Stop Doing List

Lately, I have been thinking more and more about what I want to stop doing. This is not about being lazy! I am finding the more I do the less actually gets done.

In the last few years, I have decluttered my whole life. Got rid of all the unnecessary things from my home. This has given me more time to work on fun projects.

These “fun projects” have now become somewhat stressful. The “fun” is now missing and somehow they have turned into work. So I have decided I need to stop doing some things.

Watch My Stop Doing List Video:

Stop Doing

Enter the stop doing list. This is a way to be productive by doing less. By having fewer items on my TO-DO list I can actually accomplish more with my time.

I made a video the other day where I talked about getting rid of our throw pillows. The video wasn’t really about pillows. Although almost every comment on the video was someone talking about their throw pillows.

It was me saying I am no longer going to spend the time each day putting pillows on our bed or couch. I simply don’t want to pick up unneeded pillows anymore.

While picking up pillows doesn’t take up too much time each day, it does amount to a lot of time over a year.

I truly believe when we stop doing one thing we make time and room for something else.

Before You Start Your List

It is very important to figure out what it is that you want to focus your time on. I have at least 100 notes on my desk with different ideas that I want to work on.

Maybe that is the curse of being a creative person! There is no way in the world I could ever accomplish all of these ideas or tasks.

This is why it is important to streamline your list and figure out what you really want to do. What is important to you?

By focusing more on the important things we can easily see the items that can be taken off the list.

Productivity

Being productive can be addictive sometimes. Making a huge list of tasks that need to be done by a certain time. Then ticking each item off can feel amazing.

On the other hand, having a huge list looming over your head all day can feel stressful. When everything is not ticked off by the end of the day I feel like I wasn’t productive at all.

With the stop-doing list we are thinking about what we can take off our plate to make room for the items that really matter. In turn, this makes us even more productive because we are focusing on the items that matter.

Related Article: Minimalist Living Habits To Adopt Today

Stopping Things Around The House

By decluttering we got rid of everything we didn’t need. Then we could focus on the items we used and love. Now I am shifting my focus onto what I can stop doing around the house. Again this is not because I am lazy rather it’s because there is only so much time in the day.

I got rid of the pillows so now I don’t have to pick them up anymore, one less thing to do.

Adjusting my expectations about the tidiness of my house helps. Recently I have stopped cleaning all day. Now I pick a time to tidy our home.

Normally I tidy up after breakfast and right before bed. With two small children, keeping a home in perfect order all day would be a full-time job.

We can’t stop doing certain things, but we can do them more efficiently.

A year ago I realized doing all the laundry in one day saved me time. Of course, doing laundry does not take up the whole day, but it is more effective to do all the laundry in one day rather than one load every day. This also allows me to do larger loads at one time which saves even more of my energy.

Minimalism

When we became more minimalist I cut out a lot of what I use to do.

We No Longer:

Shop for fun. I don’t feel I have to shop for holidays or events that are dictated by our culture.

Keep things in our home that no one uses. Now we donate anything that is not used.

Spend time sorting and organizing closets that have too much in them. Everything in our home now has a place to live.

Refrain From Social Media

I love social media as much as the next person, but I have realized too much can be a real-time-waster. Recently I have reevaluated how I spend my time on social media.

Adding quite a few apps to my stop doing list. I was in a bad habit of constantly checking certain apps on my phone.

Between every task I did, I would find myself checking Instagram. This started to drive me nuts. I removed the apps from my phone.

When I want to check on social media I now have to go on my computer. This added an extra obstacle that broke my habit of continuous checking.

After a few months of stopping social media apps, I have gained TIME. The time I can spend doing something fun, or just focusing on my family and friends.

Less Work

As I mentioned before after becoming more minimal I started some fun projects. These fun projects turned into a job. That is what everyone wants in life! To work at a job that was their fun hobby.

The only problem I am starting to find is the more I try to do the less headway I am making. There is this myth that the more you do the faster you will grow.

I am starting to see a direct connection that is the complete opposite. The more focused energy I put into one part of my business the more it grows.

By trying to do everything I am actually diluting my time and getting nothing done.

So I am adding quite a few things to my to-don’t list. Not because I want to use that time to watch TV or do nothing. That time will be used to really focus on the few tasks that really move the needle in my business.

Schedule Time For Fun

When we decided to become minimalist a few years ago there were a plethora of reasons why.

Simplify our lives.
Work less and have more fun.
Save more money so we can spend more time with our family.
Help the environment by creating less waste.
Have time for hobbies

While evaluating what I am doing and not doing I want to remember to always leave my schedule open for having fun and downtime. That was why we became minimal after all.

Small To-Do List Conclusion

In conclusion, we need to analyze what we are doing each day and question if it is worth our precious time. Time is a limited resource and we need to think of it that way. What are you going to take off your TO-DO list? Here is a thought-provoking article on this subject.