The DO LESS Revolution: Setting Limits

Listen to the podcast here:

Why Less is Powerful

Six years ago I was diagnosed with an untreatable condition, status migrainosus (chronic daily migraine). Suddenly, most of my time was spent either managing my health, or being in pain. This left little space for anything else. As I listened to the waiting room conversations at the pain clinic, I knew I was in danger of allowing this disease to take over my world. I became determined to not be defined by my pain. But as I watched my ability to write, volunteer, and counsel disappear, I began to despair. For months I struggled to come to terms with a life that felt increasingly limited.

The reality is we are all limited. There are a finite number of hours in the day, and while most of us can ignore that, eventually it catches up to us. We overbook, over commit, and try to ‘do it all.’ Then we crash with exhaustion, ulcers, and little ease or enjoyment in our life. 

This limited time thing? It’s not going to change. So I started to ask myself, “What would it look like to turn this “limited time” thing into a Superpower?” I started to imagine a scenario in which my life was not small, but as concentrated—a life where less was powerful. I named this scenario “concentrated living” and began looking for helpful resources.

With my limited energy and time, I needed something concise, evenly paced, and reasonable.That’s when I found Leo Babauta’s The Power of Less: The fine art of limiting yourself to the essential.The basic thesis of Leo’s Book is “how to do less while accomplishing more by focusing on the essentials and setting limitations.” As I listened to the first chapters I was immediately hopeful. The two main goals are:

1) learn to set limitations (which had already been determined by illnesss)
2)  identify and choose the essentials.

Leo’s premise is “limitedlessness dilutes our power and effectiveness.” So the inverse of that is “limits increase our power and effectiveness.” Isn’t that great news! Less is powerful!

How to get Started

If you are listening or reading along in the Power of Less, you know that the first chapter is dedicated to setting limits. How do you discover the things you need to set limits on? Lists, of course. You can either make one Monster To-Do list and start eliminating from there, or you can make shorter lists of things the things you choose to set limits on under various categories. This is helpful because it’s less overwhelming than tackling your whole world at once. Plus, Leo’s method involves focusing on one thing at a time at categories will help maintain focus. My short list of things I needed to set limits on is :

Projects
Chores
Internet/Email Use
Clutter

What are the areas you need to set limits on? Use your Have-Done List for guidance. I’ll give you a hint. They’re probably in whatever color you used for “Things that Drain Me,” but some could be hiding out in the essentials as well. Got it? Now pick just one of those areas and write down absolutely everything you can think of in that category that you “have” to do.

I did the Projects category first, because that was hanging over me the most heavily. I was surprised to find I had over 38 Projects in-the-works! (I know, that’s insane, right?) Leo suggests setting limitations by eliminating things, again and again until you get down to the essentials. Here’s how I did it.

Round One: Cross off anything that isn’t important to you any longer, or doesn’t feel urgent. (16 items – almost half my list!)

Gremlin Alert! You may feel badly that you started so many things and then lost interest; or that you aren’t going to do things “everyone” says are important. But who cares, really? It’s your prerogative to begin and end interests as you like. And this is your life to spend as you see fit. Stand in your own power and say “goodbye” to the stuff you don’t want to do anymore. 

Round Two: Cross off anything that doesn’t need to be done in the next month or two. (3 more items- – now half my list had been eliminated!)

 Gremlin Alert! If it’s making you panic to cross off things you still want or need to do eventually, try crossing them off but writing a date next to them such as “Winter Project” or “In Six Months.” Tell your Gremlins to breathe easy, you wrote it down!

Round Three: Gather up all the little tasks that would take less than one hour to complete. Move these on a separate list. (5 more items down)

 Gremlin Alert! This list becomes a Gremlin training tool .Whenever your Gremlins start panicking that “You aren’t getting ANYTHING done!” grab this little list and do one or two things on it. Getting a smaller unfinished project all the way done will help you see clearly that you ARE getting somewhere.

Round Four: Now choose three things and put them on a list. These are what Leo calls your MIT’s – Most Important Tasks. I’ll talk about this more in upcoming posts, but for now these are the things you are going to do in the next week. Maybe not all of them, but these are your priorities.

 Gremlin Alert! Your Gremlins may try to freak you out by mumbling about how you are “forgetting something, I just know it.” Look, this list isn’t set in stone. You can change it if you need to. And there’s always next week for new MITs. It’s will be okay. I promise. You can tell your Gremlins I said so.

At the end of this process I had eliminated 24 projects and had just three things on my to-do list for the next week. Now, I know this doesn’t mean you or I will only do 3 things all week. All the stuff on your Have-Done list will still get done (feeding the kids, sleeping, etc.) And stuff from the categories we haven’t worked on yet will still happen (email, chores, surviving the clutter, etc.) But I hope it’s empowering to know that you just got rid of a shed-load of stuff, and that what you’ve decided to do next are the most essential things for you. Do you feel it? See. Less really is powerful.

 Up Next

Okay, here’s the deal. There’s still stuff on your list right? The stuff you didn’t cross out, and didn’t list as you MITs. (I had 14 things left on mine.) Next week we are going to talk about making choices based on your values, and on what Leo calls your “One Goal.” I’m tailoring *8 Things Thursdays to support the work we are doing at The DO LESS Revolution. So check back on Thursday for a mid-week exercise that will prepare you for next Friday. In the meantime…

How to Use Leo’s Book

…If you are reading The Power Of Less, I will be using it in a non-linear fashion. But basically this week and next we will be using  chapters 1-4. I suggest reading until you start to feel overwhelmed. The minute the book starts to bug you, or you start thinking “Too much! Too much!”, put it down. Let the ideas simmer a little, and then come back to it when you feel like it. It may seem like a simple thing, but this approach to reading will teach you how to listen to your intuition – a powerful tool for any endeavor! And again, you don’t have to have the book to join the Revolution.

Keep your eye on your Most Important Tasks (MITs) and hold on to hope! Feel free to drop you ideas, blocks, and questions in the comments below. Viva la Revolution!

The Do Less Revolution is an on-going, start-any-time project of Magpie Girl. Click here to join or find all the DO LESS posts here. Recieve an update on new Do Less items by following us on Twitter. Thanks for being here!

Got a question about The DO LESS Revolution or anything else under the sun? Ask Magpie is my newest fun-thing, and will be posted most (some?) Wednesdays. Email Rachelle  with “Ask Magpie” in the message line, or watch for reminders on Twitter.

Posted in Soulcare, podcasts
Tags: do less, podcasts, Soulcare, Train with Magpie Girl |