Take A Minimalist Mindset Into 2024

Turn your December habits into January routines — all while saving you time and energy.

The concept of “minimalist mindset” is often reduced to a cliché, but it describes the intentional simplicity that I pursue every day. (Admittedly, some days there’s more pursuing than simplifying.) Minimalism has grown in popularity and for good reason: Studies have shown that a minimalist mindset can lead to improved mental and physical health, as well as less stress and more happiness.

Even as a workplace expert with a book called Why Simple Wins, the holidays are a challenging season to choose less over more. Overscheduled calendars and EOY deadlines are inevitable, so I find it helpful to focus on aspects of my work life that I can actually control. The four tactics below are designed to turn your December habits into January routines — all while saving you time and energy.

1. Practice timeboxing. Adopted from agile principles, timeboxing helps you assign realistic but fixed deadlines to your tasks. Rather than focus on completing a large task, break it into step-by-step activities and—similar to the Pomodoro method—assign a fixed amount of time to finish each step. In my experience, when a deadline is the primary motivator, efficiency tends to bring out the creative problem-solver in all of us.

2. Create a Don't-Do list. A mindful way to let go of unproductive tasks and make space for the new year is to identify every time-wasting task and low-value meeting in your (and your team’s) work life and commit to avoiding them for the next 12 months. To determine what should appear on your Don’t-Do List, answer these six questions objectively:

· Which of our current tasks/meetings don’t bring value to the business?

· Is another person/team already doing this task and could they take solo ownership of it?

· Would anyone miss this task/meeting if we stopped doing it? (If the answer is “nobody,” get rid of it immediately.)

· What steps could be eliminated from this task?

· If we had to hand off two of our responsibilities, what should be given away and to whom? What’s stopping us from doing this today?

· Which of our daily tasks or meetings could become weekly? Which weekly tasks could be done monthly?

3. Empower A.I. to simplify your inboxing. Spend less time on email by using Salesforce's EinsteinGPT, Shortwave or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot. Since a key difference between the tools is each platform’s compatibility with other software and services, choose wisely. Copilot is built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and plays well with other Microsoft apps and Salesforce. Shortwave is built atop Gmail and prides itself on being open and decentralized. Meanwhile, EinsteinGPT is built on the Salesforce platform and provides ChatGPT capabilities for Slack.

4. Say “no” gracefully. Make 2024 the year that you master the art of saying “no” with intention so you can say “yes” with purpose. The 10 phrases below are proven to firmly decline requests without offending the person demanding your time. Some replies are ideal for in-person conversations and others are better suited for email or Slack. While they’re all designed to avoid further debate, decide which phrases feel natural to you and put them into daily rotation:

· “I can’t do it but let me see if I can recommend someone else.”

· “Wish I could, but I’m not taking on new projects right now. ”

· “I’m afraid that I need to focus on [X] right now.”

· “Unfortunately, my time is already spoken for.”

· “I can’t dedicate the time I would need to do it.”

· “I’m honored you asked, but I can’t help this time.”

· “I wish I could make this work…but I can’t.”

· “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to find bandwidth for this.”

· “I’d love to, but I just can’t.”

· “It’s that time of the year where I must say no.”

Extend these time-saving habits into 2024 and you’ll have a head start on cultivating a minimalist mindset. Remember that the goal of minimizing isn't to oversimplify; it's about making deliberate choices around how you invest your time and energy. By embracing these four tactics, you can develop new routines that support your business goals along with your mental health and physical well-being.