The Noble Art of Leaving Things Undone

For the overwhelmed and compulsive among us, here's a quote to ponder:

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” - Lin Yutang

What a radical concept.  Imagine that:  leaving things undone and actually embracing it.  No guilt, no shame - just a feeling of peace and equanimity.  Embracing the undoingness of things and feeling free and liberated. 

Hard to imagine?  How about an experiment:

1. Take a look at your to-do list and slash it by half.  Randomly cross things off it or deliberately put them off till Monday or, better yet, till the week after.

2. Very important: forget all about those things until the day you've agreed with yourself as the day you'll return to them.  Just wipe them out of your mind.  Poof - gone!

3. Very, very important: don't add any more things to your to-do list.  Instead, set the list aside and, well, just be. Glory in the experience of having nothing to do and nowhere to go. 

4. When you're done, see whether the sky has fallen. See whether you've terminally fallen behind competition or lost ground in your career progression.  Check out if your worst fears have come to pass.   

5. If none of the horrible things you imagined would happen if you didn't complete your to-do list actually happen, ask yourself: did you really need to do those things?  Chances are, you'll find out that the answer was no.  Aren't you glad you didn't bother doing them in the first place?

Final step: Next time, add an item to your to-do list reminding you to make sure you keep those non-essential to-dos off the list.  Stick to the program. You'll be a much happier person, I guarantee it. 

Comments

[Wally Bock]

Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.

http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2008/07/02/7208-a-midweek-look-at-the-business-blogs.aspx

Wally Bock

[Izabella Tabarovsky]

Thanks, Wally! I love your blog. It's an honor to be featured on it.

[Mark McClure]

Izabella,
You're right! Nothing beats the "Keep It Simple Scholar" approach to life and career IMHO.

Although I had IT Professionals in mind when I came up with the idea of a "Do-To" list from trial and error over the years, I think it might be helpful to others.

There's a description "Do-To" in this YouTube video - starts around 2 minutes in.

http://markmccluretoday.com/still-think-you-can-manage-time

regards
mark mcclure

[Izabella Tabarovsky]

Hey Mark, thanks for stopping by! Great stuff!