In a world faced with increasing information overload, we must learn to become an “Essentialist”, prioritizing the vital few important things from the trivial many. By doing so, we can extricate ourselves from always feeling overwhelmed and meaninglessly busy, yet paradoxically achieve more by focusing on the few things that truly matter. McKeown gives a framework for evaluating and eliminating the non-essentials, and then executing on the essentials. I found the contrast between a “Non-Essentialist” and an “Essentialist” to be illuminating, as it helps us think through on how to pare back and focus in life. I thought the ‘Eliminate’ point was the particularly insightful, urging us to apply highly selective criteria to the things we do decide to take on. However, it does not go in depth enough on the social costs of saying no all the time. For a book about essentials, it ironically is not very concise. Nevertheless, the overall message is an important mindset shift.
| Non-Essentialist | Essentialist |
| “I have to” | “I choose to” |
| Seductive assumption: it’s all important; try to do it all, mindlessly add, indiscriminately fit it all in. | Logical reality: only a few things truly matter, it’s almost all noise. Understand the trade-offs, strategically eliminate, purposefully choose. |
| Focus on urgency | Focus on importance |
| Unsure if the right things get done | Right things get done |
| Default answer is yes. Socially-pleasing. | Default answer is no. Socially unconventional and potentially awkward. |
| Takes on every good or mediocre opportunity. | Takes on only a few great things; forgoes everything else, including merely good opportunities. |
| Overwhelmed and exhausted | Experiences joy and satisfaction |
| Millimeter of progress in multiple directions | Significant sustained progress in one direction |
- The way of the Essentialist is to pursue ‘less but better’ in a disciplined way. Distinguish the vital few from the trivial many. It is not necessarily about getting less things done, but the right things done; investing limited time and energy to make a peak contribution.
- “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.” We can either deliberately choose for ourselves or let other people’s agendas choose for us.
- Paradox of Success: focus initially leads to success, which begets additional opportunities that lead to a diffusion of focus, which ultimately leads to failure.
- Modern life has information and opinion overload. This explosion of options overwhelms our ability to manage it, leading to “decision fatigue”.
- The
etymology of the world ‘priority’ is the very first or prior thing. It meant
one singular thing. The pluralized ‘priorities’ is a modern change.
- Step
0) Essence:
- We always have a choice (helplessness must be un-learned).
- Focus on the vital few and ignore the trivial many (80/20 principle/ power law, diminishing value to working hard).
- Reality: tough trade-offs; make trade-offs thoughtfully and deliberately. Do not straddle two competing opportunities—they force us make sacrifices at the margins that are not by design. Establish clear boundaries and commit to them.
- Step
0) Essence:
- Step
1) Explore/ evaluate:
- Create the time and space to allow more learning, listening, debating, and thinking about options. Time, space, rest, and play are essential, not a luxury. They nurture brain health, imagination, and creativity.
- Paradoxically, the more busy we are, the more we need time and space to think and recharge.
- Sleep is essential for peak performance. It helps integrate information, produce new neural connections, and restore the mind. The stigma of sleeping is machismo and a false belief.
- Look for the lead, the big picture idea, the essence. What is not explicitly being said? What are you solving for (clarify the question)?
- Step 2)
Eliminate:
- Apply highly selective criteria to filter choices. “Hell Yeah!” or “No” (90%+ or 0). Say no often, with conviction and compassion.
- Establish a highly clear purpose: an ‘essential intent’ that is meaningful, memorable, and measurable. Eliminate ambiguity of who is responsible for what—make roles and performance measures super clear.
- Say “no”
gracefully but firmly. Separate the request from the relationship; avoid using
the word “no” by citing trade-offs and other commitments; offer an alternative;
use humor. Remind yourself what the other person is ‘selling’ to gain your
time, and that a short-term hit to popularity may mean a long-term gain of
respect.
- Be aware and avoid sunk cost fallacy, status quo bias, and the endowment effect. Ask yourself: if I didn’t already have this opportunity, what would I be willing to do/ how much would I be willing to spend to acquire it?
- Try a ‘reverse pilot’: test eliminate something potentially unimportant and see if it is missed.
- Regularly eliminate extraneous options, activities, and details. Focus on quality, meaning, and core intent.
- Set,
articulate, and then enforce personal boundaries. They can be liberating
instead of constricting because it makes the rules very clear to yourself and
to others.
- Step 3)
Execute:
- Build in a buffer. Think through social and financial vulnerabilities. Prepare extremely early and keep some wiggle room. Avoid the planning fallacy—always add in 50% more time for estimates.
- Subtraction: don’t just improve around the margins, seek to remove the essential bottlenecks/ constraints/ obstacles (i.e. ‘‘slowest hiker”), one by one.
- Start small: go for easy wins in the beginning, build momentum, celebrate small victories. Build habits by starting with minimal dose (e.g. 2 minutes of work), which eventually leads to effortlessness. Progress is the best motivator. Visually charting progress gives satisfaction and motivation.
- Leverage the power of routines: shift desirable tasks to unconscious autopilot without consuming valuable mental effort.
- Tackle the hardest thing first in the morning.
- ‘WIN’: prioritize What’s Important Now. Be mindful of the now.
- Because it is so uncommon, living as an Essentialist is leading a life of rebellion. It takes deliberate, sometimes difficult, choice, but gets easier over time as habits become engrained into who you are. In return, you gain more clarity, control, and meaning.
- Step 3)
Execute:
- Questions
to ask:
- Is this the best use of my (current) resources (time, talents, money)? What problems do I prefer to solve?
- What do I want to go big on? And what do I want to give up to do that?
- Will this make the highest contribution to my goals/ needs?
- Do I love this? Am I deeply inspired by this?
Finished: 14-Feb-2018. Rating: 7/10.