Nov 16, 2015
For years, Ari Meisel workedeighteen-hour days in the construction industry, but in 2006, hewas diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory disease of thedigestive tract aggravated by stress and considered incurable. Hewas forced to find ways to get things done in less time becausethere were some days when he could only manage to work for an hour.He needed to simplify his life and somehow continue to beproductive. Necessity drove Ari to optimize, automate, andoutsource much of his life, and in the process, the system he callsLess Doing was born.
Through lifestyle changes, Arieliminated all symptoms of Crohn’s and now considers himself curedof the disease. He typically has two scheduled workdays per weekand spends the other five with his family. Less Doing is hisbusiness through which he helps other people optimize, automate,and outsource through teaching, coaching, and services.
Apart from his business, Ari alsohelps others overcome Crohn’s.
Please seeDisclosure*(below) concerning affiliate links onthis page.
KeySegments
- [00:20] Ari Meisel considershimself cured of Crohn’s disease because he put himself through along process of self-tracking. When Ari got sick, he sometimescouldn’t work more than an hour a day. This is how Less Doing cameabout. Ari needed to find a way to get more down in an hour andmitigate the stress.
- [03:15] What can we do to be moreproductive using the resources Ari provides and recommends alongthe way? Ari has a company named Less Doing. He teaches people how to optimize,automate, and outsource everything in their lives. What does thatmean? Everyone has outsourced something, even if it was just askingthe kids to do a chore. The problem is that people skip right tooutsourcing as the first line of defense when it should be thelast. People need to optimize first to weed out inefficiencies andstreamline. The second thing to do is automate in the vein ofset-it-and-forget-it. Outsource only after you have optimized andautomated.
- [04:30] How would Ari recommendpeople get started with his system? There are different paths. Arihas two coaching programs and a virtual assistant company. TheLess Doing,More Living Podcast is a great way for people to find outwho Ari is and what he does, but it is a launching point for peopleto take the next step. Visit Less Doing Call and get a free 30-minutecoaching call with one of Ari’s Less Doing Certified coaches. Thiscoaching call is whereAri tries to direct everyone to getthem started. If they find the coaching valuable, they can getinformation about programs that might be a good fit.
- [05:50] Ari’s book Less Doing, MoreLiving: Make Everything in Life Easier outlines the ninefundamentals of the system [more on the nine fundamentals below],and he is working on a second book that will cover more of the“why” of Less Doing.
- [07:10] Ari’s two coachingprograms are his Boot Camp and his Master Mind. His Boot Camp isthe for-everyone program. It’s all online, and there’s a weeklycall with the whole group (currently 150 people). This programtakes people through the nine fundamentals and adds otherinformation. In the Master Mind coaching program, Ari works morepersonally with individuals (currently 14) to address theirbusiness, personal growth, or physical problems.
- [08:10] In 2015, Ari started theLess Doing VirtualAssistants service (the LessDoIsts). He considers theLessDoIsts to be on-demand project managers rather than justvirtual assistants. The service is currently in stealth beta mode,but people can get on the waiting list. They are taking on 3 or 4new clients each week. They have seen considerable interest and arescaling smoothly to get the kinks out of the system.
- [10:25] Ari begins each episode ofthe Less Doing Podcast with a discussion of interesting links.These are resources he feels may be of interest to his listeners.He provides a summary spreadsheet of these links as the Less Doing PodcastLinks on his website (for the last 100 or so episodes when hehas been doing proper show notes).
- [12:00] Ari and Dave Rael createdthe Less DoingWODCast, the first completely automated podcast. It is aworkout podcast assembled and published daily by a programusingpre-recorded workout segments, where eachsegmentis basedon a Tabata protocol (high-intensityinterval training).
- [13:30] The nine fundamentals ofthe Less Doing system, as documented in each of the chapters of thebook, are as follows: (1) the 80/20 rule, which is about tracking;(2) creating an external brain, which is about offloading thoughts;(3) customization, which is about creating custom solutions forcommon problems in your life; (4) choose your own workweek; (5)stop running errands; (6) batching; (7) organization; (8) finances;and (9) wellness.
- [14:55] Ari discusses contractingand beating Crohn’s disease. Ari does free consultations about oncea month for people with Crohn’s. Ari states that it isn’t that hardto overcome Crohn’s with the right tools.
- [16:35] Ari recommends the bookEmergency by Neil Strauss. This book wasinstrumental in helping him change his life. He found the book tobe empowering when he was suffering from Crohn’s and feeling verypowerless.
- [17:30] Many of Ari’s decisions inlife and business are made based on how they will affect his timewith his family. Ari finds that being with his family as much as heis provides him a lot of material for figuring out ways to be moreproductive, but it also gives him perspective on his life andbusiness. He could spend more time working and make more money, buthe wouldn’t be happy.
ResourcesMentioned
- Emergency: This Book Will Save YourLife – book by Neil Strauss aboutwhat to do when the societal systems we depend on areunavailable.
- Less Doing, More Living– Ari Meisel’s website. “Learn how to optimize,automate, and outsource everything in your life including yourhealth.”
- Less Doing, More Living: MakeEverything in Life Easier – bookby Ari Meisel in which he presents the nine fundamental principlesof his “Less Doing” philosophy. The nine fundamentals of the LessDoing system, as documented in each of the chapters of the book,are as follows: (1) the 80/20 rule, which is about tracking; (2)creating an external brain, which is about offloading thoughts; (3)customization, which is about creating custom solutions for commonproblems in your life; (4) choose your own workweek; (5) stoprunning errands; (6) batching; (7) organization; (8) finances; and(9) wellness.
- Less Doing, More LivingPodcast – podcast by Ari Meiselabout making everything in life easier.
- Less Doing Call – free 30-minute “discovery coaching call” with one of AriMeisel’s Less Doing certified coaches.
- Less Doing Podcast Links– spreadsheet summarizing the links to resourcesAri Meisel has shared in his Less Doing, More Living podcast (sincehe has been doing proper show notes).
- Less Doing Virtual Assistants– virtual assistants trained by Ari Meisel in hisLess Doing system (LessDoIsts). Ari describes them as virtualproject managers rather than virtual assistants. At the time of theinterview, the service was still in stealth beta-mode, but peoplecould get on the waiting list.
- Less Doing WODCast– an automated daily workout podcast by Ari Meiseland Dave Rael. Dave wrote a program to assemble a daily workoutpodcast from a group of pre-recorded workout segments, where eachsegment is based on a Tabata protocol (high-intensity intervaltraining).
- SaaS Business Podcast– website for this podcast.
*Disclosure:Some of the links on thispage may be affiliate links. I may earn a commission if youpurchase through these links. These commissionshelp to coverthe cost of producing the podcast. I am affiliated only withcompanies I know and trust to deliver what you need. In most cases,affiliate links areto products and services I currently useor have used in the past. I would not recommend these resources ifI did not sincerely believe that they would help you. I value youas a visitor/customer far more than any small commission I mightearn from recommending a product or service. I recommend many moreresources with which I am not affiliated than affiliated. In mostcases where there is an affiliation, I will note it, butaffiliations come and go, and the notes may not keep up.
