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What is Essentialism and How You Can Benefit from It
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Essentialism
Essentialism is not the same as minimalism, which states that "less is more." Essentialism is defined as "Less but better."
It helps you navigate a distracting world by focusing on things that are important to you. If something is not important, you eliminate it.
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Don't Overcommit
One of the many reasons we feel so overwhelmed is because we say yes to far too many things. It leaves you in a difficult place of committing to something you didn't want in the first place.
It's better to say, "let me get back to you".
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Keep Your Priorities In Sight
Focus on a single "priority," not on multiple "priorities." The key to living an essential life is understanding what your priority is. Is it your family? Your career? Your hobby?
You will know your real priority once you know what you want out of life.
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Being In Control Of Your Day
Because essentialism reduces your commitments to only the essential, it puts you in control of your day.
Many people allow others to take control of their day, e.g., colleagues requesting them to do this or that. When you know what is important to you, your day becomes your day. This involves having to say "no" more than you say yes. In time, others will also start to respect your time more. You will get to accomplish your priority in higher quality, which earns you more respect than trying to do everything.
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Taking Small Consistent Steps
Anything you want to achieve is made up of small steps that you consistently take over time.
If you want to write a daily journal, it is better to set a small goal of five sentences per day, than to believe that you have to write a thousand or more words per day. Over a week, you may not have much to show, but over many years, you will have enough for a novel.
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Building Daily Routines
Find out what is essential to you, and build them into your daily routines. Your routines will drive you towards accomplishing what you want to accomplish.
If you run around doing everyone else's work, you will not be able to achieve anything for yourself.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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The new law of productivity
High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus)
Deep work vs. Shallow work
- Deep work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. Creates value.
- Shallow work: Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. Doesn't create value.
4 philosophies to integrate Deep Work into your life
- Monastic: maximize Deep Work by minimizing or removing shallow obligations. Isolate yourself for long periods of time without distractions; no shallow work allowed
- Bimodal: divide your time into some clearly defined stretches to deep pursuits and leave the rest open to everything else. Reserve a few consecutive days when you will be working like a monastic. You need at least one day a week
- Rhythmic: involves creating a routine where you define a specific time period — ideally three to four hours every day — that you can devote to Deep Work
- Journalistic: alternate your day between deep and shallow work as it fits your blocks of time. Not recommended to try out first.
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Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Why we don't take time off
- We think more work should equal more output: we see productivity not as doing more with less. But simply doing more.
- We’re afraid of being “left behind”: not only could we miss out on some important conversation, but we worry that we’ll be left behind.
- Work has become a larger part of our identity: we feel personally connected to the work we do. Taking time away opens up all sorts of questions that can be hard to face.
Deliberate rest
It is a play on the term “deliberate practice” and it means engaging with restful activities that are often vigorous and mentally engaging.
It is not a continuation of work, but a way to find activities that let you recharge from your workday, while still being mentally productive.
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Oliver Emberton
Important vs. urgent tasks
- Important tasks are things that contribute to your long-term mission, values, and goals.
- Urgent tasks are tasks that have to be dealt with immediately: phone calls, urgent deadlines, and situations where you have to respond quickly.
Sometimes important tasks stare you right in the face, but you neglect them and respond to urgent but unimportant things.
Don't be available all the time
Time, not money, is your most valuable asset. Invest your asset:
- Allocate time to each task you need to get done every day.
- Each task of the day should be attainable, realistic, and time-bound. And it should advance your goals for the day, week or month.
- Don't get distracted by everything others expect you to do.