How doing LESS made me twice as productive

Mar 2

Written By Erica Hanlon

“I’m not getting anything done.”

I hear this one a lot.

You go and go all day and feel like you don’t have anything to show for it.

You work your behind off but you feel like you’re always behind.

You’re burnt out, exhausted, and STUCK.

I’ve got you. Because I’ve been there, done that, and I’ve helped tons of clients navigate this very same thing.

Here’s the answer:

You’re doing too much

I know. I know. All you can see is how you’re not doing ENOUGH. And I’m not going to totally disagree with you.

I think you’re doing TOO MUCH stupid stuff. And it’s keeping you from doing enough of the stuff that matters.

What stupid stuff exactly? I’m so glad you asked. Because I made you a list of the greatest hits:

Overthinking - Intentional thinking creates clarity. Overthinking creates confusion and overwhelm. Overthinking is a complete waste of your time.
Worrying - Thinking about bad things that might happen so you can plan for them is helpful. Wringing your hands over things that are outside of your control is a waste.
Trying to do things perfectly - While you’re trying to make sure everything is perfect before you take that next step, your colleague just did 20 things. I said what I said.
Overcomplicating - Why take 3 steps to accomplish something when you can do it in 10? Some of y’all are out here making things way harder than they need to be.
Procrastinating - It’s the P-WORD. All that time you’re NOT doing the task, you know what you’re doing? THINKING ABOUT THE TASK. And that’s a waste of your precious mental energy.
Blaming and shaming - Instead of taking responsibility for your mistakes so you can learn from them, you’re replaying every misstep over and over and feeling like butt about it.

How to go fast and get more done

Productivity isn’t measured by how much you do. It’s measured by how fast you do it.

But going fast doesn’t come from moving fast. Going fast comes from being intentional.

Because SPEED comes from EFFICIENCY.

And EFFICIENCY comes from cutting out the BS that’s taking up precious time and energy (see my beautiful list above for reference) because you’re letting your brain run on autopilot.

Want to be efficient? You don’t necessarily need a perfect calendar system or a miracle morning.

YOU NEED AN EFFICIENT BRAIN - I’m yelling for the people in the back row.

Think like a successful person

Here’s your successful, productive person thinking how-to:

Make decisions - Heyyyyyy, I know you’re waiting for a thunderbolt from the sky to tell you what to do. So you spend all your time thinking about deciding instead of just, you know….deciding. Take your best guess based on the information you have. Decide. Make moves. And get more data that will hep you make an even better best guess next time. (Pssst….No one actually has all the answers. This is exactly what the most successful people are doing.)
Take courageous action - Let it be messy and imperfect. Learn from it. Move on. Make progress. And see that you’re lapping every person who is still “thinking about it.”
Rest - And I mean REST. Don’t lay on the couch, thinking about work, and tell yourself you rested. If you were thinking about work, that’s working. Fight me on this. I’ll win.
Prioritize - I know you have a million things on that to-do list. Stop thinking you have to do them all at once. You’re freaking out your brain and it’s probably making you freeze up or procrastinate. Brain dump all your to-do’s and then intentionally prioritize them one at a time.

How to be more productive

Feel like you drank from a firehose with this post? Cool. Here’s a quick summary for all you skim-readers:

Speed doesn’t come from moving fast. It comes from moving efficiently.
Efficiency comes from being intentional.
You’re wasting your time on things that create zero movement (and I’m not talking about scrolling social media)
Success and productivity require a successful mindset (Want to be a millionaire? You have to think and act like one)

You’ve got this, Erica

And if you want to see how my clients are changing careers, finding fulfillment, making 6-figures in their businesses, and enjoying their personal lives while they do it - I've got you.

Click here to explore working with me.

Are you ready to do the impossible?

Hi! I’m Erica

Wife to Brendan. Mom to twins + one. Dog mom. Slow runner. Coffee drinker. GIF enthusiast.

I’m a licensed mental health therapist and life coach and career coach. I help you accomplish in 6 months that thing you’ve been thinking about doing for years.