The Power of Less: Book Review

Recently I watched a funny, quirky Japanese film called Kamikaze Girls. The movie centered on the theme that it takes courage to be happy. With so many responsibilities and demands on our time, we can often find ourselves missing the whole point of life – enjoying it.

Leo Babauta’s recently published book ‘The Power of Less’ gets to the heart of why “task and information overload” are causing us so much stress. Better yet, he tells us what to do about it.

Why do I need to read this book?

I will be the first to say that I am not a fan of self-help books. Your typical self-help book is nothing more than a medium to spoon out generalized advice on the latest empowerment craze. So when I started reading ‘The Power of Less’ I had a strong preconceived notion that I was not going to find much help in it. Couple that with the fact that I thought I was living a simple life already, and you have a recipe for a bad book review.

The fact that I really enjoyed the book speaks volumes about Leo Babauta as a writer. Leo never comes across as a talking-head that dispenses tips he picked up from Doctor Phil. His advice is always based on things that have worked in his own life. He even takes a simplified approach to his writing and keeps things straight forward and in plain English. This may be the first self-help book I actually liked.

What’s inside?

At first inspection the book looks really small. I wondered how much help you could get from a book that was only 170 pages long. As I read the book it started dawning on me that this was not a book you were going to read in one sitting. It takes time to digest what Leo recommends.

So what does ‘The Power of Less’ recommend? Without going into too much detail, let’s look at some of the top advice from Leo Babauta.

Multitasking is the Devil

When multitasking became a big craze in the late 90s I admit that I tried to be the best multitasker I could be. With 10 browser windows open and multiple irons in the fire I was a poster boy for Generation M. What I couldn’t understand was why being so productive was making me so miserable?

Leo doesn’t mince words with the whole multitasking trend. He recommends finding the essential and eliminating the rest. Set three daily activities that are essential and completely focus on them until they are done. Then move on to less important things like checking your email.

GASP!

Did Leo just say that checking your email was less important?

Trust me, if you read this book, you will find yourself with an empty email box and smile on your face.

Being all things to all people

When I started my freelance career over 10 years ago I never said no to a project, even one that was way outside my core offerings. ‘The Power of Less’ delivers a sharp slap on the wrist to that kind of thinking.

It is true that ‘doing all things’ can get you a lot of praise, but choosing high impact projects will be much better in the long run. Ask yourself:

Is this going to have the potential to greatly advance my career?

Is this going to change my personal life is some important way?

Leo uses questions like these to help us think things through before we say yes to the next project. Setting short and long term goals for yourself and your business will keep you focused. Your daily high impact tasks should be taking you closer to your goals, and that’s why learning to say no to tasks that distract us is so important. Freelancers everywhere need to learn how to do this.

Be grateful

I like to think of myself as a realist. My wife just thinks I’m grumpy. That’s why when I read that Leo suggests setting aside time each day to just be grateful, I knew I had more changes to make.

Enjoying life and keeping yourself sane means appreciating what you have. We all have things that we can be grateful for, and when we just take a few minutes to stop and think about them, we can’t help but feel happier. Leo recommends being grateful should be part of our daily routine.

Conclusion

There is so much more to ‘The Power of Less’ that I haven’t gone in to, from how to get into the ‘flow’ to how to set limits on how much you check your email. There are few books that I would consider as ‘must haves’ for freelancers, but I think ‘The Power of Less’ is one of them.

Following Leo’s mantra of “Do less. Get more done” may at first seem strange, but when you learn to choose the essential and eliminate the nonessential, you are taking control over your own happiness. Having the courage to be happy is all about the Power of Less.

Travis King is a freelance designer and he’s currently grateful for his delicious cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.