Какъв би бил животът ви с достатъчно време за нещата, които са най-значими за вас?
Какво ще стане, ако имате достъп до тайна суперсила за производителност, която винаги е съществувала, но просто не сте знаели, че притежавате?
Какво ще стане, ако спрете да бързате, излекувате пристрастяването си към заетостта и знаете извън всякакво съмнение, че сте достатъчни, независимо какво правите?
Това е книга за натоварени жени, готови да скъсат с културно обусловеното убеждение, че тяхната стойност се определя от производителността им, и вместо това да създадат личен и професионален живот, основаващ се на присъствие, смисъл и радост.
Авторката предлага на читателя серия от 14 експеримента, за да се опита той да разбере какво би се случило, ако започне да прави по-малко по точно определен начин. Така че, вместо да подхожда към правенето на по-малко с идеята за цялостна реорганизация на живота си (което само по себе си е непосилно), с помощта на тази книга читателят ще пробва в малки стъпки да прилага различен подход в продължение на 2 седмици.
С ръководството „Прави по-малко. Революционен подход към управлението на времето за амбициозни жени“ Кейт Нортръп ще ви убеди, че е възможно да бъдете успешни, без да се налага да се жертвате.
Като предприемач, автор на бестселъри и майка Кейт Нортръп изгради мултимедийна дигитална платформа, която достига до стотици хиляди по целия свят. Тя се е ангажирала да подкрепя амбициозни жени, за да озарят света, без да се прегарят, в това в което горят. Кейт преподава данни и ръководени от душата практики за управление на времето и енергията, които водят до спестяване на време, печелене на повече пари и по-малко стрес.
I was so disappointed in this book. I am a busy, working mom and I liked the concept of the 14 experiments in doing less- I was hoping for some practical advice on how to simplify and streamline routines and habits to ease stress. There was a little bit of that in some of the experiments- making a weekly instead of daily to do list, for example, is something I will definitely try. But first you have to get through chapters and chapters of nonsense about feminine energy, lunar cycles, menstrual cycles, etc. It would almost be worth it to tell my job, after being assigned a task, that I can’t do it this week because I am in a more reflective, introspective phase of my menstrual cycle right now, just to see what the reaction would be. Kate Northrup introduces the book by stating she wants it to be a book for “everyone”- yet goes on to give the most classist, privileged guidance possible. Unless you are a well- off entrepreneur with a solid support system and a great deal of control over your daily schedule (in which case why are you so stressed?) I’d recommending “doing less” by skipping this book.
Rounding up to two stars because I was curious enough to finish it. This book is a dumbed-down, mystical-female version of Tim Ferriss, with often painful writing. Examples: "If you find yourself wearing your cranky pants six out of seven days of the week, something's gotta give, lady."
Sentences that made me wonder if I should stop reading were: "But the craving for chips wasn't coming from a place of emotional emptiness or stress where I was trying to cover something I didn't want to feel with salt and fat. Nope, it felt really different. The feeling I had about wanting potato chips felt very visceral, like totally primal. It was a very clean feeling, unsullied by my emotional needs."
Did this book not have an editor who could have done a search and delete for words like very, really, super, etc?
Yet among the dross of low-quality, dashed-off-blog-level prose, there was some good stuff. I connected with this: "Until I became a mother, I'd been able to overcome nearly every adversity I faced by working harder, using my intelligence, using my physical strength, or changing my perspective. But motherhood brought me to my knees with how little of it I was able to control. I'd never felt so out of control before, and, as a result, I was anxious and depressed for a good part of the first year."
Similarly, I liked her advice for viewing a day as a circular cycle, not as a linear time line that ends. But is it, as she says, "Game. Changer."? No.
She has 14 experiments in useful areas as sleep and asking for help, but the chapters are heavy on anecdotal stories from her online community that she plugs in and after the book, and low on actual detailed experiments.
Northrup encourages women to track their cycles and sync their lives with their cycles. Great. But what about the women who don't cycle or whose cycles are irregular, including those who are pregnant, nursing, peri and post-menopausal, transgender, on medication, and more. She says to follow the lunar cycle, but I think a lot of page time is given to this reductive, exclusionary biological advice. I also didn't like her frequent uses of "lady" and "gentlemen." These are classist, sexist, and archaic.
As with many "mom" books, if this book ditched its narrow target audience, it could appeal to more than parents, and to more than women. A sharper thematic focus and a good editor could have transformed this book from a meandering collection of ideas for moms to a time and energy management guide for many.
Sadly, this book just didn't really do it for me. I managed to eek out a couple points that will be useful in my life. Much of it just was too generic, too fluffy, and just wrong for me at this time.
The idea of this book is to take tiny experiments in your life revolving around doing less. Sounds like a great concept! The author spends a lot of time sharing experiences from her own life, marriage, and kids. Personal experience can be a profound place to begin a story. I just couldn't connect to the author in any meaningful way. I found the focus on "femininity" to be over the top.
I think my dislike is just a matter of me being the wrong person for this book. It's probably stellar for the right reader; I'm just not confident if I can pinpoint who that is.
PS There is a section of this book that hits on a HUGE pet peeve of mine. The author encourages us to become Time Benders and uses physics concepts lightly to illustrate this point. The problem is the author's understanding of physics is clearly limited (which at least she had the decency to admit) and makes the metaphor painful. Again, New Age Authors, please stop trying to talk about physics if you don't understand the math!
Dear publishers, can we please stop with the "busy mom" books that are really only for wealthy cis white women? I'm going to admit that this was a DNF for me. I stopped reading when one of the suggestions for simplifying was to get rid of your second residence. (Ok, but I'm keeping my super yacht.)
Northup talks a lot about your menstrual phases, and how they connect to the moon, and affect your energy. Although it is a little woo-woo, I did find this part interesting. But the tips for how to apply it are for someone who has money or control of her time, preferably both. Say I simplify by hiring a housekeeper. What do I do when she is in her new moon phase, which should be dedicated to rest and reflection, and cannot clean your house? Better hope it syncs up with your waxing crescent/"putting in the work" phase!
Do Less is a good wakeup call for women who are in the stage where they have kids and trying to do it all. I wish I'd had this book when I was a young mother and used to clean my kitchen every night after my husband and son had gone to bed. (Even though I was the only one working full time.) What can you give up? What can you delegate? How do you make the room for those things? And best of all, how can you ask and accept help.
There are some interesting ideas in this book, but mostly her suggestions come from a place of privilege. She has very little awareness of people who don’t have the financial freedom to do her “do less” suggestions. I suppose if you’re a medical doctor, with medical parents, then you can implement her suggestions easily. ...
“The world doesn’t need you busy. The world needs you here. And it’s enough. Do less. Let it be enough. And, as a result, enjoy the miraculous experience of being more of who you are.” Great book, perfect read for all mothers and those who tend to do instead of be.
Basically a glaring ad for her membership site (which I get, a membership is a ton more lucrative than a book...). But some of the concepts were really helpful and the idea that my capacity for creative work might be altered based on where I am in my cycle was a useful thing to grok. I liked the idea of only picking three things to do in a week (rather than a day) but the reality is I need to do a dozen things in a week in order to keep my life and business running. Most productivity books are written by old white dudes with assistants who dump all family concerns onto their wives. So this delivered in terms of being an affirming way to look at work as a mom and a business owner. But it still fell into the old-white-dude trap of assuming everyone is running on the same level of privilege the author is, and while I'm close, I'm not totally there.
Perfect for the perfectionist/ recovering-perfectionist mother. As a working mom, I always feel like I’m not doing enough. Not being involved enough with my daughter’s daily enrichment. Not putting in enough hours to be seen as dedicated to my professional growth. Not giving enough of me to by husband and our relationship... This book brings busyness into perspective as not actually the difference maker, reminds us women to work with our natural feminine energy cycles, and gives tangible steps to bring you into the present moment rather than 10 steps ahead. I highly recommend this book to those that feel the pull of so much to do and not enough energy/time to do it all.
I wish I could give more than two stars as there are some useful gems in this book. However, I’m so tired of authors who wrote as if they are lifting every woman up and yet write a self help book that is full of privilege. How many women in this country can actually plan their schedules around their cycle? Or have people to who they can delegate their tasks? I wonder how the single mom working two jobs can use this? This would have been a much better book has the author included women who are at the mercy of their employers, or have little family or community supports in place. How do those women “do less?”
Not sure why this is in the Parenting section of my local library... The advice Kate gives applies equally to single women, couples, and families. Her thoughts on a cyclical day completely changed my perspective on planning projects and to-do lists. I started following her worksheets for a month and was absolutely shocked at the insight and results from paying more attention to my body. Highly recommend.
Not really my type of book, so that is probably why the lower rating. Did have some gems in it I will hopefully carry forward. I couldn't get into some of the cycle stuff. May be valid, but I can't buy in. Plus, seems like you would have more ability to schedule you work w your energy as an entrepreneur versus working a corporate job. Maybe that is just an excuse, but couldn't buy into it.
Very interesting, I'm still in the process of adapting some of the strategies for day to day life but I really liked this hyper female-focused take on productivity and planning.
Listen. When I was crying in the preface I knew this was going to big a good read. I loved this book!!! The only reason I’m giving it 3 ⭐️ is because there were quite a few ”God/Goddess” and Cosmos parts mixed in. But overall it was a quick read that I plan to take a lot from and implement into my life.
For a very select group of mothers - most moms I know don’t live this lifestyle. As a busy mom of two successful teenage daughters (one has just left to study chemistry at a university across the country) and I am also a full time science teacher at a school outside of my house, I was so excited for this book. I only read the title - next time I will read the reviews also. Instead I find out it’s written by a very specific type of mom who many of us are not. She has two kiddos with the oldest being 2yo - she hasn’t even reached any activities her children have CHOSEN to do while stating some moms over commit their kids, and she hasn’t had to help them with school yet. She also has her own “work from home” business with her husband, which she claims brings in over “7 figures” annually between them. USD!! - I live in Canada and we have an annual household income in the low 6 figures - and I thought I was doing well!! She has so much flexibility in her day and has so much money that her way of “doing less” is to hire people to do things for her. Her 2yo goes to daycare, her mom can help with her kids - my parents live 5000km away. I recognize this is my choice, and she suggests moving or downsizing to accommodate doing less. Fair.
She has some neat ideas about your menstrual cycle and which work activities you should do at which stages, and listening to your body, but I teach jr high. My work shows up M-F, 8am - 4pm, whether I am cycling or not. Resting while bleeding sounds luxurious. And being “out there” while ovulating is nice, but I need to always be out there for my students. I do agree that is has been overlooked for far too long and we need to focus more on women’s health and accommodate the needs of everyone - not just the cycles of men.
I’m not saying it’s all bad - but I can’t live my life according to the moon cycle as I live in North American society and just can’t in my selfishly chosen line of work. I can’t afford to hire people to do all my daily chores I don’t like (maybe pay teachers more and I can do that - but for now I’m teaching other people’s kiddos in a job of service that is often greatly undervalued) She claims that many women are leaving traditional society as they realize it doesn’t work for them. This is not what I see in my day to day life. Maybe I don’t hang out with enough work from home millionaires. I do know that everyone is different and we all need to do what works for us and our family.
Fortunately I listened to this book on 1.5x speed while painting my daughter’s room, so it didn’t waste any of my time and provided some entertainment and knowledge of the life I should have chosen.
So if you already make over a million annually and could retire any time and live comfortably, your kids are so young that they only participate in extra curricular activities that you decide for them and you can rest, reflect and take a day off when you bleed each month then yeah - this book has some amazing experiments for you…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
How do we spend our days, how can we identify what is and what is not a good use of our time, and why we shouldn’t be the jack of all trades, master of none, are topics you can read about in this book.
Kate Northrup’s do less philosophy is the complete opposite of our current do a lot culture. Here are some key takeaways:
1.- Don’t be a burnout version of yourself. Stress shrinks the brain.
2.- Do less. It frees up time to do more of what matters to you most.
3.- Work on things you love to do, and/or are exceptionally good at. The things that light you up are the things that will lead you to make the most impact in the world.
3.- Rewire your brain about the meaning of achievement. We are raised in a culture that praises achievement over all other human qualities.
The following quote is not from the book. To me, it says much of what the world needs right now, yet our priorities are elsewhere. “The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.” — David W. Orr, Ecological Literacy.
4.- 80% of results come from about 20% of your actions.
5.- It is ok to take a break. Periods of complete inactivity or non-productivity are required to recharge.
6.- Happiness and satisfaction come from going through the process of learning and/or doing something new, something you love, and not from the end result. So enjoy and congratulate yourself on every part of the journey.
Kate also recommends a couple of good books on soulful guidance to find meaning and fulfillment in life. I have already read “The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho” and find this other book in my to-do reading musts: “The top five regrets of the dying by Bronnie Ware.”
Not to spoil what this book is all about but to prove Kate’s point of doing less and let it be enough mantra, people don’t regret being more successful or having achieved more in life. They regret not living a life that was more true to themselves rather than the life others expected of them.
I don’t even know how I had time to read this book but the authors interview with Marie Forleo had me buy it right away. (Her interview is better than the book) it was interestingly not new information entirely but confirmation on what I already knew was true - women need permission to do everything it seems. White space, unplanning, get rid of tasks that don’t need to be done by you, the moon cycles, your energy cycles, family requests. Her examples all being based around just birthing two kids and her birth experiences were not for me though. I find that topic tiresome a few months after having kids let alone 12 years later. She doesn’t even know what busy is yet in my opinion.
When I put this book on hold, I didn’t realize it was for busy moms. I thought it was for busy women. Despite the focus on women with children, there were some helpful things in here. The focus on tracking your entire cycle was helpful. However, the chapters were so story-based (focused on her) that I found myself skimming the start of each chapter so I didn’t have to hear more. She’s a white, wealthy woman with a splash of woo on her side... and that’s not always the most appealing to me. However, I do think this is a good book if you’re feeling overwhelmed as a female business owner or corporate ladder climber with kids.
Interesting approach to time management. I'm using the parts that resonated with me and incorporating them with other tools. Keeping the solid theme of 'doing less to do more' in mind. for example - is my 'to-do' list for the day manageable or am I setting myself up for failure? I think Kate is wonderful and I greatly enjoy her books & blog & social media posts.
Definitely geared more towards mothers. The writing was a bit painful at times. I liked a few concepts but overall don’t think I would recommend the book to a friend.
V češtině se to jmenuje Dělej méně. Pokud máte načtení seberozvojové knížky, udělejte méně tím, že tuhle číst nebudete. Spousta balastu, ničím nepodložených domněnek dobře namixovaných s výcucem z různých knih a podloženými pravdivým výroky (např o spánku) dávají pocit, že jde o zásadní knížku. Očividně nejsem cílovka a to mám dvě děti, podnikám a k tomu jsem namočena v mnoha dalších projektech.
In the pursuit of productivity I am always on the lookout for new, better approaches. While I loved the narrative, research, and methodology presented in this book, I wouldn't call Kate's methods revolutionary. But I am definitely looking forward to implementing some things!
I bought this book after seeing Kate interviewed on Marie Forleo's MarieTV, and completely connected with every aspect of what she was talking about in terms of the content in her book and the idea that we can create a life where we aren't "doing" to exhaustion, and that our businesses and lives can be MORE successful (even from a financial aspect) by doing less. There were many different facets presented in the interview and each one was a "YES!" moment for me. So I bought the book. The book was good and did cover all of the things in the interview, but somehow it didn't totally hit home for me the same way the interview did. There was a lot about following the cycles of the moon and our (female) menstrual cycles, and seasons in terms of when we produce, create, sell, rest, etc... which while there may be some truth to that, many of us don't have the luxury of creating a schedule that can match when the moon is full..etc.. She did suggest just a 10 or 20% shift to those cycles which I can appreciate, but I feel like the book could have been more powerful with a little less of that and a lot more the content she discussed more in her interview. However, if you're feeling overwhelmed, like you work to the death at home and at work and that you can't enjoy your life or you don't know how to begin to even work less without losing income or personal value...then this book is a great starting point for you to begin to untangle that false mental belief and start to try new practices that will definitely work and make space for you to BE more and DO less!
Chu kỳ, năng lượng và thời gian có lẽ là nhưng từ key words của cuốn sách này. Một cuốn sách sẽ chứng minh bạn thấy, làm ít đi nhưng đem lại hiệu quả nhiều hơn bằng những lập luận và dẫn chứng rõ ràng và cụ thể. Một cuốn sách sẽ giúp bạn nhìn và nhận ra rằng làm nhiều hơn, gồng mình lên là do những định kiến về giới trong xã hội. Hơn thế nữa, để chứng minh thêm cho nhận định này, tác giả Kate còn đưa ra 14 thí nghiệm liên quan đến mọi mặt của phụ nữ: từ việc chu kỳ kinh nguyệt đến giấc ngủ, từ cách đón nhận sự giúp đỡ khi cần thiết nữa (mk đb cảm kích chương này) đến cách bảo toàn năng lượng của bạn cho Cột sống này. Ngoài ra, cuốn sách còn có thể là cẩm nang cho những chiếc tus fb nghệ vì có rất nhiều câu văn hay ấn tượng. Ví dụ như là “sự trân trọng có lực rung động hấp dẫn hơn cả lòng biết ơn bởi nó đơn thuần là việc nhận ra những gì trước mắt chúng ta thay vì biết ơn”. Hay những câu thần chú đơn giản như: “Tôi là nguồn thời gian” “Tôi là một người giỏi tiếp nhận”. Đặc biệt là câu nói cuối sách, mọi người chắc chắn sẽ bị ấn tượng bởi câu đó. Vì c��ch truyền đạt của sách là chứng minh nhận định và sau đó đưa ra ví dụ thực tiễn, nên sẽ có nhiều phần trong sách ý bị trùng lặp hoặc đã nói ở phần trước. Có thể gây khó cho người đọc nếu ko thực sự chú tâm, nên cần phải tìm đại ý và chắc lọc thông tin.
Điều cuối cùng mình khen ở cuốn sách bản Việt là lời khen cho tác giả Dương Mạnh Hoà vì tên sách “Đơn giản hơn, tinh tế hơn” vô cùng ấn tượng.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I finally finished this book! That took me forever to get through and unfortunately I didn’t love it. The concept of Doing Less, listening to our bodies, managing expectations, paying attention to our cycles and honouring ourselves and what we do accomplish rings true for me and I really wanted to love this book. But throughout the book, I was distracted by the inauthenticity. The constant references to her personal business, which is an MLM business, was disappointing. Clearly they way she Does Less is by passively building her business by increasing the number of likes and shares she gets on social media. The asks for tag her on social media made this feel like she else’s trying to use her readers interest in this topic to build her totally separate MLM empire. And too many of the references were simply not relatable - referencing making a seating plan for her wedding as a huge stressor that she had to delegate to her sister? Sure. Making a seating plan seems like it could be stressful but if you’re making one you’re also planning a big event, with the funds and community to do so. Overall, while I loved the topic, I was disappointed with this book because of the constant plugs for her business and the lack of awareness of privilege.
There are definitely some experiments in this book that are more relevant to me than others. But, I absolutely love the overall message of this book. “The world doesn’t need you busy. The world needs you here. And it’s enough”
This book reminded me to slow down, prioritize the things in my life that are most important to me, and most of all to be present around the people and things that I love. Quality over quantity!
DNF. There are so many of these books and while I am SO overwhelmed and yes, what help in trying to make things easier and more smooth in my life - this book will not help me get there. Yet another book with "strategies" that won't work for me. Also, way too many personal anecdotes, and I found it a bit tiring at times (and that doesn't make you an expert just bc it worked for you).
So bad. I tried longer than I wanted to keep reading but couldn't get through it. Nothing concrete, rambling about the cosmos and things with little to no evidence to support.