Leo Babauta - The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life

The Principles

Why Less Is Powerful

The Art of Setting Limits

Choosing the Essential, and Simplifying

Simple Focus

Create New Habits, and the Power of Less Challenge

Start Small

T HERE HAS NEVER BEFORE been an age in which we could get so much done so quickly. There also has never before been an age in which we were so overwhelmed with information and tasks, so overloaded with e-mails and things to read and watch, so stressed by the incredible demands of our lives.

For many people these days, work is a constant stream of e-mails, of news and requests, of phone calls and instant messages, of papers and notes and files. The day starts with an in-box full of e-mails, and ends with an in-box just as full, and each e-mail represents a request for information or for actions that we dont have time to fulfill. We are drinking from a fire hose of information, with no idea of how to reduce the flow.

Its stressful and wasteful. And if we stop to think about it, its not how we want to spend our lives.

FINDING CALM IN THE CHAOS

Whats the alternative to information and task overload? Must we follow the example of Thoreau, and build a cabin in the woods, shutting ourselves off from society and modern technology?

I propose a middle ground: one where we can still enjoy access to vast amounts of information, still have instant communication when we want it, still get things done quicklybut one in which we choose how much we consume and do. A simpler life, but one in which we accomplish the things we want to accomplish.

The solution lies in setting limits to how much we consume and do. It lies in making the most of our time by focusing on the most important things, instead of everything. Picture a life in which you have a fairly peaceful workday, where stress levels are minimal, where youre able to focus on your work. Imagine that you only do a few tasks, but theyre chosen so that they have the most impact. You accomplish major goals without the stress of doing everything at once.

It might sound idyllic, but its definitely achievable. Ive done it using a system thats very easy to implement.

It all comes down to making choices.

SIMPLICITY

Im a firm believer in simplicity. My life is better when I simplify it, when I cut down on the noise and Im able to enjoy the things I love. My work is better when I cut out the distractions and Im able to focus. My writing is more powerful when I can eliminate excess words and use only those words needed to convey my core ideas.

Simplicity means a lot of things in different contexts. For some, it means going back to using raw materials instead of manufactured ones, building and making everything yourself instead of buying it, doing everything yourself instead of relying on others. While that definition holds a lot of appeal for me, the simplicity I seek in my life is simplicity in what I do. Do less, not more, but achieve more because of the choices I make.

Simplicity boils down to two steps:

1. Identify the essential.
2. Eliminate the rest.

In this book, well talk about a lot of ways to apply those two steps to various areas of your work and personal life, but well always come back to those two ideas: Focus on the essential and allow everything else to drop away.

Itll make you much happier, less stressed, and perhaps surprisingly, more productive.

HOW IT WORKED FOR ME

Only a few years ago, I was over my head in debt, with a work schedule that rarely allowed me to see my family and had me stressed to maximum levels every day. I was overweight and unhealthy, I was eating fried and fatty and salty and greasy foods every day, I wasnt exercising, and I was a smoker. I was unhappy at work and going nowhere, fast. My life was complicated, and I didnt have time for the things I loved.

So I made a choice: I decided to simplify. I decided to make positive changes. It started with quitting smokingI focused on that first, and only that. I poured all of my energy into this one goal, and an amazing thing happened: That focused energy allowed me to break through the initial barriers of quitting, which Id failed at numerous times before.

Beating that barrier helped inspire me to new goals and habits, and I used the same method on each one: Id focus all of my energy and attention on that one challenge, and the barriers would break down. Id focus on one goal at a time (I call it my One Goal) and not try to accomplish everything at once.

Through this method, over the last several years, Ive been able to:

1. Take up running
2. Begin eating healthier
3. Become organized and productive
4. Train for and run two marathons
5. Work two jobs and double my income
6. Become an early riser (I wake at 4 a.m.)
7. Become a vegetarian
8. Complete two triathlons
9. Start a successful blogZen Habits
10. Completely eliminate my debt
11. Save a substantial emergency fund for the first time
12. Simplify my life
13. Declutter my home
14. Lose forty-plus pounds
15. Write and sell two successful e-books
16. Write the first draft of a novel
17. Quit my day job and work from home
18. Start a successful second blog, Write To Done, for writers
19. Publish this book

And Ive done all of that while raising and making time for six beautiful kids.

That may sound like a lot, but I accomplished all of this in small steps, one thing at a time. Again, I used the concept of One GoalI focused on only one goal at a time, and put all of my energy into it.

My blog, Zen Habits, which documents how Ive reached these goals, is now in the top fifty blogs in the world, with more than sixty thousand subscribers and about two million readers a month. Many of my readers have asked me how I can do so much, given that I have the same number of hours in the day as everyone else. My answer: Its a matter of placing limits, and focusing on the essential.

THE SIX PRINCIPLES OF SIMPLE PRODUCTIVITY

Part I of this book will explore the six guiding principles of the Power of Lessthe ideas that will help you to maximize your productivity while simplifying your life. These Power of Less Principles will reappear throughout the book:

1. Set limitations.
2. Choose the essential.
3. Simplify.
4. Focus.
5. Create habits.
6. Start small.

In Part II of this book, the Power of Less in Practice, well take a look at practical tips for implementing these principles in key areas, from your work to your personal life.

WHAT THIS BOOK WILL DO

First, let me tell you what this book wont do: It wont teach you exactly how to write a novel or run a marathon or quit smoking. This isnt a how-to manual to do any of that. This is a how-to manual on how to simplify and focus on the essential. How to do less while accomplishing more. How to focus and use that focus to achieve your goals, no matter what they are.

Its about limitations rather than volume.

Each chapter of this book is designed to teach you how to focus on less and to use that focus to be more powerful in different areas of your life. Youll learn to simplify what you do, to reduce the volume of your tasks and projects and communication and information. Youll learn to reduce the clutter in your life so that youre less stressed and more productive. Youll learn how simplicity can be extremely powerful and how to use that to accomplish your goals, one at a time.