Wasmund - Do less, get more: how to work smart and live life your way

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.

Ive been known as the queen of multitasking for too long. Whether from a misguided sense of duty to do everything, a constant fear of losing out or an innate need to be in control, Ive tried to juggle more things than any sane person should attempt or want to do. My phone has been like an umbilical cord and email has ruled my life. Mindfulness was remembering to pick up my keys before I left the house.

Sound familiar? Have you ever found yourself checking your emails or texts while having dinner with your family or friends? Do you feel like there arent enough hours in the day, that you run around getting nowhere fast? Do you wish you could put what really matters first in your life, but struggle to figure out how?

Its so easy to justify why we do the things we do, but when we take a closer look we begin to see and understand the true consequences of our constant busyness. Are we genuinely enjoying our lives, doing what we love and being with the people who matter? Or are we rushing from one task to the next, trying to be all things to all people, and not feeling like we have the time or energy to give anything or anyone the attention they deserve?

The comfort of being busy

Some time ago my world fell apart when my gorgeous, wonderful partner passed away. He wasnt just my partner, he was my beautiful sons dad, and he was an awesome dad. My coping mechanism was to occupy every minute of my time so that I would have none left to think. It helped me survive, but now I realize I let it possess me like an inner demon. I became trapped in a straitjacket of my own making; if my mind wandered Id just pull the ties tighter with more responsibilities, more emails, projects, people, more, more, more...

And then my son said to me, Mummy, youre always busy. I looked back at him. It had taken the eyes of a child to show me what was happening. The light bulb went on. It was time for me to make some decisions about what was really important and start filtering out the noise to hear my own voice and listen to what it was saying.

When I did that, I realized that the successful projects and relationships in my life the ones I really connected with, the ones I really wanted all had something in common: they worked because I gave them my attention at the right moments.

When I work with entrepreneurs and people starting up their own businesses, I always encourage them to identify the one thing they can do that day that will make the biggest difference. Not the five things or even the three things: the one thing.

Most people seem to believe they need to do more, when really they just need to do what matters. To filter out the distractions and focus on the things that make the difference between surviving and thriving, between playing catch-up and being in the lead.

To become world class at this, you have to give yourself a bit of time and space to let go, let the real you unfold. (Reading this book is perfect.) When you are thinking clearly, you can more easily discover what it is you really want, and then you need consciously to prioritize it; to discriminate between the things that help you grow and the things that set you back or at least keep you standing still.

To make this a reality requires honest, deep thinking, and you must follow that with action. We all place limitations on ourselves, often subconsciously, and until you uncover them, face them and free yourself of them, youll be stuck on lifes hamster wheel.

Its time to look your fears and excuses in the face and prepare to jump out of your comfort zone, to start taking control of your life and to forge time for yourself and the things that matter. Your destination is happiness, and you can enjoy every moment of the journey.

Why are you waiting to be truly happy?

According to recent research from the Royal Economic Society, most peoples lifetime happiness curve is U-shaped. Our happiness is high in our youth, starts to trail off by the time we are just twenty-five and doesnt pick up again until we retire. Unsurprisingly, this research indicates that our happiest times are when our lives are simplest, and the pressures of expectation from work and family commitments are at their lowest. That leaves forty years in between the period when we are considered to be in our mental and physical prime, but during which too many of us settle for being crazy busy and just moderately happy. Thats scary. Do we really want to defer living life at its best until we retire?

Of course, this book isnt a how to find happiness manual, much though Id like it to be. Sadly, there is no secret formula that will solve all lifes problems. The best we can do is help each other illuminate the dark corners. My aim is to provide a wake-up call to remind you that its possible to grab your own happiness and show you how to do it. This book is about living life to the fullest and not squandering it. It is for anyone who has something to change and the desire to do so. Its particularly useful for those with short attention spans and tight schedules. People who want to know how, not just why.

I thought about calling this book How to Get More Out of Life, but it isnt about getting more stuff. This book is about taking what you already have and making the most of it and in order to do so you may need to let go of a few things in the process. Its about squeezing every last drop out of life while you have the time to appreciate it. Getting the best from life is about digging down to the core of who you really are, what you really want and what makes you truly happy, then making the changes necessary to focus on those things.

Its about reconnecting with the things that make you smile and your heart sing, the pursuits, the people and the work that give you lasting happiness, the dreams that linger unfulfilled, the adventures youve yet to set off on, the businesses youve always wanted to set up, the places youve wished youd travelled to, the restaurants youve never eaten in, the lives you want to change, the house by the sea, the yoga at dawn, the book thats never been written, the life you imagined. This isnt a fairy tale, and neither is it wishful thinking. Many, if not most, of the things that will create your