Feeling Overwhelmed? Embrace This Philosophy

This newsletter is an exciting one.

Instead of listening to me (Michael) ramble on about a wise principle I’ve been reflecting on, today one of you has written something to share with the WISER Newsletter community.

Dave Gulas is an avid supporter of Wisdom Made Easy, and today he’s sharing how he achieves more by doing less.

Let’s get WISER together!

In today's fast-paced business world, executives often find themselves overwhelmed with a never-ending to-do list.

However, I discovered that by embracing the philosophy of doing less and focusing on a few important tasks per day, I was able to drastically improve my productivity.

In my former executive career, I was accustomed to taking on numerous responsibilities and constantly reacting to the demands of the day.

However, my journey as a startup founder over the past year, I’ve realized that busyness doesn’t equate to productivity - it often hinders it.

I found myself feeling overwhelmed by a large task list, dancing with burnout, and feeling despair that I wasn’t making more progress on my important goals.

This led me to rethink my approach and search for a better way.

By embracing the concept of doing less, I prioritize my task list based on importance and impact.

This started by purging my task list of anything non-essential to my most important goals, and either delegating or completely eliminating from my task list.

I then began to only schedule my top 3 priorities for each day and have these decided upon the night before. 

I doubled down on the practice of deep work (fully immersing myself in one task at a time without distractions) , adjusting my schedule and calendar to allow for several hours of extreme productivity very early in the day when I’m at my best. 

By carving out this time for deep work early in the day, I now frequently get into flow-state and continue to advance my most important goals.

I’ve also learned that if my list is too big, I’ll frequently gravitate towards tasks that are “easier” and the harder yet more important tasks would get pushed off.

By only scheduling 3 high priority items and ensuring time was allocated early in the day for these tasks, the difference was night & day.

Interestingly, despite my calendar remaining heavily booked after 11:00 am, I now approach the day with a sense of calm and confidence.

By accomplishing my most important tasks early in the day through deep work, I have already made significant progress towards my goals.

This has alleviated the overwhelm and anxiety that used to accompany me throughout the day.

I now have a newfound sense of balance and fulfillment. I’m more productive than ever all while maintaining a sense of calm rather than overwhelm.

By implementing this process, I was able to:

• Start a podcast from scratch with my team, recording 25+ episodes

• Quadruple our business’s customer count

• Create 2 digital products for Gumroad

• Open a Freight Agency

• Continue attending all my kids/teens important events & ensuring I spend quality time with each

After experiencing the benefits firsthand, I’m all-in on doing less to accomplish more.

If you can relate to the overwhelm and frustration of a never-ending to-do list, I’d encourage you to try this approach.

Embrace the philosophy of doing less and focus on a few important tasks per day.

Thanks to Dave for sharing his wisdom!

If you want to learn more from him, check him out here: