will make progress on what’s really important to you.
3. Keep them visible – Write out your 3 most important tasks and keep them somewhere quickly accessible and/or openly visible (e.g. 3×5 card, your phone’s wallpaper, whiteboard, planner, bookmark, mirror, wherever)

Think about it. Less stuff means more space. Less distractions means more time. Less phone use means more reading.

So give it a try! I am excited for you to test this out. Experiment with it. And remember that if you get nothing else done except those 3 most important tasks, you’ll still feel accomplished at the end of your day and satisfied with your progress.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

If you want to have success each year, you need to find focus each day.

Focus Daily, my friend!