My calendar was devoid of any open spaces. That was the unsettling realization I had one Sunday night while contemplating the week that lay ahead. Each and every 30-minute interval was crammed with some form of task. Nirvana? Not quite. A creeping sense of existential dread? Absolutely.
I had unwittingly morphed into a productivity machine, a version of myself I had been sculpting over the years—an unintentional Lean Frankenstein. I had confined myself within my own ideal of productivity. There’s a dark humor in the awareness that I had deprived myself of life’s simple pleasures, like the luxury of taking a bathroom break.
In typical fashion during these high-pressure scenarios, I resolved to cancel all my meetings and initiate a personal uprising from the comfort of my man-cave futon. I envisioned binge-watching a TV series featuring a wildly irresponsible male protagonist, one who neglects a schedule but always manages to attract women. This is the kind of guy who suffers, but with flair, whose escapades make my daily grind seem like hard labor. Thanks a lot, Californication.
No, not today. I simply cannot afford to indulge in childlike behavior with you today, Hank Moody. I must take charge of my life (this was likely my mantra at that moment).
As I peered through a faint crack in the seemingly unbreakable armor of my Google Calendar, I glimpsed my subconscious, desperate for a better lifestyle.
1. The Burn Box
The first agent of change in my uprising appeared as a two-by-two grid. By a stroke of luck, I was reading Neil Pasricha’s book, The Happiness Equation. He introduces a simple diagram with four sections. One axis represents “doing,” both high and low, while the other denotes “thinking,” again on both ends. We typically find ourselves in one of those four spaces.
I had been stuck in the Burn Box, characterized by high levels of both doing and thinking. My internal pressure cooker had been feeding an excessive amount of flammable aspirations into my Burn Box at an alarming speed, placing me just one Pomodoro short of derailing completely.
Fortunately, Pasricha enlightened me about the other three wonderful quadrants:
- The Space Box is the polar opposite of Burn: low activity and low thought. It’s akin to a beach getaway, or sipping a cold beer while lounging by the lake.
- In the Think Box, our minds are ignited but we’re not doing a whole lot. This is the realm of contemplation, journaling, or confiding in a friend.
- The Doing Box is pure action—constructing a shed or scaling a mountain—while disregarding the lazier voices in our heads.
Successful individuals fluidly navigate through these quadrants.
Achieving occasional success is seemingly effortless, but if you aim to maintain it over the years, you’ll need to grab a fire extinguisher and occasionally visit the gentler, more forgiving boxes.
2. Protected Play and the Unschedule
Neil Fiore is a specialist in motivation. With a doctorate focused on productivity,* he has devoted his career to defeating procrastination. What’s his formula for achievement? Organization? Medications? A unique project management software?
Nope. His foremost guideline for sustained productivity is… prioritizing guilt-free leisure time. Huh?
Indeed. He suggests slotting in activities like poker, video games, and hanging out with friends before anything else when planning your week. He refers to this as “The Unschedule.”
“That’s right, playing more allows you to be more productive!” he asserts in his acclaimed book, The Now Habit.
Many high achievers engage in what Fiore terms workaholism—the relentless, tireless pursuit of tasks until our tools wear out and we become coffee-guzzling, sleep-deprived robots.
The remedy lies in refusing to postpone life’s finest pleasures, like enjoying time with your children—or sneaking away for five quiet minutes.
But why is the unschedule effective? Because knowing that your most daunting responsibilities will be punctuated by compulsory fun allows you to tackle work without the fear and stress typically associated with workaholism.
*Fiore actually holds a doctorate in psychology and counseling.
3. The Blade of Essentialism
You’re freely shifting between the boxes, and your leisure time is comparable to that of the most carefree 6-year-olds. Does that guarantee efficient working periods? Not necessarily.
The essential third tool is a metaphorical machete to eliminate everything except the most crucial work tasks.
Meet Greg McKeown, the advocate of essentialism and the author of a book by the same name.
The essentialist possesses a wide-angle view; they understand which actions yield not just results but the greatest return on time and effort invested. Then, they wield their knife.
“The origin of the word decision—cis or cid—literally means ‘to cut,’” McKeown explains.
Cutting things out can be daunting. We face obligations at work and home, desire to please others, and are presented with countless enticing opportunities every year. However, when we attempt to prioritize everything, we effectively prioritize nothing.
To avoid stretching yourself too thin, adopt rigorous criteria. This is the essentialist motto: “No more yes; it’s either a ‘hell, yeah’ or a no.”
Scaling Back, In Action
Rob Bell was a prominent pastor. For years, he led a rapidly expanding church in California and operated at a frenetic pace.
Similar to anyone functioning at 147% capacity, he eventually hit a breaking point, finding himself curled up on his office floor. Bell now chuckles at that memory, but he used it as a turning point to escape the Burn Box and embrace essentialism.
He realized he didn’t actually want to deliver seven sermons and officiate weddings each day, so he eliminated those from his schedule. Now, he concentrates on teaching spirituality. In an episode of his podcast, he shares with his wife Kristen, “You encounter people who say, ‘We’re just so busy, you know how it is.’ And you and I feel like, ‘No. We actually don’t know how it is.’”
At the close of each Friday workday, Bell and Kristen shut their laptops and dedicate 24 hours to being appointment-free, to-do-less, and screen-free.
Bell serves as a living testament to the success that evolves when you step away from the Burn Box, indulge in a little leisure, and implement essentialism. “Consider how much more effective we can be in a fraction of the time and energy,” he tells his wife. “What used to take you 10 hours can now be accomplished in just 17 minutes. The difference is astounding.”
Currently, Bell hosts The Robcast podcast, has authored 11 books, produced multiple films from his tours, and travels around the country giving lectures and workshops. Not exactly someone who’s lazy.
More importantly, the happiness in his voice resonates wherever he goes. That’s what I desire. I’ve learned from experience that relentless pushing will exhaust you. I’m eager to embrace “work less to do more.”
Are you on board?
