Do less, be happier.

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint Exupery

Most of the time in your life, you will find people talking about how to do more, produce more, to get done more things have become more protective. It’s about more. People want to do more things, achieve more things, perform more gigs, get more money and so on. The list is never-ending.

But is doing more the ultimate goal? Well, the answer is- NO.

Let’s learn how to do less, get less done and be less productive.

This approach to do less will change your work life and your life as a whole.

However, let me be clear here. Doing less does not mean being lazy. Rather, I want to concentrate on “focusing more on quality rather than quantity.”

I always hear productivity gurus finding out ways for us to do more and more in lesser time. This creates lots of tension, stress and derails our normal life. I don’t want to be a productivity tool just creating a lot of the things without any meaning. I would like to create something great rather than keep doing something all the time and just being busy.

The more emphasis should be on quality because we have been created to do some things spectacular and not just a lot of things which nobody remembers. A few examples will help you to understand this point.

  • 1. A writer may be writing for years creating thousands of pages with mediocre and low quality. There is no point in creating thousands of pages which have no good value. Another writer may create just a few e-books and blog posts and articles, which are read by everyone and spread around the world. Which one is better?
  • 2. A programmer may create thousands of codes for hundreds of programs, which are just mediocre in quality. At the same time, another programmer may write just a few lines of codes of program which is sought after by millions of people.

In both the cases, even though less is produced but the quality is highest. As the impact on the (smaller) work is higher, the time worked is better spent.

That is what I have done. I have cut back on my working hours and have been able to produce better results than the time when I didn’t have time.

The impact is more important than the time spent on it. Pareto’s 20:80 principle is a very helpful tool in your journey to better quality with lesser time.

Shed off all the old ideas of working hard and working more to become more productive. The most important point is impact. Forget about the general work habit and what other people think about your work habits. Focus on quality and impact achieved in lesser time with lesser work in hand rather than lots of work and no impact.

Get a life.

To much of work and too busy people lose a lot in life. So much a work and extended walking time often kill your personal and work life.

So how do you change your working habits and your life?

Here are some ways this philosophy can change your life and work:

  1. Less hectic, busy schedule means less stress and more peace.
  2. More ability to focus, to find Flow, to work in the moment.
  3. Work has more impact and spreads further and wider.
  4. Find more pride in your work, which feels good.
  5. Do less and create higher quality because people appreciate higher quality.
  6. Find more time for family and loved ones.
  7. Get more time for other things you enjoy and always wanted to do.
  8. Free yourself up to create amazing things.

How to Do Less

Doing less is the solution, but not everybody knows how to do less. So here we share a few tips with you. Remember one thing-change is slow. It doesn’t happen over night; it comes gradually.

  • Slowly cut back on non-essential commitments. (emails, chat etc.)
  • Have fewer meetings.
  • Set limits on your work hours.
  • Learn to say no to requests, so you can focus on doing something great.
  • When you find yourself doing busy-work, stop, put it off, find ways to cut that out of your life.
  • Emphasize on single-task and focus.
  • Create something you will be proud to claim credit for.
  • Edit some more. Make it beautiful and minimal.
  • Whatever blocks you from doing your great work, kill it.
  • Set limits on how many things you do each day.
  • Focus on the most important tasks first, before you get distracted.
  • Throw distractions out, especially unnecessary email and Internet.

Zen Habits or Simple Productivity! You tell us.