I’ve never heard anyone complain about being too productive. That’d be like Usain Bolt complaining he’s too fast.
Indeed, good old Lightning Bolt has never just been satisfied as being the fastest — he’s propelled forward by being faster and faster and, yes, faster; beating his own records each time he steps onto the track. Bolt got to where he is — fastest man on Earth, ever — by challenging himself everyday, overturning norms, and improving on his efficiencies whenever possible — much the same way Ari Meisel challenges even those of us who are pretty efficient and productive can be even more so.
Last night, I attended Ari’s class, Less Doing here in New York. I went expecting that it would probably be more of a refresher than anything else. Instead, I was happily surprised to find the class a mind-blower.
First of all, there wasn’t a single thing that I learned about in Ari’s class that I had heard of before, with the exception of using Evernote, which evidently, I can get better at. But what I liked most about his class, aside from learning about FollowUp.cc, IFTTT, Amazon Subscribe & Save, and HassleMe… and about 20 other new tools that I will start using today, was listening to the way Ari thinks. He challenges the norms in a way that seems normal and natural, even though it’s not, and it reminds me a lot of Dashlane which — high-five, team! — Ari uses.
Ari challenges efficiency the way Dashlane challenges the Internet. We already accept that the Internet is the fastest way to get most things done, and it’s undeniably faster than it was before — do you remember dial-up modem? do you remember the last time you booked a flight through a travel agent? or sent a handwritten letter via snail mail? — so we’re content with it, and we don’t stop to consider the inefficiencies brought by the efficiency of the Internet itself.
According to Ari — who started his own business at age 12, completed an Iron Man, and looks like the most well-rested person on the planet — however, we really should. He lives by his mantra, “optimize first, automate second, and outsource third.” The goal is to make everyday processes efficient, repeatable, and when necessary, passed on to someone else.
So why should we fill out our own forms online if we can Dashlane can automate the process for us? Why keep one more thing, like passwords, stored in our heads when they don’t have to be? Why settle for mediocre online security? Ari is all about getting it out of your head and into your computer, so you don’t have to worry about it. Sounds like a great idea to me!
If you have the chance to take on of his classes, you shouldn’t think twice about signing up. Otherwise, head over to his blog and start reading — although it won’t beat listening to him in person! (Watch his TEDx talk here.) He’s got something to offer that’ll help you sleep better at night and get more out of your days, much the way we think Dashlane does.
