By Donna McGeorge

Copyright brisbanetimes

That’s the paradox we’re living in: we’re so overloaded, we can’t even stop long enough to reset, but that’s precisely why it’s time to rethink the way we work. Doing less isn’t a luxury, it’s a smart, deliberate strategy for working better.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that the path to success is additive. If you want to grow your career, build your business, or feel more in control, the logic goes, you need to do more, say yes more often, and find ways to squeeze more hours into the day.

But what if the real gains came from subtraction? From identifying what’s weighing you down and deliberately setting it aside because it no longer fits where you’re heading?

The power of subtraction

This is the idea behind red brick thinking; a concept I developed to help individuals and organisations challenge their default behaviours and create space for what really matters. The name comes from a simple exercise I often use in workshops involving a LEGO bridge that’s crooked and unbalanced.