Skip to main content

Essentialism

By Greg McKeown

  • How to do better by doing less
  • We should be focusing on what we should do, thinking instead about what is essential to our happiness and well-being
  • 4 main points
    • Do less, but do it better
    • Reject the notion that we should accomplish everything
    • Constantly question yourself and update plans accordingly
    • Changes are put in place
  • Learned helplessness, that is, becoming so used to the feeling of being overwhelmed that we approach our lives with passivity. (Dogs with electric shock and a lever with no effect choose to stay in shock zone, because they have learned helplessness)
  • Take a few hours of blank time for thinking about yourself and always see the bigger picture on why you are doing what you do
  • Sleep and play are as important as work
  • Be ruthless in cutting away things that aren't essential
  • Say "no" to nonessential tasks and plan the essential ones carefully (How will I know when I have reached my goal)
  • Stop doing unncessary things by withdrawing from failure and setting boundaries (Admit errors and mistakes and let go)
  • Keeping on top of what's important requires that you eliminate what slows you down and elminate it.
  • Always take 50% of buffer time that you have expected a work to take
  • Building upon previous progress with small, incremental steps. Small wins create momentum, which gives you the confidence to further succeed.
  • Routine is very important to achieve long term goals