Doing Less in 2021

During a season known for pushing harder or higher, I am choosing to do LESS.

In a world full of busy rock stars, I can easily slip back into doing too much, viewing exhaustion as a status symbol. Time and time again, I catch myself. Over and over again, I choose to reset, and be more intentional with reframing the way my mind views work.

This is my New Year’s aspiration for 2021. I started the year by taking a few days away from work and responsibility, because doing this is the requirement for me to relearn how to turn “off.”

The pandemic has changed the way many of us work. This may have blurred the lines between home and work for you, interfering with our usual intentions to take vacations in order to reset/recharge. My desire was to start this new year by resting, reflecting, and setting an intention to work smarter. This requires viewing work in a different way than my default.

So, I’m choosing to do less this year.

Just saying that makes me shudder. I can hear the critics screaming—you know, the critics you create in your own head.

Doing less means not giving in to these critics—whether real or perceived. This means viewing the “false guilt” that arises not as truth, but the very thing that keeps me stuck. This means not viewing exhaustion and a sick body as positive reinforcement.

This means working smarter. This means valuing simplicity. This is modeling the very nature of Christ, who both worked hard serving others and prioritized taking time away to be in His Father’s presence.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. (Col. 3:15). For me recently, this means doing less.