Do Less and Live More - Finding Freedom in Slowing Down

There’s a quiet revolution happening in the way women are starting to think about productivity. For so long we’ve been sold the idea that doing more equals achieving more, that our worth is measured by how much we can squeeze into a single day. We’ve glorified the packed calendar, the never-ending to do list, the juggling act that leaves us collapsing into bed at night wondering how much more we can give. But what if the secret to actually getting more done isn’t about piling it on, but doing less?

Kate Northrup’s book Do Less sparked this conversation by reminding us that women aren’t machines programmed to operate the same way every day of the month. We have cycles and rhythms that affect our energy, focus and creativity. The idea is simple but profound. At certain times we’re naturally better at planning, at other times we’re more intuitive and creative, and then there are days when rest should be the priority rather than something we have to earn. By leaning into those natural shifts instead of fighting them, we don’t just protect our energy, we actually achieve more.

It feels almost radical to suggest that we can step off the hamster wheel and still be effective, maybe even more so. Productivity has long been painted as a masculine model of consistency, pushing through no matter what, but women’s bodies don’t operate that way. Ignoring that truth doesn’t make it go away, it just makes us exhausted and resentful. Honouring it, on the other hand, creates flow. Imagine structuring your week so the big meetings land when you feel naturally confident and clear, saving the more repetitive tasks for the days when focus is high, and carving out guilt-free downtime when your energy is lower. It’s not laziness, it’s strategy.

The trouble is that we live in a world that doesn’t encourage this kind of slowing down. Technology has blurred every boundary we used to have. We’re available 24/7, expected to respond instantly, scrolling late into the night and waking up to the ping of notifications. We have more medical advancements, wellness gadgets and stress trackers than ever, yet the state of our collective health is declining. Anxiety, burnout, autoimmune conditions and hormone imbalances are everywhere. Our central nervous systems are not designed to run at this pace, and for all our so-called progress, we’re paying a steep price in wellbeing.

For women, the load is even heavier. We’re nurturers and providers, carers and breadwinners, often juggling both roles without pause. In trying to do it all, we’ve normalised living in a constant state of fight or flight. But what if the way forward is not about pushing harder, but about remembering something much older. Picture women gathering together, sharing food, slowing down, collecting berries, swapping stories, supporting one another in community. Those practices, once dismissed as outdated, may actually hold the secret to resilience in the modern world.

On the Northern Beaches, where the pace of life can swing from sunrise swims to full-on work commutes, the idea of doing less feels both appealing and confronting. We love to pack our schedules, and we wear busy like a badge of honour. But maybe it’s time to rethink what success really looks like. Doing less doesn’t mean we stop caring or striving, it means we become more intentional about what we give our energy to. It means asking what actually matters and letting go of the rest.

The women who have embraced this way of living say they feel more grounded and less frantic, and their achievements don’t shrink, they expand. There’s a trust that builds when you align with your body rather than battling against it. The irony is that in choosing to do less, you often end up doing exactly what you were meant to do, only better.

Maybe it’s time we all start honouring those natural rhythms. Instead of chasing productivity as if it’s something outside of us, we could find it already built in. Less hustle, more flow. Less guilt, more presence. And maybe, just maybe, less really is more.

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