Essentialism

Introduction

Essentialism, written by Greg McKeown, is about the disciplined pursuit of less but better.

It is not about simply getting more done in less time, but rather about ensuring you are only getting the right things done.
This philosophy provides a systematic approach for discerning what is absolutely essential, eliminating everything that is not, and thereby maximizing your contribution of time and energy toward the things that truly matter.

The Essentialist

The way of the Essentialist is the relentless pursuit of less but better.

There are far more activities and opportunities in the world than we have the time and resources to invest in. Although many of them may be good, or even very good, the fact is that most are trivial and few are vital.
The way of the Essentialist involves learning to tell the difference - learning to filter through all those options and selecting only those that are truly essential.
The basic value proposition of Essentialism is this: only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, and to stop saying yes to everyone (simply to please others or avoid confrontation), can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.

Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it is about how to get the right things done.

It does not mean just 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 your highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.
When energy is divided into many different activities, the result is the unfulfilling experience of making a millimeter of progress in a million directions - feeling busy but not productive.
The way of Essentialist rejects the idea that we can fit it all in. Instead it requires us to grapple with real trade-offs and make tough decisions.

The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default.

Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the nonessentials, and removes obstacles so that the essential things have a clear, smooth passage.
Because we are in control of our own choices, we enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

Curiously, the pursuit of success can be a catalyst for failure, where success distracts us from focusing on the essential things that produced that success in the first place. This "paradox of success" is well summed up in four predictable phases.

When we have clarity of purpose, it enables us to succeed at our endeavour.
When we achieve success, we gain a reputation as a "go-to" person. We become "good old [insert name], who is always there when you need him," and we are presented with increased options and opportunities.
When we have increased options and opportunities - which is actually code for demands upon our time and energy - it leads to diffused efforts. We get spread thinner and thinner.
We become distracted from what would otherwise be our highest level of contribution. The effect of our success has been to undermine the very clarity that led to our success in the first place.

Several trends have combined to create a perfect Nonessentialist storm everywhere.

Our society is totally unprepared to manage the exponential increase in choices.

"Decision fatigue" describes how the more choices we are forced to make, the more the quality of our decisions deteriorates.

Technology has lowered the barrier for others to share their opinion about what we should be focusing on.

Our connectedness leads to opinion overload, thereby strengthening social pressure.

The idea that we can have it all and do it all is a myth, yet it is well embedded in job descriptions and university applications.

This results in stressed people trying to cram yet more activities into their already overscheduled lives.
The word "priority" came into the English language in the 1400s, meaning the very first or prior thing. Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about "priorities." However, the truth is that when many things are the priority, it actually means nothing is.

The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

Essence

There are three deeply entrenched assumptions we must conquer to live the way of Essentialist: "I have to", "It is all important" and "I can do both".

We replace these assumptions with three core truths: "I choose to", "Only a few things really matter" and "I can do anything but not everything".

Choose: The Invincible Power of Choice

A choice is an action; it is not just something we have, but something we do.

While we may not always have control over our options (the external aspect of choices), we always have control over how we choose among them (the internal ability to choose).

Think about it this way: Options (things) can be taken away, while our core ability to choose (free will) cannot be.

Yet, many feel stuck because they believe they do not truly have a choice, holding onto two contradictory beliefs: "I cannot do this" and "I have to do this". Bit by bit, through learned helplessness, we have allowed ourselves to blindly follow a path prescribed by another person.

Remember, when we forfeit our right or surrender our ability to choose, someone else will step in to choose for us.

The ability to choose cannot be taken away or even given away - it can only be forgotten.

Discern: The Unimportance of Practically Everything

We have been taught from a young age that hard work is key to producing results, and many of us have been amply rewarded for our productivity and our ability to muscle through every task or challenge the world throws at us.

The truth, however, is that more effort does not necessarily yield more results. Certain types of effort yield much higher rewards than others, as is well illustrated by the Pareto Principle or the "Law of the Vital Few".

The overwhelming reality is this: We live in a world where almost everything is worthless and only a very few things are exceptionally valuable.

Once we grasp that the many good opportunities we pursue are less valuable than the few truly great ones, we start scanning our environment for the vital few and eagerly eliminate the trivial many.
Only then can we say no to good opportunities and say yes to truly great ones.

This disproportionate value - where almost everything is noise and very few things are exceptionally valuable - justifies taking the time to figure out what is most important.

Since some things are so much more valuable, the effort required to find those things is worthwhile.
An Essentialist discerns more so that they can do less.

Trade-off: Which Problem Do I Want?

The logic of "we can have it all or do it all" ignores the reality of trade-offs.

To illustrate, we may agree to put together a report when there is another huge deadline the same day. The end result? We miss one or both projects, do a shoddy job on them, or miss the important celebration of family events.
When a company claims its mission is to serve all stakeholders - clients, employees, and shareholders - equally, it says nothing about the choices or clear guidelines on what to do when faced with trade-offs between the people they serve.
We need to recognize that saying yes to any opportunity by definition requires saying no to several others.
After all, the preferred answer to choosing the things that we want is yes to all. As much as we would like to, we simply cannot have it all.

Once we accept the reality of trade-offs, we stop asking, "How can I make it all work?" and start asking the more honest but more liberating question, "Which problem do I want to solve?"

We are going to act for ourselves, rather than waiting to be acted upon.

For many workers, devoting all of themselves to the job may have slowly crept in over time if we allow colleagues, bosses or customers to decide for us.

We are not going to do a thousand different things that really would not contribute much to the end result we are trying to achieve.

As painful as they can sometimes be, trade-offs represent a significant opportunity. By forcing us to weigh both options and strategically select the best one for us, we significantly increase our chance of achieving the outcome we want.

In life, some choose to make the trade-off of greater success in career or with friends to spend time with family.

At all times, Essentialists see trade-offs as an inherent part of life, not as an inherently negative part of life. Instead of asking, "What do I have to give up?", they ask, "What do I want to go big on?"

Explore

Essentialists systematically explore and evaluate a broad set of options before committing to any, ensuring that the one or two ideas or activities they choose are absolutely the right ones.

Their goal is to find their highest level of contribution: the right thing, the right way, at the right time.
In fact, Essentialists deliberately spend as much time as possible exploring, listening, debating, questioning and thinking to discern the vital few from the trivial many.
In contrast, Nonessentialists get excited by virtually everything and thus react to everything, leaving them busy pursuing every opportunity and idea.

To discern what is truly essential, we need space to think, time to look and listen, permission to play, wisdom to sleep, and the discipline to apply highly selective criteria to the choices we make.

Ironically, in a Nonessentialist culture, these things - space, listening, playing, sleeping, and selecting - can be seen as trivial distractions. At best, they are considered nice to have. At worst, they are derided as evidence of weakness and wastefulness (e.g., "Play? Who has time for play? We're here to work!").
However, the truth is that these very activities are the antidote to the nonessential busyness that infects so many of us.

Escape: The Perks of Being Unavailable

When people are constantly on call, they cannot figure out what is essential.

In other words, they need space and time to figure out what really matters - to discern the essential few from the trivial many.
Setting aside time to take a breath, look around, and think allows us to explore one hundred questions and possibilities, then finally reach a level of clarity in order to innovate and grow.

For company development, this can mean deliberately using the time to think about essential questions, such as: How will the company look in three to five years? What is the best way to improve an already popular product or widen a competitive gap over other companies? This is better than just busy addressing daily chaos.

No matter how busy you think you are, deliberately setting aside distraction-free time in a distraction-free space (i.e., no e-mail, no calls, no appointments, and no interruptions) to do absolutely nothing other than to think is essential.

However, this is, of course, more difficult today than ever in our gadget-filled, overstimulated world.
While waiting, we are glued to our smartphone rather than sitting there, staring into space, feeling bored, and reflecting.

In order to have focus we need to escape to focus.

Look: See What Really Matters

In the current information overload world and with an understanding of the reality of trade-offs, we instinctively know that we cannot explore or hyper-focus on every single piece of information we encounter in our lives.

Hence, discerning what is essential to explore requires us to be disciplined in how we scan and filter all the competing and conflicting facts, options, and opinions constantly vying for our attention. This involves figuring out what grabbed our attention and connecting the dots to see the bigger picture that is important to us.
Figuring out the point is much more effective than merely understanding the facts. It means constructing the sum of its parts and understanding how different pieces come together to matter to anyone. After all, in every set of facts, something essential is hidden.
Nonessentialists, on the other hand, listen too, but while preparing to say something. They get distracted by extraneous noise and hyper-focus on inconsequential details. They hear the loudest voice, but they get the wrong message.

It is also important to get out into the field to figure out what really matters (the key insight).

Play: Embrace the Wisdom of Your Inner Child

The majority of us were not formally taught how to play when we were children; we picked it up naturally and instinctively with wild imagination.

However, as we grow, we are introduced to the idea that play is trivial, a waste of time, unnecessary, and childish.
Instead of fuelling creativity through school, the modern school system actually kills it with academic achievements.
Yet, imagination is the source of every form of human achievement.

Play can be defined as anything we do simply for the joy of doing rather than as a means to an end - whether it is flying a kite, listening to music, or throwing a baseball.

While it might seem like a nonessential activity, play expands our minds in ways that allow us to explore: to germinate new ideas or see old ideas in a new light. It makes us more inquisitive, more attuned to novelty, and more engaged.
Play is also an antidote to stress, which is the enemy of productivity. Under stress, we cannot think clearly.

Sleep: Protect the Asset

The best asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves. If we underinvest in ourselves - and by that I mean our minds, our bodies, and our spirits - we damage the very tool we need to make our highest contribution.

One of the most common ways people - especially ambitious, successful people - damage this asset is through a lack of sleep.

When deprived of sleep, we might technically be awake, but our brain is just barely functioning.

It is harder to think, plan, prioritize, or see the bigger picture.
It is hard to make decisions or choices, and nearly impossible to discern the essential from the trivial.
Moreover, sleep is important for greater creativity, enhanced productivity, and lower healthcare costs.

Essentialists systematically and deliberately build sleep into their schedules so they can do more, achieve more and explore more tomorrow.

Select: The Power of Extreme Criteria

The key is to put the decision to an extreme test: "If the answer is not a definite yes, then it should be a no."

This way, you avoid getting caught up in indecision, or worse, getting stuck with the 60% or 70% in your life decisions or choices.
However, to apply this highly selective criterion (the core principle in Essentialism) requires us to be vigilant about acknowledging the reality of trade-offs.
Sometimes, you will have to turn down a seemingly very good option and have faith that the perfect option will soon come along. Sometimes it will, and sometimes it won't, but the point is that the very act of applying selective criteria forces you to choose which perfect option to wait for, rather than letting other people or the universe choose for you.

Being selective when deciding what opportunities to go after is one thing, but it can get even harder when opportunities come to us. For example, we get a job offer we did not expect, or a side project comes along that isn't really what we do, but it is easy cash.

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) goes into full effect. How do we say no when the offer is right here for the taking?
But if we just say yes because it is an easy reward, we run the risk of having to later say no to a more meaningful one.

To apply selective criteria to opportunities that come your way, write down three criteria for each - minimum and extreme - where at least two of the extreme criteria need to be passed.

Opportunity - What opportunity is being offered to you?
Minimum - What are your minimum criteria for this option to be considered?
Extreme - What are the ideal criteria for this option to be approved?

Is this exactly what I am looking for?

Eliminate

Many of us say yes to things because we are eager to please and make a difference.

However, eliminating nonessentials requires saying no, which often means pushing against social expectations.
Doing this well takes both courage and compassion - a form of emotional discipline.
Once you have sufficiently explored your options, don't ask, "What on my list of competing priorities should I say yes to?" Instead, ask the essential question that will uncover your true priorities: "What will I say no to?"

This can be difficult because of the sunk-cost bias, our tendency to value things we already own more highly than they are worth, which makes them harder to get rid of.

To counteract this bias when deciding what to eliminate, ask yourself this powerful question: "If I did not already have this opportunity, what would I be willing to do to acquire it?"

Clarify: One Decision That Makes A Thousand

When there is a lack of purpose, motivation and cooperation deteriorate.

When there is a serious lack of clarity about what the team stands for and what its goals and roles are, people experience confusion, stress, and frustration. When there is a high level of clarity, on the other hand, people thrive.
When there is a lack of clarity, people waste time and energy on the trivial many. When they have sufficient levels of clarity, they are capable of greater breakthroughs and innovations.
Worse, when teams lack purpose, they do not know how to win, but instead start to play politics to win the manager's attention or begin to advance their own short-term interests.

Similarly, in life, when there is a lack of clear purpose or aspirations, we waste time and energy trying to look good in comparison to other people (e.g., a nicer car or house, or the number of followers on social media).

When individuals are involved in too many disparate activities - even good activities - they fail to achieve their essential mission.
As a result, we neglect activities that are truly essential, like spending time with our loved ones, nurturing our spirit, or taking care of our health.

One way to achieve clarity of purpose in our dreams and even our personal endeavours is to decide on an Essential Intent, which settles one thousand later decisions.

To develop a concrete, inspiring, meaningful, and memorable statement of purpose, ask the more essential question: "If we could truly be excellent at only one thing, what would it be?"
Complement that question with, "How will we know when we have succeeded?" to achieve a clearer clarity of purpose.
Once you have this Essential Intent, use it to chart your path and eliminate any activity that is misaligned with it.

NOTE: Setting a clear direction is a common theme in productivity literature. For example, Stephen Covey's "Begin with the End in Mind" in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People serves as a "life compass," helping you create a personal mission statement based on your deepest values and principles.

Dare: The Powerful of a Graceful "No"

We need the courage to say no in the face of social pressure to capitulate to the nonessential.

We often say yes when we mean no, simply to avoid conflict, friction, disappointment, or social awkwardness.

Rather than experience the conflict between your internal conviction and an external action, Essentialists navigate these moments with courage, firmness and grace.

Only when we have strong internal clarity is it almost as if we have a force field protecting us from nonessentials coming at us from all directions.
The Essentialist would not want to wake up to the unpleasant reality that something more important must now be sacrificed to accommodate this new commitment born out of social pressure or social awkwardness.

To be able to say no, we should:

Focus on the trade-off, or the opportunity cost - the value of what we are giving up for the "yes."
Remind ourselves that everyone is selling something - an idea, a viewpoint or an opinion - in exchange for our time.
Make peace with the fact that saying "no" often requires trading popularity for respect.
Remember that a clear "no" can be more graceful than a vague or noncommittal "yes."

A clear "I am going to pass on this" or "I would very much like to, but I am overcommitted" is far better than not getting back to someone or stringing them along with some noncommittal answer like "I will try to make this work" or "I might be able to" when you know you cannot.

Remember, you can say "no" gracefully:

Use the awkward pause.
Use the soft "no" (or the "no, but").
ay, "Let me check my calendar and get back to you."
Say it with humour.
Suggest an alternative: "I cannot do it, but X might be interested."

We need to learn the slow "yes" and the quick "no".

Uncommit: Win Big By Cutting Your Losses

Sunk cost bias is 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.

This can easily become a vicious cycle: the more we invest, the more determined we become to see it through and see our investment pay off. The more we invest in something, the harder it is to let go.
Individuals are equally vulnerable to sunk-cost bias. It explains why we invest in toxic relationships even when our efforts only make things worse.
An Essentialist has the courage and confidence to admit their mistakes and uncommit, no matter the sunk costs. They ask, "If I were not already invested in this project, how much would I invest in it now?" and think, "What else could I do with this time or money if I pulled the plug now?"

Below are several other common traps and tips for how to extricate yourself politely, gracefully, and with minimal cost.

Beware of the endowment effect.

A sense of ownership is a powerful thing. We tend to undervalue things that are not ours and to overvalue things simply because we already own them.
When we feel we "own" an activity (e.g., being the organizer or team leader), it becomes harder to uncommit.
To counteract this, we need to pretend that we do not own it yet.

Get over the fear of waste

Adults are much more vulnerable to the sunk-cost bias than young children because we are trained to avoid appearing wasteful (i.e., a lifetime of exposure to the "Don't waste" rule).
Instead of remaining in denial, we need to admit failure to begin success.

We are often trying too hard to be something we are not, in both our personal and professional lives.

Get a neutral second opinion from someone who was not burdened with the sunk costs to evaluate the decision with some perspective.

Be aware of the status quo bias

We tend to continue doing something simply because we have always done it. It is all too easy to blindly accept and not bother to question commitments simply because they have been established.
Apply zero-based budgeting that allocates resources on the basis of needs rather than history, to detect exaggerated budget requests and draw attention to obsolete operations.

Stop making casual commitments that you have taken on unintentionally through an offhand comment or casual conversation.

From now on, pause before you speak. Ask yourself, "Is this essential?"
If you have already made a soft commitment you are regretting, find a nice way to worm your way out.

Fear of missing out on something great

Run a reverse pilot to test whether removing an initiative or activity will have any negative consequences.

Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying "yes" too quickly and not saying "no" soon enough.

Edit: The Invisible Art

Editing - which involves the strict elimination of the trivial, unimportant, or irrelevant - is an Essentialist craft.

As an editor, one is constantly taking inputs from engineers, support people and designers to decide on the one that makes sense for a better film.
A good film editor makes it hard not to see what is important because they eliminate everything but the elements that absolutely need to be there.

Editing life involves:

Cut out options

Although the choice to eliminate something good can be painful, deliberate subtraction increases our ability to focus on and give energy to the things that really matter, allowing the most meaningful relationships and activities more space to blossom.

Condense

Eliminate multiple meaningless activities and replace them with one very meaningful activity.

Correct

Having a clear overarching intent enables us to check ourselves and regularly compare our activities or behaviours to our real intent.

Edit less

When sitting in a meeting, we can resist the urge to add our two cents; instead, wait, observe, and see how things develop.

Editing our time and activities continuously allows us to make more minor but deliberate adjustments along the way, rather than having to make major cuts later.

Limit: The Freedom of Setting Boundaries

The disappearance of boundaries is typical of our Nonessentialist era.

Technology has completely blurred the lines between work and family, where people expect us to be available to work on weekends.

It is true that setting boundaries can come at a high price, but not pushing back costs more: our ability to choose what is most essential in life.

Essentialists recognize that boundaries protect their time from being hijacked and often free them from the burden of having to say no to things that further others' objectives instead of their own.
They know that clear boundaries allow them to proactively eliminate the demands and encumbrances from others that distract them from the true essentials.
After all, their problem is not your problem, and helping them by using our time and energy for their own agenda is just taking away their ability to solve it.

Crafting social contracts with others so that they know upfront what our boundaries are keeps us from wasting each other's time, saddling each other with burdensome requests, and distracting each other from the essentials in life.

Execute

While Nonessentialists tend to force execution, Essentialists invest the time they have saved by eliminating the nonessentials into designing a system to make execution almost effortlessly.

Buffer: The Unfair Advantage

The reality is that we live in an unpredictable world.

Even apart from extreme events such as famines, we constantly face the unexpected, such as a traffic jam, a flight delay or a car accident.
The only thing we can expect (with any great certainty) is the unexpected.
Therefore, we can either wait for the moment and react to it, or we can prepare by creating a buffer.

The Nonessentialist tends to always assume a best-case scenario.

Yet, inevitably, these things take longer, something unexpected comes up, the task ends up being more involved than anticipated, or the estimate was simply too optimistic in the first place.
When this happens, they are left reacting to the problem, and results inevitably suffer. Perhaps they pull an all-nighter to make it happen, cut corners, hand in an incomplete project, or fail to get it done at all and leave someone else on the team to pick up the slack.

The Essentialist accepts the reality that we can never fully anticipate or prepare for every scenario or eventuality; the future is simply too unpredictable.

While they plan and prepare for different contingencies, they also expect the unexpected and build in buffers to reduce the friction of the unforeseen.

Here are some tips for creating a buffer in your work and life:

Use extreme preparation

In good times, prepare for anything and everything that could possibly go wrong, instead of hoping for the best-case scenario.

Add 50% to your time estimate

The "planning fallacy" refers to people's tendency to underestimate how long a task will take, even when they have actually done the task before.

Conduct scenario planning

Ask risk management strategy questions when building buffers:

What risks do you face on this project?
What is the worst-case scenario?
What would the social effects of this be?
What would the financial impact of this be?
How can you invest to reduce risks or strengthen financial or social resilience?

Subtract: Bring Forth More By Removing Obstacles

What is the obstacle that is keeping you back from achieving what really matters to you?

By systematically identifying and removing this "constraint", you will be able to significantly reduce the friction keeping you from executing what is essential, and hence improving the overall functioning of the system.
However, simply finding things that need fixing here and there might lead to marginal, short-term improvements at best; at worst, you will waste time and effort improving things that do not really matter.

A Nonessentialist approaches execution in a reactive, haphazard manner.

Because the Nonessentialist is always reacting to crises rather than anticipating them, they are forced to apply quick-fix solutions.

Essentialists do not default to Band-Aid solutions.

Instead of looking for the most obvious or immediate obstacles, they look for the ones most slowing down progress. They ask, "What is getting in the way of achieving what is essential?"
While the Nonessentialist is busy applying more and more pressure and piling on more and more solutions, the Essentialist simply makes a one-time investment in removing obstacles.
This approach goes beyond just solving problems; it is a method of reducing your efforts to maximize your results.

In practice, after deliberately developing a clear and precise Essential Intent, Essentialists identify all the obstacles possible and prioritize removing the primary constraint to goal execution.

Removing obstacles does not have to be hard or take a superhuman effort.
Instead, we can start small to naturally build the momentum of progress.

Progress: The Power of Small Wins

The way of the Nonessentialist is to go big on everything: to try to do it all, have it all and fit it all in.

The Nonessentialist operates under the false logic that the more they strive, the more they will achieve, but the reality is that the more we reach for the stars, the harder it is to get ourselves off the ground.

Instead of trying to accomplish it all and all at once, the Essentialist starts small and celebrates progress.

Instead of going for the big, flashy wins that do not really matter, the Essentialist pursues small and simple wins in areas that are essential.
A small, concrete win creates momentum and affirms our faith in our future success, which eventually leads to significant breakthroughs. There is power in steadiness and repetition.

Flow: The Genius of Routine

The way of the Nonessentialist is to think the essentials only get done when they are forced.

That execution is a matter of raw effort alone. You labour to make it happen; you push it through..

The Essentialist designs a routine that makes achieving what you have identified as essential the default position.

Yet, in some instances, an Essentialist still has to work hard, but with the right routine in place, each effort yields exponentially greater results.

Routine is one of the most powerful tools for removing obstacles, and it enables difficult things to become easy.

Without routine, the pull of nonessential distractions will overpower us. But if we create a routine that enshrines the essentials, we will begin to execute them on autopilot.
Instead of our consciously pursuing the essential, it will happen without our having to think about it. We would not have to expend precious energy every day prioritizing everything. We can channel that discipline toward some other essential activity.
Nonetheless, we must simply expend a small amount of initial energy to create the routine, and then all that is left to do is follow it.

The opportunity of routine is that we can develop new abilities that eventually become instinctive.

The danger is that we may develop routines that are counterproductive, such as those nonessential habits like spending our lunch hour trolling the Internet instead of using the time to think, reflect, recharge or connect with friends and colleagues.

To discard the routines that keep us locked in nonessential habits and replace them with routines that make executing essentials almost effortless:

Overhaul your triggers

Every habit is made up of a cue, a routine and a reward

The Cue is a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use.
The Routine is the behaviour, which can be physical, mental or emotional.
The Reward helps your brain figure out if this particular habit is worth remembering for the future.

We need to find the cue that is triggering the nonessential activity or behaviour and find a way to associate that same cue with something that is essential.

Create new triggers

We can create brand new cues to trigger the execution of some essential routine.

Do the most difficult thing first

We already have too much to think about. Why not eliminate some of that by establishing a routine?

Mix up your routines

To avoid routine fatigue, have different routines for different days of the week.

Tackle your routines one by one

Instead of being tempted to try to overhaul multiple routines at the same time, we must start small and then build on our progress.

NOTE: Atomic Habits by James Clear dwells in depth on developing desirable habits through Cue, Craving, Response, and Reward.

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.

It is natural and human to obsess over past mistakes or feel stress about what may be ahead of us.
Yet, every second spent worrying about a past or future moment distracts us from what is important in the here and now.
In practical terms, we only ever have now. We learn from the past and can imagine the future. Yet, only in the here and now can we actually execute on the things that really matter.

Nonessentialists tend to be so preoccupied with past successes and failures, as well as future challenges and opportunities, that they miss the present moment. They become distracted and unfocused.

On the other hand, Essentialists tune in to the present to experience life in kairos (enjoying the moment), not just chronos. They focus on the things that are truly important - not yesterday or tomorrow, but right now.

We can do more than one thing at a time (i.e., multitasking), such as wash the dishes and listen to the radio, or eat and talk. But what we cannot do is concentrate on two things at the same time (i.e., multifocus).

Simple techniques to be in the now:

Figure out what is most important right now

When faced with so many tasks and obligations that you cannot figure out which to tackle first, stop. Take a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is most important this very second - not what is most important tomorrow or even an hour from now.
If you are not sure, make a list of everything vying for your attention and cross off anything that is not important right now.

Get the future out of your head

List the things that might be essential, but just not right now.
Getting the ideas out of your head and onto paper ensures you would not forget about those ideas and alleviates the stressful and distracting feeling that you need to act upon them right now.

Prioritize

Calmly work through the essential items in your list and erase each one when it is complete.

The pause that refreshes

As you get to the door of your house, stop for just a moment, close your eyes, breathe in and out once: deeply and slowly. As you exhale, let the work issues fall away.
In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

NOTE: The Power of Now provides an alternative perspective of living in the present moment as a means to spiritual enlightenment.

Be: The Essentialist Life

The philosophy of "less but better" has been reflected in the lives of diverse, notable figures - both religious and secular - throughout history.

The way of the Essentialist is not just about success; it is about living a life of profound meaning and purpose.
An Essentialist's life is a life lived without regret. If you have correctly identified what truly matters and invested your time and energy into it, it becomes difficult to regret the choices you make. Instead, you become proud of the life you have deliberately chosen.

There are two primary ways of thinking about Essentialism:

As something you do occasionally.
As something you are at your core.

In the former, Essentialism becomes one more thing to add to your already stuffed life. In the latter, it is a different - a simpler - way of doing everything. It becomes an all-encompassing approach to living and leading.

However, there is a big difference between a Nonessentialist who occasionally applies Essentialist practices and an Essentialist who only occasionally slips back into Nonessentialist practices.
The key question is: "Which is your major, and which is your minor? Which are you at the core?"
Remember, people with Essentialism at their core get far more from their investment than those who absorb it only at the surface level. Indeed, the benefits become cumulative. Every choice we make to pursue the essential and eliminate the nonessential builds upon itself, making that choice more habitual until it becomes virtually second nature. With time, that inner core expands outward until it has all but eclipsed the part of us still mired in the nonessential.

Nonetheless, we can all purge our lives of the nonessential and embrace the way of the Essentialist - in our own ways, on our own timeline, and on our own scale.

We can all live a life not just of simplicity, but of high contribution and meaning.

If one's life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness.

Summary

While many popular books offer tactical advice for getting more done, Essentialism provides the overarching mindset necessary for true, sustained productivity. It serves as a foundational philosophy - a prerequisite for fully realizing the concepts presented in other focus-driven guides.

Essentialism: The Guiding Philosophy (The Why and the What)

Greg McKeown teaches readers to apply extreme selectivity in determining which opportunities are truly vital - the vital few - and to eliminate the trivial many.
It is about making a deliberate choice to live by design, not by default.
Once you have mastered this foundational ability to say "No" and set clear priorities, you can then deepen your practice through more specific frameworks that refine what to do and how to do it.

The One Thing / Eat That Frog!: The Selection Framework (The What Now)

After filtering out the trivial many, an Essentialist must identify and act on the single most important task.
The One Thing challenges several common productivity myths: that everything matters equally, that multitasking improves efficiency, that a balanced life is the goal, and that thinking big is unrealistic or harmful. Instead, it introduces the Focusing Question - “What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” - to pinpoint that highest-impact action.
Eat That Frog! complements it by tackling the psychological barrier of procrastination. Brian Tracy emphasizes taking immediate action on your most important, often most challenging, task - the “frog” - instead of delaying it. This daily discipline builds momentum, reduces avoidance, and turns clarity into consistent execution.
Together, these books convert the philosophy of Essentialism into a practical action framework for prioritization and follow-through.

Deep Work: The Execution System (The How)

Once the right task has been identified, Cal Newport's Deep Work then provides the system for maximum execution. It offers the disciplined strategies - like creating time blocks and minimizing distraction - necessary to apply full, undistracted cognitive effort to the essential priority identified by the other two frameworks.

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