Essentialism

by Greg McKeown
Read & Summarized by Brad Penney

Most of us pursue too many different goals – our progress is usually spread over several (sometimes unrelated) fields – leaving our true potential to contribute unrealized. Imagine an exceptional programmer who writes beautiful and clever code that efficiently solves real problems. If this programmer spends 50% of their time in team meetings, which have little to no bearing on the end product (the sad reality in much of the corporate world), a vast amount of potential is wasted. For our exceptional programmer, the extended team meetings and administrative tasks that are standard corporate practice serve as an obstacle to contribution; paradoxically, the programmer could contribute more by working on less.

Essentialism teaches us to cut away the cruft, get to the heart of the matter, and do things that actually provide value in our lives.

The book is separated into four parts:

1. Essence – What is the core mindset of an Essentialist?
2. Explore – How can we discern the trivial many from the vital few?
3. Eliminate – How can we cut out the trivial many?
4. Execute – How can we make doing the vital few things almost effortless?

Part 1: Essence

Everything we do is a choice. While we are not always in control of circumstances, we control how we react and what we choose to do about them. Recognize that some actions yield more results; a strong work ethic is essential, but the Pareto principle shows that 80% of our reward comes from only 20% of our actions. The key is to discern between actions that add value and those that do not. The inevitable result of discernment is recognizing that some activities are not worthwhile. Trading off low-value activities to concentrate on higher-value ones is often complicated and can affect our relationships. While difficult, it is valuable. Remember: Not everything is worth doing – stop doing the things that don’t add value.

Part 2: Explore

Determining worthwhile activities requires reflection and thought. As Cal Newport discussed in Digital Minimalism, we often suffer from solitude deprivation – the rise of personal devices and constant distraction results in us not having time and space to think and consider our life choices. McKeown makes a similar point: finding quiet time to consider worthwhile actions is difficult if not intentionally created. Create space to contemplate, focus on the bigger picture, determine which activities are worthwhile based on what contributes to your “essential intent”. Pursuing other opportunities is not worthwhile.

It is interesting to note that McKeown advocates self-care as a key part of exploring your options. Getting adequate sleep and engaging in play rejuvenates and allows us to make better choices. When we are taking care of ourselves, we can apply stringent criteria to our opportunities—keeping in mind the opportunity cost of each—and choose to only pursue activities that align with our essential intent.

Part 3: Eliminate

Creating an essential intent provides clarity of thought and vision. McKeown states:

… an essential intent is one decision that settles one thousand later decisions. Its like deciding you’re going to become a doctor instead of a lawyer. One strategic choice eliminates a universe of other options and maps a course for the next five, ten, or even twenty years of your life. Once the big decision is made, all subsequent decisions come into better focus.p. 126

Of course, once an essential is defined, it becomes critical to decline other opportunities (often framed by others as requests). This can be difficult and awkward. McKeown offers the following repertoire of powerful ways to deflect requests and decline opportunities that don’t serve your essential intent:

1. The awkward pause – use awkward silence to ward off requests
2. No, but – offer an alternative suggestion
3. Let me check my calendar and get back to you – time is of the essence, so offer time later if possible
4. Use email auto-respond – you are busy but will respond later
5. Yes, what activity should I replace with this one? – particularly useful for managing expectations with up-line managers
6. Say ‘no’ with humour
7. You are welcome to X; I am willing to Y – Give them the tools to complete the request themselves.
8. I don’t have the availability, but perhaps X might be interested. Use sparingly and only if you know the person being recommended may be interested.

While deflecting requests and declining opportunities may open upcoming schedules, it is also likely that you are already committed to activities that do not serve your essential intent. The best advice in this situation is to find ways to uncommit. First, don’t offer more commitment slowly, and second, use the above strategies when asked to complete additional roles or responsibilities. Find a natural breaking point to separate ways from your non-essential commitment. Caution: Do not “burn bridges” or be rude when withdrawing. Remember that these non-crucial commitments are taking time away from your essential intent (and, upon examination, may not even be worthwhile). Do not feel bad about withdrawing from these sorts of activities. Set boundaries around your commitments and time; don’t allow one activity to take the time of another. This is particularly important in the current work-from-home era, where many of us find it much too easy to spend too much time working, ignoring other critical aspects of our lives such as family, health, and personal growth.

Part 4: Execute

Having defined your essential intent and eliminated distractions, it is time to execute. McKeown offers several thoughts:

• Create a Buffer—whether time or resources—to allow you to continue working on your critical intent when challenges arise. If a project might be expected to take a month, allow 6 weeks to accommodate any unexpected challenges. If a project is anticipated to cost $2000, make sure $3000 is available to allow for the unforeseen. A buffer of time and resources makes focusing on your critical intent much smoother.
• Clear the Blockers—Spend time thinking about what could slow progress. While foreseeing every blocker is certainly impossible, it is often possible to anticipate some challenges, especially as you become more experienced in the domain of your critical intent.
• Focus on Progress – Like the Agile practice advocates shipping a Minimum Viable Product and iterating on that MVP to succeed, adopt a Minimum Viable Progress mindset toward your critical intent. Determine what needs to happen to make measurable progress and make that your short-term goal. For example, when writing software, there is usually some tiny kernel of logic in the program where the magic functionality happens. Spend time focusing on that small piece until you have a viable proof of concept. This creates demonstrable progress and moves you closer to fulfilling your critical intent.
• Create Success Habits – Lock in a routine of executing your critical intent by creating habits that push your progress. As discussed in Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit and James Clear’s Atomic Habits, create habits with Cue-Routine-Reward for behaviours that help you progress. Maximize the time spent working towards your critical intent – create an environment where it is easy to focus without multi-tasking.
• Re-evaluate as Needed—Step back and take a look at the big picture. Be clear and sure your critical intent is still relevant, what you’re aiming at is in alignment, and the progress you are making is in alignment. This periodic reassessment and realignment helps you view your progress and will ultimately help you derive meaning and purpose from it.

Conclusion

An excellent metaphor for adopting an Essentialist approach to life is how an editor would approach a piece of writing – cut the things that don’t add value. Condense “the piece” (i.e. your life) to ensure it makes brilliant points about the subject at hand but doesn’t contain additional fluff that is irrelevant, distracting and possibly even detrimental to the essential message.

Essentialism allows you to offer your highest contribution to the world. Pursue it relentlessly.