How to do Less and be Happier

I am a firm believer that living a simpler life leads to a happier life. The root cause of stress and anxiety is doing too much. I find that many of us put too much on our plate, say yes to things we actually want to say no to and convince ourselves that if we fill up our schedules with things to do, then we are being busy and mistaken that for being productive. As we gear up for 2021, I think we can all put some strategies in place to combat stress and anxiety because don’t we all just want to do less and be happier?

How to do Less and be Happier in 2021

1. Ask yourself what’s important and what does happiness look like to you? Take a step back and think about what brings you joy. And when you envision yourself feeling most fulfilled, take note of the context of that photo. And now think about the following: What do you really want to be doing, who do you want to spend your time with, what do you want to accomplish with your life? Make a short list of 4-5 things for your life, 4-5 people you want to spend time with and 4-5 things you’d like to accomplish professionally and personally. I promise this process will bring you so much clarity!

2. Examine your commitments: A big part of the problem is that our lives are way too full. We can’t possibly do everything we have committed to doing, and we certainly can’t enjoy it if we’re doing too much. We often say yes too quickly and forget the power of saying no. It’s important to accept that you can’t do everything; do what is most important to you and try to eliminate the commitments that don’t fit into your priorities.

3. Do less each day: I know this sounds so simple, but seriously, don’t fill your day up with things to do because you will end up rushing to do them all (I am guilty of this!) I read an article that said our to do lists should only consist of 3 items. Everything else that you add on is either insignificant or tedious.

4. Leave space between tasks or appointments. Another mistake is trying to schedule things back-to-back. This leaves no cushion in case things take longer than we planned (which they always do), and it also gives us a feeling of being rushed and stressed throughout the day. If you’re like me and you always do this, then just train yourself to blocking out extra 30 minutes- hour into each task or appointment.

5. Now, slow down and enjoy every task. Try to slow down and enjoy whatever you’re doing. Try to pay attention, instead of thinking about other things or multitask. Have you ever thought about how much time we dedicate in either dwelling on the past or stressing about the future?  Instead, we should really be in the moment and enjoy the present because the present is what really matters.