Choosing To Do Less (and Trusting That It's Enough)
Being busy is a productivity misconception.
In the last newsletter, we talked about why done is better than perfect. We explored how perfectionism sometimes gets in the way of creating outputs or leads to missing timing, which often results in inconsistency and prevents us from reaching our goals.
There are a few misconceptions about productivity, especially for those of us who tie our self-worth to how productive we are.
First, being busy and being productive are not the same thing. Doing more doesn't mean that you're automatically creating more impact. In fact, it could translate to being more distracted or doing busywork that doesn't lead to real progress.
I was never a fan of maths in school, but let's put this into an equation.
Doing a million things poorly because your attention or effort is split often leads to no result. Whereas doing just 3 things really well usually leads to getting a great result. The latter is a more accurate representation of productivity. Why? Because you got more output for less input. Working consistently on 3 things means being more intentional about your energy, and thus leads to steadier momentum.
The Math of Doing Less:
1,000 tasks + 1% effort = 0 results.
3 tasks + 100% effort = exponential momentum.
|
In the concept of intentional momentum, timing is the difference between progress and stagnation. If you do too much, you miss the 'timing' for the things that actually matter.
But why does doing less feel like we're being passive about our dreams or sometimes lazy? This stems from a lot of things. In some cases, it's because of anxiety about 'falling behind', pure guilt, or even a feeling of irresponsibility. Diving into each of these would form Muse Letter issues in themselves, but the point is... That's far from the case.
Creating more impact by doing less not only does your nervous system a huge favor by avoiding burnout, but also gives you room for better evaluation of your progress.
But what if I'm multi-passionate, a 'multi-hyphenate', if you will?
As a solo growth marketer in an AI tech startup (managing everything from SEO and performance to community and influencers), I've learned that giving myself three daily tasks as part of a weekly mission to focus on actually compounds to changes in our user acquisition graphs faster than trying to do a bit of everything without a clear goal.
We all have a lot of things we want to do and get excited to start, but the truth is that momentum is gained through consistency and follow-through. Which, again, means doing less and creating more impact.
More tasks and more effort could be distracting you from one killer move that could change everything. Being everywhere and doing everything won't translate to leverage if you can't properly assess what you've done along the way, because you're overloaded with tasks and operating on a hamster wheel to keep up. 'Doing more' doesn't equate to 'being more'.
"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things."
It's okay to start something new, but it's essential to have priorities. And in an unfortunately capitalist world, prioritizing what's working best... And optimizing what isn't, pivoting to something else completely, or quitting what doesn't work is what gets you to the finish line of the marathon called chasing your dreams. That means that often, doing less can be more than enough.
As such, we need to put anything we want to do through a set of experiments. Try it this way, try it that way. Analyze the results and tweak accordingly. If it's not working after the umpteenth tweak? Stop doing it and spend that energy on something that has a better outcome, change your approach altogether, or stop. It will save you both time and sanity.
As we often say, don't do too much. Trust the math of doing less. You want to be intentional in doing whatever task you have and not just tick off boxes on your to-do list because it scratches an itch in your brain.
I'm challenging myself to delete one thing from my 'burnout' list today so that I can treat it like an intentional 'to-do' list. You should, too. What is the one thing you're doing less of this week?
I'm currently mapping out the 'Intentional Momentum Framework,' which I use to balance being a multi-hyphenate without hitting a wall. I'll be sharing more on how to practically apply this to my work soon, but for now, try the Math of Doing Less today.
Make sure to check out the first Muse Letter on What Ambitious, Burnt-Out People Need to Let Go of in 2026, if you're interested in discovering more behaviours that might be blocking you from achieving your goals.
