The power of less
"The Power of Less" is a blueprint for reducing the clutter, noise, and unnecessary work that fills a modern day. Babauta's lessons enable readers to do less, be more effective, get more done, and simplify their lives.
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4recommend
6mentions
6people
2009–2019years
67% recommend33% neutral
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What Hacker News says
- I just finished reading "The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life" [http://www.amazon.com/Power-Less-Limiting-Yourself-Essential...] and this advice is spot on.
In that book, Leo recommends your days 3 MITs (Most Important Tasks). These tasks are derived from your Goals, and Projects lists (He recommends that you start with only ONE goal for year, for e.g Learn Spanish, and break it down into 6-month goals, 1-month goals, and weekly goals). Furthermore, we all have projects on our plates, but he recommends that we
These projects (ideally those things that require more than 1 To-do item, otherwise they would be just a To-do item :D), along with your goals should drive your To-do list (We all have other items on a day to day basis, and these do show up on your things to do, but more about that in a minute).1. Pick only 3 projects (of which one should be tied to your ONE goal) 2. Finish ALL 3 projects before putting 3 more on the plate.With all that in place, you should, on a day-to-day basis establish the 3 things you that will take you one step closer to your GOAL, or completion of a project - These MITs (decided on the night before, or first thing in the morning) are the first things you do everyday. That way, you know you have knocked out important items without having the day, or your manager, or your email throw you off.
He even recommends checking your email at 10 am (if possible, or later than the absolute first thing in the morning, because if you are like most people, your email usually has a few To-dos in it).
I have just incorporated his advice and am attempting to apply the same and I have to say that I feel so much less cluttered and far more focused. Knowing that I am doing what I need to do and then relegating myself to the not-so-important tasks later on the day seems to free up so much of the internal chatter in my head.
[Disclaimer - The link above is an a non-affiliate link, and I have no connection with the author other than having just read his book]
- I found the advice from Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net helped me quite a lot - particularly his book "The Power of Less". Basically, he advocates reducing other commitments and focussing all of your energy on a small number of projects (e.g. 3) and only starting something new when they are ALL finished. Easier said that done, of course, but I do finish things more frequently now...
- I just finished a ton of great books, some that immediately come to mind:
The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris - Really made me think about life and the work I do
Tribes by Seth Godin - Love this book.
The Dip by Seth Godin - read it before, reread it again this year
Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina - really had to struggle to get past the beginning, was fantastic once I did
Find Your Great Work by Michael Bungary Stanier - I liked this one a lot, motivational
The Power of Less by Leo Babauta - no surprises here, I enjoyed the book, it reads like you would expect it to. Some new insights that aren't on the blog
Superfreakonomics by Stephen Levitt and Dubner
Blink, The Tipping Point and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (I liked The Tipping Point the best out of those 3)
Free by...Chris Anderson (?) I forget. Very interesting.
Team Up by Pete Mockaitis - Great read about accountability groups, subset of a mastermind group IMO.
Collapse by Jared Diamond - Very interesting looks at patterns in civilizations. Some people I spoke to get bored after a few examples, it is a little repetitive but I enjoy the parallels
My old faves are of course Gettings Things Done, 7 Habits, Greatest Salesman in The World, and How to Win Friends and Influence People.
More details here: http://sidsavara.com/personal-development/best-personal-deve...
I regularly (and will be posting a bunch in the next couple weeks) post reviews of books I read here: http://sidsavara.com/product-reviews
- I'd recommend The Power of Less by Leo Babaute. It's written by the Zen Habits guy, and it offers a productivity system designed for people like you (and me).
- The way I think of time management now inspired by a book I've never read [0]. I read the review for the Power of Less on the Personal MBA website, "Leo Babauta masterfully teaches the fine art of focusing on the essential and eliminating the superfluous." I thought to myself what I really cared about and what I didn't. My list of things to do everyday was becoming unmanageable.
What I do now is consider my main goal at the moment. What is the thing that if I didn't try my best to accomplish it I would have serious regrets? In my case it's completing my computer science education. Then I consider what would not be worth sacrificing in order to accomplish this goal. In my case it's things like becoming unhealthy and being a slob.
In the end I've settled on a system where I devote my morning to maintaining these things I can't give up and I devote my evenings to my main goal. I spend an hour or so exercising and make sure to tidy up before work. Once I get home I can devote my full energy to the task at hand.
Children are not recommended for this scenario.
- The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
It is essentially a guide on how to reduce complexity in your life so you can have more success with the essential things. I like it so far but I'm only half way through it.
