He suggests 9 rules for a simpler day:
1. Know What’s Important. The simple version of
simplifying is “Identify what’s important, and eliminate the rest.” So take
time to identify the most important things in your life (4-5 things), and then
see what activities, tasks, projects, meeting and commitments fit in with that
list. Also take time each day to identify 1-3 Most Important Tasks (MITs), at
the beginning of your day. Or the night before, for the next day.
2. Visualize Your Perfect
Day. This
is not so much because this “perfect day” will come true, as it is to
understand what a simple day means to you. It’s different for each person — for
me, it might mean some meditation and writing and spending time with my wife
and kids. For others, it’s yoga and painting and a hot bath. For others, it’s
time to focus on the important work, but still get other things done later in
the day. Take a minute to visualize what it means to you.
3. Say No to Extra
Commitments. Now that you’ve identified what’s important, along with the
“perfect day”, you need to start saying “No” to things that aren’t on your
important list, and that are standing in the way of the perfect day. The
biggest thing you can say No to is a commitment — membership on a committee,
involvement in a project, coaching or participating in a team, etc. List and evaluate your commitments
(professional, civic and personal), and say No to at least one. It just takes a
call or email.
4. Limit Tasks. Each morning, list
your 1-3 most important tasks. List other tasks you’d like to do. Say no to
some of them. See if you can limit your list to 5-7 tasks per day (not counting
little things, which you’ll batch). Limiting your tasks helps you focus, and
acknowledges you’re not going to get everything done in one day.
5. Carve Out Un-distraction
Time. When
are you going to do your most important work? Schedule it with a block of time
(1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, whatever works for you). Make this your most sacred
appointment. Become incommunicado. Close the Internet, all notifications, hold
all calls. Just do the most important task, then the next one if you have time.
6. Slow Down. We rush through our
days, almost in a single frenetic anxiety-filled non-stop movement. Instead,
slow down. Life won’t collapse if you aren’t rushing from task to task, email
to email. You can pause, take a moment to reflect, smile, enjoy the current task
before moving on.
7. Mindfully Single-task. Stop multi-tasking.
One task at a time, with full focus on that task. Practice mindfulness as you
do the task — it’s a form of meditation. Watch your thoughts wander to what you
need to do later, but then return to the task at hand. Your day will be much
simpler, and much more enjoyable, when you practice being present with your
current task.
8. Batch Smaller Tasks,
Then Let go. Email, paperwork, little things at the bottom of your task list
(create a “small tasks” section at the bottom), minor phone calls, etc. … these
shouldn’t get in the way of your important tasks. But they still need to be
done sometime (unless you can let them go, which is best whenever possible). If
you need to do them, batch them and do them in one go. It’s best to do these
later in the day, when your energy is lower and you’ve done the important tasks
for the day. Don’t let the small tasks get in the way of the big ones.
9. Create Space Between. We cram our tasks and
meetings together, and leave no spaces between them. The space between things
is just as important as the things themselves. Leave a little space between
meetings, even tasks. Take a break to stretch, walk around, get a glass of
water, perhaps do some simple breathing meditation for a minute or two. Enjoy
the space.
