(Article is ~300 words)
Doing less is looked down upon these days. Those that choose to do less are considered lazy, unproductive and parasites. However, doing less can be the exact opposite.
Over the last roughly 10 years, I have learned A LOT. Some of which has been useful and much has been forgotten. One aspect of life that I has held true in whatever it is I am doing is that the less that I do, the more I get done.
Simplifying our lives is difficult because we have become accustomed to doing more equaling getting more done. Through simplifying our approach, we are able to focus on the important aspects rather than filling the time with fluff that gets little if anything done.
The following are 3 principles for being productive and happy…
- Keep it short – If you are into making lists for productivity purposes that is great. But make sure to limit the list length. Keep the list to 3 items or less that you can do immediately. Once accomplished, throw the list away and generate a new short 3-point list. DO NOT write each list out until the first list is finished.
- 3 Goals – Take 5 minutes in the morning to decided what three things you want to accomplish in that day. Leo Babauta focuses on one, but I think most of us will get more done using three main goals.
- Reduce wasted efforts – Eliminate most, if not all, actions that are not accomplishing the goal. This means setting up settings like LeechBlock for Firefox so that you don’t browse your favorite sports, gossip, or news site when it is not the time to be doing so. Focus on the goal and you will get the goal done twice as fast than if you had available distractions.
David Damron
The Minimalist Path
Click here to get a copy of PROJECT M-31: Simply Your Life in 31 Days
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