Work Less
When it comes to working, I’ve found that most of us fall in one of two camps: 1. We work way too hard, constantly churning, never feeling like we got enough done; or 2. We put off work, going to distractions, feeling guilty about how little we’re getting done.
There’s no simple solution to this, of course, but I’d like to propose something here, to both camps:
Do fewer things.
Be more fully in those fewer things.
Recognize your victories.
Rest more. Play more. Connect more.
The Procrastinate Too Much Camp
I was in this group for years. In this camp, we don’t feel that the “work less” philosophy should apply to us, because we already feel we’re not working enough. We feel guilty of all the time we waste.
Well, let’s start by tossing out that guilt. It’s toxic! We heap all kinds of expectations on ourselves, and then beat ourselves up when we fail to meet those made-up expectations. Let’s throw all that out and start fresh.
With a fresh slate … what would you do with your day? What would feel like an absolute victory? For this camp, “work less” means have fewer hours, but more focused ones. Spend less of it in avoidance and frittering away the time, cut back the number of hours you work, and be fully in those remaining hours.
So if you were only to work 2 hours today … what would you do with those hours? What tasks would be most important to accomplish? What would make this day feel victorious? If you could work fewer but more focused hours, you’d free up time for true rest. For play, connection, self-care. And perhaps, more than doing the tasks themselves, this would be the true victory.