Do Less: What We’re Reading

Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women by Kate Northrup

From the publisher:

This is a book for working women and mothers who are ready to release the culturally inherited belief that their worth is equal to their productivity, and instead create a personal and professional life that's based on presence, meaning, and joy.

As opposed to focusing on "fitting it all in," time management, and leaning in, as so many books geared at ambitious women do, this book embraces the notion that through doing less women can have--and be--more. The addiction to busyness and the obsession with always trying to do more leads women, especially working mothers, to feel like they're always failing their families, their careers, their spouses, and themselves.

This book will give women the permission and tools to change the way they approach their lives and allow them to embrace living in tune with the cyclical nature of the feminine, cutting out the extraneous busyness from their lives so they have more satisfaction and joy, and letting themselves be more often instead of doing all the time.

SG’s Take:

I’ll be the first to admit that I identify with Luisa from Disney’s Encanto. (If you haven’t heard the song “Surface Pressure,” I highly suggest blasting it in your minivan over a good cry. It’s a fantastic stress release.)The song has become iconic among parents because it speaks to the same truth that this book also addresses: We all have way too much on our plates and we’re hitting a breaking point.

Kate Northrup gets it. And she’s written a book packed with wisdom to address the problem. Here are just a few gems to get you started:

“What I’ve found is that when I focus on managing my energy instead of managing my time, I end up having enough time for the things that really matter to me.”

“Working less + freedom = creativity + productivity.”

“When you decide to become a time bender, you decide to be in control of your time rather than your time controlling you. And this, my dear, is an incredibly powerful place to be. Your life is made up of nothing more than years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. And she who is in control of how she invests these precious increments of time is truly blessed with a life that feels like her own and that feels well lived. What else is there, anyway?”