Do Less to Do More (How to Slow Down in a World That Won't)
Discover the power of rest for better focus, greater clarity, and more creativity
These days, young people have a hard time sitting still.
Now, I don’t mean literally sitting still in a chair and not moving, like maybe you were chastised for in third grade. No. What I mean is that we young people have attention spans of approximately 8 seconds.
In the age of TikTok and dopamine hits with the swipe of a thumb, our attention spans are suffering. We no longer know how to focus. Especially for a long period of time doing a single task.
But what if slowing down is the secret to getting more done?
What if sitting still—mentally and emotionally—is the key to creativity, clarity, and focus?
Let’s dive in.
I recently read the eye-opening book Stolen Focus by the journalist Johann Hari. Hari chronicles a three-month hiatus from the digital world in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
No internet. No iPhone. No social media. No distractions.
Hari’s experience and his book inspired me to think differently about the way I get things done.
There’s No Such Thing as Multitasking.
When you think you’re multitasking, your brain is rapidly switching its focus back and forth. And with every switch, you lose about 20 seconds of concentration.
I also realized I had a problem with over-consuming information. '
I’d find myself listening to podcast after podcast with no breaks. Or, I’d do “research” on the internet but switch between 17 different tabs every few minutes.
All this consumption without any processing was actually inhibiting my ability to learn.
I began to prioritize walks where I could let my mind wander or just taking two minutes look out the window and allow my brain to do what brains do after working hard on a task.
It's not uncommon for people to have huge creative breakthroughs during periods of rest or non-work.
Have you ever had an idea suddenly come to you in the shower? Or woke up with the solution to a problem you had tried the whole day prior to figure out?
You probably have, and there’s a reason why.
Your brain needs the time and space to process information. While you’re asleep, your brain is hard at work synthesizing everything from your day. While you’re “daydreaming” during class, you’re making connections and putting puzzle pieces together in your mind.
In this fast-paced world we live in, it’s more important than ever to learn the art of slowing down to accomplish more.
There’s this phenomenon called Parkinson’s Law.
It happens when you have a long period of time to get something done and so you take that whole time to complete the task.
You could finish the same job much quicker if you had less time to do it. So, if you have 4 hours to do one assignment, you are likely to take that 4 hours to do it. But then if you have 4 hours to do 3 assignments, you’ll probably get all 3 things done in the same amount of time it took you to do 1.
When you harness the power of focusing on a single task at a time, eliminating distractions and giving yourself shorter time-frames for completion, your output can increase 100-fold.
Do less to do more.
We also need to slow down (and sit still) to avoid burnout.
You can’t have longevity—in work, school, health, etc.—when you sprint all the time. It’s important to “sit still” often to conserve your energy. Avoid doing too much too fast to avoid breaking down from overexertion.
I’ve seen this play out for me in my sport. I run division one track, and have realized how important recovery is for being a great athlete. You can’t lift weights everyday (doing the same movements) or your muscles will break down.
You can’t have an amazing workout if you had a terrible night of sleep.
Nor can you maintain your energy without supplying your body with nutrients.
Live your “rich life”
I like to think about doing less in the lens of being more purposeful with what you do. This idea actually stems from the money expert Ramit Sethi. His main message is to “live your rich life” by spending guilt-free on the things that bring you joy—and ruthlessly cutting costs on the things that don’t.
You can also embody the rich life mindset through the way you spend you time. (Time is money, after all).
Think about what matters most to you, what your dream life looks like, what your ambitions are. As writer Elizabeth Gilbert says:
“Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions.”
Then pursue those with fiery passion.
It’s easy to get burned out when you invest your energy into things that aren’t meaningful to you. I hate doing schoolwork when I don’t care about the topic. My motivation disappears.
Get serious about what you spend your time doing.
Find a way to pursue what you’re passionate about, or re-frame what you have to do so it somehow aligns with “your rich life.”
For my schoolwork, it helped to remind myself that the mundane assignments would eventually lead to a college diploma.
I want to finish with acknowledging the unique pressures that young people today face to perform.
Our society praises those who never leave the office.
Social media glorifies overexertion. Hustle culture has become mainstream. It’s not always easy—or simple—to take a break from work, life, or otherwise.
But it’s important enough to try.
As always—thanks for reading,
Sophie
P.S…Could you share this with a friend? 🙂
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