Is doing less the way to happiness or a more content life?
“Trying to do it all will eventually be your undoing” Kate Northup
Kate Northup believes that instead of “leaning in,” and “doing it all”, we should actually do less and that by doing less we can have – and be – more. Her book “Do Less” discusses tools to change the way we approach life, and how as women we should embrace living in tune with our cyclical nature and the feminine. She states that women function on a 28-day cycle, and not 24 hours as our lives as set up. Men function on a 24-hour cycle.
Kate believes that by cutting out the busyness, we’ll have more satisfaction and joy. We will stop and be.
Our worth should not be associated to how much we do. We shouldn’t wear busy like a badge of honour. But we do, and we’re tired, drained and some of us near burn out. We live by our to do lists, ticking it off as a source of contentment, we consume more than is healthy – hands up who’s done the lying on the sofa scrolling through social media only to realise your evening has just vanished, sat in a meeting that could have been an email or gone from email to task to email to browser. And then went and did it all over again the next day.
Doing less isn’t doing nothing it is just doing more of what matters, of the important stuff. By doing less, we’ll accomplish more, be less anxious or stresses, create more time for ourselves and be happier.
Multi-tasking is overrated. The switching back and forth between ‘important tasks’ comes at a cost to our performance. Two years ago videos made for Facebook were one to two minutes long, now videos made for Facebook are under 30 seconds, anything over and it won’t be watched, it would seem we no longer have the attention span.
Doing more things does not drive faster or better results. Doing better things drives better results. Even more accurately, doing one thing as best you can drives better results.
James Clear
https://jamesclear.com/multitasking-myth
Focusing on what really matters and doing less has helped me over the last month to create more of what I want. I still have a list but it is more realistic day to day. I am more mindful in what I do. When I am with my son, I no longer have my phone so that I can be totally present with him. I set myself three personal and three work goals every day. I focus on each one at a time, doing deeper work. I have turned down the noise of social media. I feel better. It fits in more with cosy minimalist approach to life.
Can you do less? How would you do it?
1. Discover what really matters to you – work what energises you and what drains you. Do more of what energises you. Figure out what provides the most impact on your life, your career, your ability to help others, etc…
2. Reduce distractions – have a digital detox, turn off the internet while you are working so you can’t check emails.
3. Do more of what you love – prioritise your day around doing what you love. Figure out ways of doing less of what you love. This might mean delegating or asking for help. Some things we have no choice about but it is about minimising that.
4. Accept where you are – when you accept where you are, you start being more accepting and loving towards what you do, where you are and who you are and this can create a huge shift in perspective. Instead of looking at the gap and wanting more, look at how far you’ve come and what you have.
5. Take a moment and breathe – control your time. Ever noticed when you are very calm and relaxed how time can flow so slowly.
More inspiration here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8yWLA--S8Q