Less is more
While flipping through several self-development books, one thing is crystal clear. Doing less has a higher impact on our life than doing more. Getting the right thing done is considered more important than getting all things done right. We have limited time boundaries; we live only from birth to death. There is no time to waste, but we blow it by doing unimportant work. One day, I questioned myself about how to choose and eliminate unnecessary tasks. Let us dig more about it.
Why is it important?
In an ordinary world, workers and students have overloaded tasks which they even dare to start acting. A hectic schedule is a final option to overcome, although they didn’t want it. It often ended up with mental health problems such as work stress and burn-out in some serious times.
Who can be affected?
Usually, the victims of overloaded works are students, managers, and executives. Sometimes activists and volunteers suffer from it too. But in truth, it is possible to incur numerous hidden symptoms of multitasking for everyone.
What is the result of choosing one?
Firstly, it reduces stress in no time. Different tasks and overloaded responsibilities can cause us extreme stress. So, eliminating them also could result in a decrease in stress levels.
Without multitudinous tasks, we can enjoy our life, save time for the things we love, and become more creative and productive in personal or professional life. It will allow us to achieve goals with less effort and give the flexibility in life. After all, we will be happier than ever before.
What is the main procedure?
Before all stages, we should be more familiar with the concept. Choosing the one thing from all is an essential step to start. It may sound hard, but it truly isn’t if we follow some rules. For creating a priority list, the CLEAR rule could clarify the assignment in advance.
CLEAR is an abbreviation of questions:
C — Is it connected to your purpose? L — Is it linked to your goal? E — Is it essential? A — Is it advantageous? R — Is it reality-based?
Once a wise man said that 80 percent of success is a result of 20 percent of work. So our primary goal is to focus on 20 percent, not 80 percent.
After indicating work, the next stage is to immediately begin with the hardest and shift to an easier one. There are various books which could help you deal with an important job. To cope with them, I recommend you to read: First things first by Stephen R. Covey, Eat that frog by Brian Tracy, 5-seconds rule by Mel Gibson.
Taking possession of the right habits also alleviates the strain of the stress. The core of the habit is a record-reward-redirect cycle. By tracking the activity, giving bonus after completion, and rerouting inner focus, we can effectively plant seeds of the right habit inside us.
Finally and above all, health is an ultimate productivity secret. We have to take care of our health while doing the one thing. Because we tend to ignore the importance of good health. In the evenings, we should sleep enough which prepares the brain for tomorrow’s work. Between the works, it is recommended to rest and recover. It can be a small walk or a planned trip as well.
Here is a list of the books as reference and further investigating:
- Tonya Dalton “The Joy of Missing Out”
- Leo Babauta “The Power of Less”
- David Allen “Ready for Anything”
- Ari Meisel “Less Doing, More Living”
- Alex Soojung-Kim Pang “Rest”
- Devora Zack “Singletasking”
