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ave you ever come to a place where there is just so much to be done in a day? I have heard several visionaries say that they wished the day had 48 Hours. I have also seen many people saying that the day is long and boring and just won’t end. I have seen people groaning when Monday comes in and ululating when Friday comes by.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

Today, I am addressing the guys in the first group. What happens when you have so much to be done and you are essentially either depressed, burn out or paralyzed to do anything? There are some people I know that are a constant flow of ideas. Each succeeding idea is greater than the previous one. I love these kinds of people. However, if they are not careful, it is possible for apathy to hit them because they long to see the fruition of their dreams but all of them seem far from even starting.

• When Steve Jobs went back to Apple for the second and most productive stint as a leader, he instituted a “minimalist approach” to doing things. He did away with more than half of the projects that the company was pursuing.
• Coca-cola trumped Pepsi mostly because of their minimalist approach to business. Pepsi at some point was running very many unrelated business entities. Coca-cola chose to remain integral and focus on their main objective in business.

So what happens when you are in that situation where there is so much to do and so “little time” or resources?

The Minimalist Approach to Life

Well, my suggestion is simple: adopt a minimalist approach to life and business. “What in the world does that mean?” some might be asking. I am glad you asked. We are structured in the mind in such a way to operate using the minimalist approach to life. For example, you did not think about the top of your left eyebrow until I mentioned it. And yet, we have a system that tracks all these things for us as we focus on what is before us: Our body functions are happening unaided as we speak. We do not have to think about drawing in our breathe and exhaling. We just do. We do not think about digesting our food, it gets done whether we are thinking about it or not.

Now, a minimalist approach to life means that you do the following:

1. Acknowledge that indeed there is so much to do

This is the starting point of leading a minimalist life. You know, if you put so much on your plat than you are able to handle, chances are that you will get worn out and unproductive after a while. You are only one man/woman. So start by acknowledging that there is probably so much to be done in a day than you have enough time for.

2. Take note and record all that you feel you need to get done

This is a master skill of success. When I see people walking around with no capacity of note-taking, I wonder how they run their lives. Each day, we receive countless ideas that we can work with. Some of these ideas are fresh but still others are ideas upon existing ideas. It is important that we have a system that we can use to immediately record the ideas and “things” that come in our mind that we need to get done. These vary in sizes. Some of these might be huge projects like say, building Life Signatures Universities in Africa. Others might be small but potent enough to make a difference. So learn to take notes and record these things down.

3. Take time and meditate on each of the things that you have written down

The subconscious mind is powerful. It only needs us to feed it with some seeds to ponder on. Later on it will give us feedback and a way forward. Meditation is an all important exercise, and unlike what many people do, I prefer to give the mind some seeds to ponder on. Some people practice “emptying the mind”, I prefer to practice focusing the mind on the ideas that have already been downloaded and recorded from inspiration. This process solves lots of anxiety for it makes you settle down, having known that you considered something and did not leave it unattended to. Believe me, whatever project you meditated on will start to grow and take shape at a later date.

4. Prioritize the things that you wish to do

Let’s face it: not all can be done now, well unless of course you have the capacity to get it done through others. After meditating on what has been written down, it is important to determine what is urgent, what is important and what can be done immediately? With planning and prioritizing, it is easy to find out the 20% of projects that you should focus your efforts on that yield 80% of the desired impact and result. Without prioritizing, you find lots of time being wasted on projects that yield only 20% of what you desire. Remember, the less the impact, the more the frustration you have in your life. Learn to date things, and push others even up to years from today. It is a good practice that sanitizes your mind.

5. Find out what you can delegate

Again, you cannot do everything. Somebody else can wash your clothes so that you are free to concentrate on the most important and impactful aspects of your pursuit. Someone else can do shopping for you and so on. Delegating is an art that needs to be learnt and utilized to the utmost. It is even more beautiful when you use the tool of delegating to empower other people.

6. Find out what you can “hire” out or outsource

There are some things that are not necessarily in your expertise to do. For example, in my life as a coach, I know there are some productivity Apps that I must develop in order to assist my clients. Although  I have some level of programming expertise, it is simply note my strong suit. I cannot do it better than a full time programmer can. Even if I could program, it would not be wise for me to leave coaching and start programming. So I need to hire someone else to have it done and done in a professional way.

7. Launch Into the Minimalist Life

BY now, you should have only that which gives you what James Arthur Ray calls, Psychic Income. In other words, you are left with projects that give you the fullest satisfaction because you are not only good at them, but you love doing them and they pay you much emotional and psychological rewards than even money can. When you are left with these projects, it is important to note that still, there could be many of them. The way to go is to concentrate on one and make sure that you have done an excellent job and then move to the next. Focus is the key. Do not get paralyzed trying to do all things at all times for all people. You are not God.