Essentialism book summary
Nowadays, almost everything is noise. The funny thing is, that people buy into the idea that they must have it all, do it all.
way of the Essentialist is different. It’s clutter-free. Without all that noise. It contains only the essentials.
If you accept the idea that almost everything is a noise, you’ll be more strict in what you let inside both your life and your mind. Start filtering through the noise until you get to the essence of things.
“We live in a world where almost everything is worthless and a very few things are exceptionally valuable.”
“You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.” — John Maxwell
A non-Essentialist thinks almost everything is essential. An Essentialist thinks almost everything is non-essential.
Decide what are the most important things in your life today, devote yourself to these things, and become unavailable for everything else.
Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.
Essentialism is not a way to do one more thing; it is a different way of doing everything.
Essentialism is about pausing constantly to ask, “Am I investing in the right activities?”
Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.
Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.
“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract thing every day.” — Lao-Tzu
The way of the Essentialist is the relentless pursuit of less but better. It doesn’t mean occasionally giving a nod to the principle. It means pursuing it in a disciplined way.
Even though a lot of them sound really interesting and worth exploring, the only way to be truly happy and satisfied with your life is when you learn to filter through all the options and select only the ones that are truly essential for you. To focus your time and your energy towards a couple of carefully selected activities.
So, if you’re not sure if what you’re doing is the right thing. Pause and ask yourself: “Is the thing I’m currently doing contributing to my greater goal?”
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If You Don’t Prioritize Your Life, Someone Else Will
When we don’t purposefully and deliberately choose where to focus our energies and time, other people — our bosses, our colleagues, our clients, and even our families — will choose for us. We can either make our choices deliberately or allow other people’s agendas to control our lives.
“When we surrender our right to choose, we give others not just the power but also the explicit permission to choose for us.”
“Once an Australian nurse named Bronnie Ware, who cared for people in the last twelve weeks of their lives, recorded their most often-discussed regrets. At the top of the list: ‘I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.’”
If you’re not able to say no to the trivial many things that are constantly trying to steal bits of your time, you won’t have any left to focus on the things that matter to you. And the essential for most of us are usually these 3: family, hobbies, personal well-being.
Essentialists think in terms of ->
- “I have to” –> “I choose to“
- “It’s all important” –> “Only a few things really matter“
- “I can do both” –> “I can do anything but not everything“
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How to say NO.
Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.
We need to learn the slow “yes” and the quick “no”.
Let me check my calendar and get back to you: This is a great way to take the pressure off from saying no directly. Once you “check,” you can easily decline the offer.
The awkward pause. When a request comes to you in person, pause and count to three before delivering your decision. Or simply wait for the other person to fill the void
“Learn to say no to the trivial many so you can focus on the vital few things in your life.”
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The way of an Essentialist
There are two ways of thinking about Essentialism. The first is to think of it as something you do occasionally. The second is to think of it as something you are. In the former, Essentialism is one more thing to add to your already overstuffed life. In the latter, it is a different way — a simpler way — of doing everything. It becomes a lifestyle. It becomes an all-encompassing approach to living and leading. It becomes the essence of who we are.
In short, Essentialism becomes a way of living. Is continuously choosing to do fewer things, better, over trying to do it all and saying yes to everything.
We can’t always control the options presented to us, but we can always control the choices we make and how we spend our time and energy. Think of the words “I have to” which puts you in a reactive, helpless position. Use the words “I choose to” instead — remember that you can always choose how to respond to your circumstances.
We’re surrounded by noise that confuses and distracts us. Stop thinking that everything is important. Learn to filter out the few vital things that are truly valuable from the mass of trivialities.
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Trade-offs are a fact of life. You can do anything but not everything. Stop thinking “How can I do it all?”. Instead, choose the problem you’d focus on, and ask “What trade-offs will I make?” and “How can I go really big on this?” See trade-offs not as losses but as opportunities to find the highest-impact options.
Trade-offs are an inherent part of life. It’s not about choosing what you have to give up, it’s deciding what you want to go big on.
Instead of asking, “What do I have to give up?” they ask, “What do I want to go big on?”
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Monk mode: Go one step further and go Monk Mode. Imagine this like putting your phone on Airplane mode. Airplane mode disables Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular networks, and near-field communication. Monk Mode refers to a state of complete concentration. No distractions, no interruptions, no phone calls, no “quick social media checks.” It’s only you and your work.
In order to have focus, we must escape to focus
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The Essentialist explores and evaluates a broad set of options before committing to any. Because they will commit and “go big” on only the vital few ideas or activities, they explore more options at first to ensure they pick the right one later.
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Essentialist needs to create space.
Space to Concentrate: the faster and busier things get, the more we need to build thinking time into our schedule. No matter how busy you think you are, you can carve time and space to think out of your workday. The busier you are, the more you need to create this kind of space.
Space to Read: take inspiration from Bill Gates, who regularly (and famously) takes a regular week off from his daily duties at Microsoft simply to think and read. Read classic/timeless literature for the first twenty minutes of the day to help you center your day
Whether you can invest two hours a day, two weeks a year, or even just five minutes every morning, it is important to make space to escape in your busy life.
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Essential Sleep
Sleep is what allows us to operate at our highest level of contribution so that we can achieve more, in less time. By “protecting their asset”, they are able to go about their daily lives with a reserve of energy, creativity, and problem-solving ability to call upon when needed. They choose to do one fewer thing right now in order to do more tomorrow.
Science shows that even a nap can increase creativity. One hour more of sleep equals several more hours of much higher productivity. Sleep is for high performers. Sleep is a priority, breeds creativity, and enables the highest levels of mental contribution.
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The Power of Extreme Criteria
Put decisions to an extreme test: if you feel a total conviction to do something, say “HELL YES!”:
“If it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no.”
The 90 Percent Rule: think about the single most important criterion for a decision and give it a score between 0 and 100. If it’s any lower than 90 percent, then automatically change the rating to 0 and simply reject it. This helps you avoid getting caught up in indecision, or worse, getting stuck with the 60s or 70s.
“Essentialists accept they cannot be popular with everyone all of the time.”
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Win Big by Cutting Your Losses
Sunk-Cost Bias: the tendency to continue to invest time, money, or energy into something we know is a losing proposition simply because we have already incurred, or sunk, a cost that cannot be recouped
“An Essentialist has the courage and confidence to admit his or her mistakes and uncommit, no matter the sunk costs.”
The Endowment Effect: the tendency to undervalue things that aren’t ours and to overvalue things because we already own them
For example: Instead of asking, ‘How much do I value this item?’ we should ask, ‘If I did not own this item, how much would I pay to obtain it?’”
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The “planning fallacy”: our tendency to underestimate how long a task will take, even when they have actually done the task before.
To protect yourself against this, add a 50 percent buffer to the amount of time you estimate it will take to complete a task or project
“Essentialists accept the reality that we can never fully anticipate or prepare for every scenario or eventuality. Instead, they build in buffers to reduce the friction caused by the unexpected.”
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The Power of Small Wins
Start small and celebrate progress. Pursue small and simple wins in areas that are essential.
A small, concrete win creates momentum and affirms our faith in our further success.
Instead of going for the big, flashy wins that don’t really matter, the Essentialist pursues small and simple wins in areas that are essential.
Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work.’”
When we start small and reward progress, we end up achieving more than when we set big, lofty, and often impossible goals.
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Focus — What’s Important Now?
To operate at your highest level of contribution requires that you deliberately tune in to what is important in the here and now.
Being in a qualitative time — when we are fully in the moment — when we exist in the now.”
“Whatever decision or challenge or crossroads you face in your life, simply ask yourself, “What is essential?” Eliminate everything else.”
My Personal Favorite questions to ask every day and to live by:
“What’s important now?
“If you could do only one thing with your life right now, what would you do?”
