Less is more in many ways.

It’s certainly the case when speaking of the effects I experienced after reading Leo Babauta’s book, The Power of Less: the fine art of limiting yourself to the essential…in business and in life.

If you’re not familiar with Leo Babauta, he’s the author behind ZenHabits.net, a blog that is a must read if you’re interested in living simply, efficiently, and productively.

Leo is also the author of Zen To Done, an eBook that teaches Leo’s simple yet effective system of managing time, projects, and everything else on your plate.  (You can check out my review of ZTD here.)

Practical Lessons from The Power of Less (TPoL)

Remember when you were a kid and life seemed so simple? You were free to play whenever you wanted and free to choose who you wanted to spend time with.

Taking a moment to reflect on the simplicity of those years, don’t you wish your life was that simple and carefree today?

TPoL is about making your life simple again. It may not ever be as carefree as it once was, but life can be a lot less stressful and complicated by returning to its inherent simplicity.

Leo’s approach to returning to the simplicity you once enjoyed in life focuses on making conscious choices. And there are only two.

Choice #1: Identify the Essential

There is so much clutter in our lives today.  We are continually bombarded by choices of all kinds.  Just walk down the cereal aisle at the grocery store and you’re confronted with a myriad of possibilities…and that’s only breakfast!

But our lives become cluttered at light speed. Before long we’ve collected a lot of physical stuff as well as way too much mental clutter.

So how do you get back to that simple existence of your childhood? Identifying only what it essential is the place to begin.

Choice #2: Eliminate the Rest

After you’ve chosen only what’s essential, you’re free to jettison the rest.

Take my briefcase. One day not too long ago I realized that I was carrying all kinds of needless items to and from the office. I decided to take Leo’s advice and pare down my daily load to only the essentials.

When I eliminated what wasn’t essential, not only was my briefcase lighter (which meant my neck didn’t hurt any longer from carrying around all that crap), but the energy around it was more positive.

You know that feeling when you walk into your teenager’s room and you can’t see the floor? Or open a ‘junk drawer’ and close it immediately because the thought of sifting through all the junk is intimidating?  That’s what it felt like each time I opened my briefcase. Yuk.

TPoL TOC

Here’s how Leo has organized the book:

Part One – The Principles In this section Leo lays out the principles behind TPoL approach to life. Each chapter needs to be read carefully because though Leo write in a simple, straightforward manner, each sentence is packed with meaning.

1. Why Less is Powerful
2. The Art of Setting Limits
3. Choosing the Essential, and Simplifying
4. Simple Focus
5. Create New Habits, and TPoL Challenge

Part Two – In Practice Here’s where the rubber meets the road.  Putting TPoL principles into practice is at once liberating and relaxing.  I say relaxing because I’ve found that when I reduce to what’s essential and lest the rest go, my energy is more positive and my attitude is more relaxed.

1. Simple Goals and Projects
2. Simple Tasks
3. Simple Time Management
4. Simple Email
5. Simple Internet
6. Simple Filing
7. Simple Commitments
8. Simple Daily Routine
9. Declutter Your Workspace
10. Slow Down
11. Simple Health and Fitness
12. On Motivation

TPoL is a great read, especially during  summer when most of us have a lot of projects that need to be completed before fall. It’s a slim volume, only 170 pages and packaged in a simple, yet elegant, hardback cover.  It’s even available on the Kindle for just $9.99.

I urge you to read TPol and put into practice it’s simple, direct teachings. I’m glad I did!

Preview the Hardback Book Here on Amazon.com

Can 6 Words Sum Up Your Life?

For my birthday a few days ago, I received a copy of the neat little volume, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure.

It’s a collection of 1,000 six-word memoirs from writers attempting to summarize their life experience in six words.

The introduction thinly lays claim to Hemingway being the first to write a six-word story. It’s said Hem responded to the challenge with, “For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.”

Regardless of whether Hemingway initiated the fun, it’s actually quite a challenge to come up with six words that summarize your life. Most Solo-Dads I know have quite a few six-word memoirs in them!

Yesterday, Little Elvis and I were sitting outside at our local Starbucks, taking turns reading the memoirs aloud.  Some are hilarious while some are poignant, even sad.

Here are some examples of what got LE cracking up:

“Bad brakes discovered at high speed.”  -Paul Schultz

“Living for Jesus because Earth sucks.”  -Johnny Johnson

“Seventy years, few tears, hairy ears.”  -Bill Querrenguesser

A few of my favorites included:

“After Harvard, had baby with crackhead.”  -Robin Templeton

“Happiest when ignoring huge financial debt.”  -Ayanna Bryan

“Lived in moment, until moment sucked.” -Janine Goss

“Verbal hemophilia. Why can’t I clot?”  -Scott Mebus

There are many others…993 to be exact, that you’ll have to buy to the book to enjoy.

Solo-Dad’s Six-Word Memoirs

I’ve come up with a few six-word memoirs I could readily apply to my life, thus far.

Here are some:

“Four kids. Starbucks Coffee. Life’s good!”

“Too many degrees, not enough savings.”

“Wised up and left the tribe.”

“Waded into marriage, ran back ashore.”

What About You?

Want to take the Six-Word-Memoir challenge and sum up your life as a Solo-Dad (or Mom)?  Got more than one?  Give it some thought and share them below in a comment!