The Power of Doing Less, Better

(Transcript edited for clarity.)

Hi, I'm Wes. Welcome to The Power of Doing Less, Better. Or shortened: Do Less. Better.

How often do we focus - I just did a recording on productivity - and get stuck in, "I've got to be more productive. I've got to get more done"? The more we try to do, the less we seem to accomplish, or the farther away our goals seem to get.

Maybe we're asking the wrong question or looking at this the wrong way.

Maybe instead of thinking about doing more, we need to do better by doing less. Or we need to do less, but do everything we do better.

That's what we're going to talk about today.

I think this can make a big change in your life because this is something that happened to me over time. This isn't something I just woke up one day and said, "Wow, I need to do less stuff, but I need to do better on everything I do."

This took time. I came around to this slowly, but over time it's become one of my operating principles.

Instead of looking for more to do, I start looking at how I can do what I am doing better.

We're simplifying things, but doing a better job of the smaller list or the smaller goal list.

It doesn't mean that I have smaller goals. I still have very big goals that I'm working toward every day, and I think you should too.

That doesn't mean reducing the number of goals.

It means simplifying the goals so that you or I, whatever we're working on, can do a better job on each step we're taking.

So many of us try to improve everything at once. I've been there. I've done that. I've tried to do 17 things at once, and very few people - really no one I know - can do multiple things at once and do them well.

Sometimes you've got to slow down and do one thing at a time instead of trying to do 17 things at one time.

Focus on doing the absolute best you can with the one thing at a time, then move on to the next.

Many of us try to improve everything at once. The result is usually frustration and poor work, poor output.

Real progress often begins by focusing on fewer things and doing each of those fewer things well.

I've spread myself too thin hundreds of times in my life.

I've tried to do too many things at once, even if they were all good things or things I wanted to get done eventually.

Two things can happen when that happens.

One, they get done, but they don't get done as well as I want them to. Or they simply don't all get done.

Trying to do too much at one time makes it worse instead of better.

This goes back to the productivity thing a little bit.

Productivity is not the goal. Progress is the goal.

Don't focus on checking things off the list. Focus on making progress on the most important things on the list.

My biggest progress came when I started simplifying things and doing them better instead of trying to add more things, which made me do worse on everything.

I had a teacher in the sixth grade, and you've got to remember the time period. This was in the early 80s, so this was a long time ago.

Some things were more acceptable than others. You might not say this to a sixth-grade class today, but it was perfectly acceptable when I was in sixth grade in the early 1980s.

He said, "Use the KISS method," which you might have heard, depending on how old you are.

KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid.

The reason I say you might not tell that to sixth graders today is because, and I believe this too, you don't tell kids they're stupid.

That's not productive.

But I don't think he was telling me I was stupid either, or anyone else in the class. He didn't single me out.

He told the class. We were working on math problems, a lot of us were struggling, and we were overcomplicating it. That's why he brought this up.

He said, "Use the KISS method. Keep It Simple Stupid."

Now, don't focus on the stupid part. You can say, "Keep it simple, silly," if you want.

Again, don't tell kids they're stupid. Help them learn. That's not the point here.

The point is, I've used that and I still remember it about 45 years later.

So often I get stuck overcomplicating instead of simplifying.

Every time I realize I'm doing that, every time I think of the KISS method, I stop and say, "What can I do to simplify this and do everything I do better?"

If you had a 10-step plan, it might be too much.

You might be trying to do 10 things at once, and each of the 10 things suffers.

Instead, what are the one, two, or three things that can move you closest on this 10-step plan today?

Focus on each of those one to three things, and focus on doing them to the best of your ability.

That's keeping it simple.

Simplify, then focus your mind, willpower, motivation, and everything else on fewer things and do them better.

I think most of us have had this learning experience over time. I know I have.

When I'm trying to work on several things at once, my focus gets divided.

But if I can pick one thing and focus 100% on it, the outcome or output automatically improves because I'm focused completely on it.

I think that's probably normal. It's normal with everybody I know and have worked with.

Here's the thing.

So often, productivity hacks teach us: Do this. Do that. Add something else. Do more. Add more to your list. You've got to get more done. It's all about getting more done.

No, it's not about getting more done.

That's what I'm talking about here.

When you simplify, pick one thing, and focus on it, it has a chance to have your best work done.

Only when you're done with it do you move to the next thing.

Keeping it simple does not mean not doing 10 things. It means don't do 10 things at once.

Focus creates something else that's important here.

I just talked about how focus creates your best work. It almost automatically makes your work better when you're focused on one thing and doing it better instead of focusing on a dozen things.

But it gives you something else.

Focus gives you momentum.

Here's what happens.

Instead of 10 things, I've picked three.

Then I've said, "This one's the most important one. I'm going to focus 100% on it first before I move to the second thing."

So I focus on it.

I get it done faster because my focus is not split. I get it done better because my focus is not split.

Once I'm done, I feel better about myself.

And you know what that does? It gives you momentum.

Great. I feel great. I got the most important thing done.

Automatically, my momentum carries me into the second most important thing. I'm focused on it.

You know why it gets done faster and better? Because it's the only thing I'm focused on.

Then I've got two things done. Two of the most important things on my list are done.

Momentum carries me into the third thing.

By the end of the day, if I've got the three most important things done, I feel great. My mind's in a good place, and I'm ready to jump on the next most important three things tomorrow.

That's momentum.

It builds momentum during the day, but it also builds momentum in whatever you're working on.

It gives you momentum to want to get started tomorrow because you want the same feeling tomorrow.

Whatever the chemical hit is that you get when you complete something and feel good about yourself, that's what you're getting.

That helps build momentum. You're more excited because you want to get that same progress and feeling tomorrow.

On the opposite side of this, every commitment has a cost.

We talk about the 10-step plan. You've got 10 things you want to get done, and you think, "I need to get them all done right now."

Every single thing you add to what you're currently doing has a cost.

A lot of it is a mental cost, but the mental cost directly affects how quickly you get done and how well you do it.

So remember that.

Before you add something else, keep it simple.

Everything you add has a cost.

Eliminate things before you optimize.

That goes back to the title: The Power of Doing Less, Better.

Every time you want to add something, instead of adding something, think, "What can I eliminate to optimize and make this better?"

Excellence usually comes from concentration.

I haven't used the word concentration, but when I say focus, when I pick one thing and focus on that, that's where excellence comes from.

That's the better part when I'm talking about doing less, better.

That's what you're seeking. That's what you need.

You want to do less and do each thing better.

Because doing less, better, gets you to your goals quicker. It gets you to your goals in a better way and opens up more avenues later, which gives you an even better chance to accelerate faster.

I'm sure studies have been done. I'm just speaking from personal experience.

But I'm sure the studies would show that if you try to work through three things at once, it's slower and the work is not as good when you're done than if you take those three things and work on them one at a time until they're done.

That's the better way to do it.

You often accomplish more by intentionally doing less.

I'll leave you with this: Simplifying your focus often accelerates your progress.

So that's it. Remember the power of doing less, better.

Remember the KISS method.

I'm Wes. Thanks for being with me.

Please subscribe, like, and we'll see you next time.

What's Next?

·        Choose one area where you currently have too many things competing for attention.

·        Identify the one to three actions that would create the most meaningful progress.

·        Work on the most important one without switching to the others until it is finished or reaches a clear stopping point.

·        Before adding another commitment, ask what you can eliminate or postpone.

·        Notice whether the simpler approach improves both speed and quality.

·        Repeat the process until focus becomes part of the system instead of an occasional effort.

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