CONTEXT

Burnout is more common than ever before.

Why? Because we say yes to everything (and never have enough time for the really important things).

Greg McKeown wrote about this in his book Essentialism. It’s all about “doing less, but better.”

In other words, get the right things done… not the most things done.

Declutter your life with these 6 minimalist habits:

METHOD

1. Make ‘no’ your default.

If it’s not an obvious yes, it’s a no.

An extra project, a difficult client, an acquaintance’s wedding that is extremely far to travel to…

Just because an opportunity arises does not mean you should say yes. Be absurdly protective of your time.

2. Create (and maintain) boundaries.

If your working hours are between 9am and 6pm, don’t answer that 8pm email.

It can usually wait until morning.

If you don’t respect your boundaries, no one else will either.

3. When someone asks you to take on another thing, respond with this:

“I’m happy to…

But if we’re adding this to my scope, what are we taking away?”

1 in, 1 out.

4. Differentiate between what’s urgent and what’s important.

Answering that ping? Might feel really urgent.

But spending quality time with your kids before bed? That’s important.

5. Prioritize sleep.

1 less hour of sleep might seem like 1 more hour to get stuff done…

But 1 less hour of sleep actually = 2+ fewer hours of productivity tomorrow.

6. Stop multitasking.

Put your phone in Do Not Disturb mode for 1 hour and enjoy getting your #1 most important thing done.

“The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s.

It was singular… It stayed singular for the next five hundred years.”

Priority = 1 thing.

WHY IT WORKS

“Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.”

– Greg McKeown

Sometimes you have to say no to good options… in order to make room for the great ones.

Until next week,

Jade

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