Did you get the title of this article? Its not a typo.

Its meant to say when “less (<)” “equals (=)” “more (>)”. Its a concept that I am slowly growing to love.

The idea is not new but one that I am newly embracing. With the challenges we face in the “information age”, I believe its an idea that can only continue to receive greater acceptance. Our time, attention and resources are limited by nature. And the rate of growth of distractions and messages to consume is insatiable. So its a matter of time when something has got to give.

You know what I’m talking about right?

Today, we struggle with unprecedented volumes of information and messages that fights for our precious attention and causes us to accumulate more “stuff” and leave a bigger environmental footprint on our planet.

Ever have trouble managing your email? I do. And also with status updates from Facebook, Twitter and the litany of other social media sites. Even when we are on the move, we’re distracted with mobile devices that beep, vibrate and blink at us at all times of the day.

Do you have everything you need to live? I’m pretty sure you already do. So if you think about it, for most businesses to exist today, they HAVE to convince us to buy stuff we don’t need. On the television and news, theres an endless barrage of advertisements and messages that fight for our attention. The objective and outcome is that it pushes us towards consuming more, buy more stuff, do more activities, multi-task, always more more more!

So when is less equal to more? For example:

• Is it better to have 500 “friends” on Facebook or just 2 or 3 really good friends you actually like to spend time with?
• Is it better to work 14- hour days or earn less and spend more time with your children or your spouse?
• Is it better to have a closet full of clothes you will never wear or just 5 pieces of clothing you love wearing?

These are just a couple of random examples. But at the core of the minimalist philosophy, its all about limiting all areas of life so that you enjoy a better quality of life. Its a very powerful tool. The simple act of limiting a particular area of your life, causes you to immediately value it more and get more out of it.

Listen, I’m no expert in this area. It sounds absurd initially to put any limits on our life choices but the benefits to our mind, body and spirit is tremendous. Not to mention the potential benefits to those around us like our family and friends and ultimately for the planet.

I’m taking baby steps. Here’s 2 initiatives that I’ve already started:

1. I only check email once at 7am (before my running) and once at 5pm.
2. I labelled all my clothes from 1 to 10. 1 being stuff I always pick and wear and 10 being items I have not worn in years. I then donated all my clothes ranked 4 or more. (that was a tough one, but very beneficial to my appreciation of minimalism)
3. I only single-task meaning I make a list of things I want to get done on a particular project and I only work on one task at a time and not move on to the next until the previous one is completed.

Like a real baby – I’m stumbling and falling every so often. Especially since a big part of my business involves social media! But I’m excited. I’m motivated by  even the little benefits as I begin to feel less stress, gain more time and actually get more productive.

I hope to get better at this and continue finding more ways to accomplish more by doing less and experiencing more joy out of life by having less “stuff” and distractions.

Tags: less is more, minimalist, zen