Drop the Ball: Achieve More by Doing Less

Title:Drop the Ball: Achieve More by Doing Less

Author: Tiffany Dufu. The book also features a foreword by Gloria Steinem.

What is it? A book. It reads somewhere between a memoir and a self-help book, as the author is sharing with you both her personal experiences and how she learned from them, as well as practical skills that you can incorporate into your everyday life to improve how you and your family function.

Who should read it? If you have ever felt overwhelmed by everything you are juggling in your life, then this book is one for you. And while it is directed for women, anyone who wants to better understand expectations around roles, gender, family, and community should check this book out.

Two minute skinny: From so many vantage points, Tiffany Dufu had it all. She had a great job, a young child, and a partner who was engaged, kind, and compassionate. But she was drowning. She had always prided herself on being able to do it all – she’s an important and striving career woman, a devoted and loving wife, and a mother to her first son, Kofi. But with her second child on the way and her husband moving overseas full-time to pursue the work of his dreams, she knew that it wasn’t going to be possible to continue balancing every ball in her entire life over her head perfectly anymore.

Drop the Ball is the book that came from her own experience of learning to ask for help and deciding which balls she could drop. Dufu shares her wisdom about how she learned to let some things go, and while doing that, actually got more done and took better care of her family and herself. In a narrative form, Dufu walks you through the process in which she and her partner re-created their domestic life together so that everyone could get what they needed.  The book is broken down into a few categories. In the first part of the book, Dufu helps readers understand how to actually let things go, the importance of clarifying who does what in a joint life, and how to ask for help from the village of people around you. The next part of the book explores more deeply how her relationship with her husband changed and grew into something better than it ever was before she made these changes. And in the final section of the book, Dufu helps readers think through what they can accomplish next, once the pressure of trying to manage everything alone subsides. Her sense of humor, down to earth voice, and genuine encouragement will help readers come to understand that they too can transform their lives into something stronger and more productive, if they are simply willing to drop that ball and give it a try.

Rating? Worth the Investment? We would say it absolutely worth the investment! Witnessing Dufu’s own personal story and development is inspirational, and she also offers so many practical tips to help you think critically about your responsibilities and what balls in your life could and should be dropped.

Listen, I don’t have time for a whole book… What's second best? Tiffany Dufu has a TedTalk you can check out with her mentor Marie C. Wilson about the work that they have done for women and girls through their different organizations. You could also check out the article Dufu wrote for Oprah’s website about the book itself.

And in case you wanted to go deeper: This is quite the thought-provoking book, and there are lots of ways you can further explore the ideas and concepts Dufu puts forward. If you are interested in learning more about the “The Cru,” that Dufu talks about in the book, you can find out more about that here. If you want to learn more on a daily basis about what Tiffany Dufu is thinking about and sharing, check out her website here. We do hope you take the time to go deeper, and explore how your own life could be transformed by dropping a ball or two.

Blogpost by Hallie Moberg Brauer.