With more than 2 million copies sold, Elaine St. James’s Simplify series has taught the world how to start doing less and enjoying it more. In her first bestseller, she showed us how to reduce the clutter in our lives, from cleaning out our closets to cleaning up our relationships. Since then she has helped readers simplify their inner lives, their lives with their kids, and their holidays. Now Elaine helps us cut back in one of life’s most difficult arenas—the world of work. With tremendously helpful advice—and easy yet profoundly smart suggestions—she shows us big and small ways to scale down and simplify life on the job, such as:
• Break the habit of bringing work home from the office
• Always estimate the time it will take to complete a project, then double the estimate
• Cut back on the amount of time you spend working
• How to make the right decisions quickly
• How to minimize paper glut
• Let your callers know what your work hours are and stick to them
• How to make it easier to return to work after your vacation
• Ways to enhance your energy so you can get more done in less time and leave work early, and much, much, more
Highlighting such high-tech “conveniences” as the cell phone, e-mail, fax machine, and time management systems, she helps readers understand the difference between making work easier and making it easier to do more work. Elaine explains not only how to change the way we work, but how to change the way we think about work. Written in the same upbeat, relaxed, and matter-of-fact tone that won millions of readers to the simplicity movement, Simplify Your Work Life is certain to attract even more followers as it shows how work can be fulfilling and challenging without taking over one’s life.
INTRODUCTION
A few years back I had a very hectic life and an even more
hectic work schedule, the pace of which was probably not all that
different from yours. Over the previous fifteen years I managed my own
real estate investing business, I ran seminars, and I wrote a book on
real estate investing. I got into real estate because I didn't know what
else to do, and once I was in I never had the time to figure out how to
get out.
Eventually I was working sixty hours a week and was seldom able to spend
quality time with my family and friends or even to have time on my own
to relax and just putter around the house. I rarely took a vacation and
almost never thought about how work had taken over my life.
One day, while looking at my to-do lists, I realized how complicated and
out of balance my life had become. I decided right then and there that
it was time to simplify. I started by getting rid of a lot of the
clutter. I streamlined the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, and the
other household routines; I minimized my wardrobe and drastically
changed my consumer habits; and I learned how to say no to the demands
on my time.
I also cut back my work schedule. It was a step-by-step process, but by
working less I found that I was not only more productive, I also had the
time to be more creative and to think about what I wanted to do with my
life. Over the next several years I saw that it was time to let go of
the real estate business completely. It seemed the height of insanity to
spend the majority of my time doing something I didn't truly enjoy.
Then, where people started asking me how I had simplified my life, I
took the leap and wrote a book about it. That book, Simplify Your
Life, became a bestseller. With all the media interviews, the
promotional tours, and another book in progress, my work life suddenly
had the potential to get complicated all over again. But I was committed
to keeping life simple, which I've done. As my writing career developed,
I gradually went from my frenetic sixty-hour week to working roughly
half that time.
Since then I've come to a new understanding about my life, my work, and
my reasons for working. I believed for years that I was working for the
money. But I found, as many people have, that money simply isn't reason
enough to keep up the grind. I found, as many people are finding, that
I'm most productive, most committed, most happy, and most financially
rewarded when I love the work I do.
So, contrary to what some may believe, simplifying is not about
retreating to a cabin in the woods and leading a dull, inactive
existence. Rather, cutting back your hectic work pace gives you the
opportunity to make sure that you're doing work you love. If you're not,
you can change what you do. Simplifying will also help you create the
balance you're seeking in your work life, your family life, and your
personal life. Out of that balance you'll have more clarity and
enthusiasm to meet your goals. You'll learn how to achieve the success
you want without stress and overwork. And simplifying will give you the
time to develop a rich and rewarding inner life. Having that inner
connection will make it so much easier to move beyond society's demands
and expectations about work.
You might have any number of reasons to simplify your work life and any
number of goals in mind for doing so.
