Essentialism
Have you noticed a mess in your life? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you work many hours per week and you don’t notice any progress? There is only one answer. You don’t know what essentialism is. I also hadn’t known till I read the book “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown. Furthermore, currently, I also have a problem with recognizing non-essential things. It is not as easy as many of us think. The knowledge in this article is from the mentioned book and from my own experience; nevertheless, I recommend the book if you want to dig into this issue deeper.
According to Greg McKeown, essentialism is the way of getting only the right things done, in the right way and at the right time. What does it mean, though? “Right things” — easier said than done I suppose, however, I will try to show you what we can do to walk on the path of essentialism.
First of all, we have to remember that everyone has a choice. I know, it seems like a platitude, but it is not. All of us have a mind and we can decide what is essential and what is not essential. Before you make a decision ask yourself: “Is it essential?”. If yes, ask yourself: “Why?”. If not, ask yourself: “Why do I do this?” By and large, we should say “yes” to essential things and “no” to non-essential things. Furthermore, we must remember to abandon non-essential things.
I have to warn you that saying “yes” and “no” is not easy. We have known those words since we were born. Perhaps, it is one of the reasons why we say “yes” very quickly. People assume they know what they want to, but do they really know? Alas, everyday we say “yes” too fast and we say “no” too slowly. Take a pause at this moment and think about the situation when you accepted something and then you regretted it. It is not too difficult, is it? Our psyche and human behavior are complicated. Sometimes we know subconsciously that we should refuse something, but our mouths say “yes”. There are many reasons why we do that. One time we simply want to help someone, sometimes it is fear of refusing, fear of what other people think about us. In many cases, we simply don’t think before we answer. We don’t want to let somebody down or we overestimate our possibilities. Remember, before you give an answer, take a pause and ask yourself if it is essential for you at this moment. If it is not, you know what to do.
Second of all, we have to stop multitasking. I would not like to explain what multitasking is. Nowadays, everyone who reads a little about productivity or work-life balance knows what it is. When it comes to essentialism, multitasking also doesn’t work. We should be focused only on the one thing at the moment, however, how to recognize an appropriate thing? Prioritizing — it helps us. In my case, I choose three most essential things I have to do on that day. Due to the fact that I know what is significant, I do those tasks step by step, task by task. I always choose the most essential and the hardest thing first. After “eating those frogs”, I have a clear mind for remaining things. Prioritizing is not only about things and tasks which should be done. It is about our life as well. I am not sure who said it, but this sentence is in Greg McKeown’s book: “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone will do this”.
One more thing we should know. “Non-essentialism starts big and gets small goals. Essentialism starts small and gets big goals.”. What does it mean? It means that we should be focused on minimal value progress. I like the one example of a marathoner. To finish a marathon you must prepare your body slowly but surely. It takes a lot of time and even more self-denial. You start with short distances. Patiently, you go further everyday. In consequence, you are able to finish a marathon. Starting with long distances, two weeks before the start is simply foolish. Most likely you would not finish a run. Moreover, you would get an injury or you would even die.
By and large, we should take a pause before we say “yes” to anyone. Remember the question: “Is it essential?”. Prioritize your life, things, tasks etc., only then will you be the master of your life. Finally, remember that small steps matter, less means more.
To dig deeper into that issue I recommend Greg McKeown’s book “Essentialism”. It can be a life-changer for you.
