Want to Do Better? Do Less.
I want to tell you about my high school best friend, and the thing he said to me a few weeks ago that won’t leave my head. Tim and I never really lost contact over the years after we graduated, but we’ve been in and out of each other’s spheres. We’ve had years when we visited each other monthly and years when we didn’t see or speak to each other at all.
Then one day in April, while we were all locked down and trying to figure out what to do with ourselves, he texted me, “Hey, got time for a call tomorrow?” And, like everyone else in quarantine, of course I did, and of course I was excited to talk with an old friend. Especially since we hadn’t talked much in the last few months. In fact, the last time I’d seen him – and the last extended conversation we’d had – was a delightful lunch with his wife and daughter. They’d been near my neck of the woods while fleeing a hurricane. Which reminds me that, while natural disasters and pandemics may be great for bringing folks together, they probably shouldn’t be the only reason I talk to old friends.
“I only have headspace for about six friends, so I’m going to, y’know, be really good at those six.”
All that said, we’ve picked back up on being actual friends and keeping in contact at least a little better than before, and I was on the phone with him again. He’d just sent me a copy of NK Jemisin’s The City We Became, and he was telling me about another gift that he was tracking from somewhere in Europe for another friend. I’m not sure what I asked, or if I asked about the sudden uptick in gifting, but he answered. “I figured out that I only have headspace for about six friends, so I’m going to, y’know, be really good at those six. Hence the birthday gifts.”
I was driving when he said this (hands-free. Don’t @ me), but it stuck with me. We have thousands of “friends” and followers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok (at least for now). We have millions of things we’re supposed to be doing, all day, every day. If you’re running a business, you need to be a CPA, manager, consultant, marketer, HR expert, leader, and so much more. But do you really need to be and do all of the things? What if, instead of trying to tackle EVERYthing for your business, you just tackled a few small things? What if you found the limit in your headspace for what you can do in a day – and gave yourself permission to only do those things? What if the trick to doing better is to do less?
You Can’t Do It All — and That’s Okay
In the past few months, I’ve figured out that I have enough headspace for a seven-task to-do list. If I write down a checklist of every single thing I need to get done, I’ll stare at that list until the day gets away from me and I’ve done nothing. If, on the other hand, I write down a few important tasks and really commit to checking them all off, I find that I get a lot more done. Instead of trying to be and do everything, all at once, I choose a few things to do really well. Then, if and when there’s time for more, I do that too.
How can you make room in your head and in your life for the things that matter most to your business? How can you do less to do more (and better)?
