What is the answer to life, the universe and everything? It’s 42, according to Douglas Adams who wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Was Adams channeling ancient aliens and applying advanced quantum mechanics when he arrived at this answer? Nope.

As with anything, it’s very simple when you boil the matter down — it was a joke. Adams picked an ordinary, small number, staring out into his garden, thinking “42 will do.”

Pythagoras believed numbers possessed magical powers and souls while Plato thought the study of numerical symbolism was “the highest level of knowledge.” But you don’t have to apply quantum mechanics to do more by doing less.

Here’s Why You’re So Tired

What if you could make more impact by doing less work? Is it really possible to make more money, with less stress? YES!

You burn out every day trying to fit tasks on your to-do list that pile up the more you check those boxes off. Guess what: only 2.5 percent of people successfully multitask, and when everybody else attempts to do more than one thing at a time — it’s illusion. Those regulations that prevent you using your smartphone while driving are based on real studies that show dual tasking reduces activity in the brain in areas linked with attention. When you lose focus, you’re not learning or performing well.

You exhaust your physical, mental and emotional resources. You go home cranky and sluggish and wake up the same way. Over time, your body wears down, and you subject yourself to lowered mortality and an increased risk for chronic disease and suffering. The solution is as simple as the number 42.

Doing Less to Do More Is Human Nature

Do more by doing less because it’s human nature. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Think of the inventions that have endured the extinction of cultures, which last because the means are simple, tried and true. The pulley and lever systems are still used today. Concrete is over 2,000 years old, and the Egyptians gave the world paper and ink.

When you exhaust your reserves, you don’t help anyone, and you don’t achieve anything. One NASA study allowed pilots to take 40-minute naps mid-flight which improved their performance by 16 percent, boosting each pilot’s total sleep by 26 minutes. Pilots who went without naps were tested mid-flight, and researchers found a 34 percent decrease in their reaction time. In the last 30 minutes of the flight, the non-napping pilots lapsed into micro-sleep. Their bodies needed rest.

When you don’t listen to your body, human nature intervenes and leads to a lack of productivity. So, fire yourself from every task you hate doing because you can and should outsource those tasks to others — who earnestly love to do what you hate.

When you hate what you’re doing, you put negative energy into your business, and that rubs off onto your clients and the products and services you produce. Make more room for what you love to do to bring your best self to your business daily.

Eliminate everything that you absolutely hate doing. Remove those leeching tasks that drain you. Look at what you don’t need and discard it. The goal is to move towards 90 percent of your time only doing things that EXCITE you in growing your business.

That’s what a 10X leader does. Imagine bringing that level of energy to what you do daily. Just as laughter is contagious, so is the attitude and excitement that you infuse into your business.

Remember: it’s important to know where one’s towel is, meaning you stay in control and grow when you’re loving everything you do like a 10X leader.

Image: Pexels