Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest
– Leo Babauta
Leo Babauta’s “The Power of Less” gave me the kick-start I needed to stop feeling constantly overwhelmed by life.
One of my first major actions was cleaning and decluttering my home. It took up my weekends for about three months and some of my “miracle mornings” (see chapter 2) but the end result was a tidy and organized home.
An even more shocking development in this story was that I discovered that I actually enjoy cleaning and tidying!
I realized that cleaning out, emptying and decluttering my home created a serene and peaceful environment for myself and my family. I had always been allergic to cleaning and tidying, so this change was as radical for me as it was for the people around me.
I truly believe that Leo Babauta has magical powers, and that his book cast a life-changing spell over me.
Nowadays, not a day nor an evening goes by that I don’t do the washing up, clean the counters, tidy the table, etc. Tidying was the first thing to click in my mind, and it was a change I could implement right away.
After reading this book, an even more significant transformation took place. I’m no longer the guy who works 70 hours a week, late nights and weekends, drowning amidst a load of supposedly “urgent” projects, working non-stop but getting nothing done, all with an inbox fit to explode.
Email management was a real daily struggle for me and a constant source of stress. This book also showed me how to escape this problem. Since putting the principles in place, I have managed to maintain an empty inbox and I have cut down the time spent on emails by about 30%.
In a more general sense, this book allowed me to gain control of my life again, to organize my day-to-day activities and to only dedicate time to the important things in life.
The Power of Less is the kind of book that you can read multiple times over at different points in your life and still discover new ideas and sources of inspiration.
The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life
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