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Essentialism

Greg McKeown

4/10
It was okay, reasonable ideas about protecting what you find essential in life and thinking hard about what that actually is, but just didn't find me at a time in my life where the ideas were new or resonated
  • Basically, think more carefully before saying yes. Is this actually needed/necessary to move in the direction I want to go? Am I spread to thin?
  • Am I investing in the right activities. How to get the right things done, not more things done
  • To much choice, to much peer pressure b/c internet
  • The idea that you can do it all
  • If you don't control your life others do
  • Fallacies, I have to, it's all important, I can do both
  • Vs essentialism, I choose to, only a few things really matter, I can do anything but not everything
  • Learned helplessness -> bad -> Either you give up or hyper fixate and try to do everything (both are a not choice thing)
  • Certain efforts are exponentially more impactful than others
  • Clear hierarchical priorities are important. Because inevitably you will be faced with a situation where you must choose which is more important
  • You need to create space for thinking, free of distraction (think my do not disturb hours for work)
  • Its nice/good to make some intentional time to just think
  • Play is good, help with exploration and improvisation and creativity
  • Protect sleep
  • 90% rule. You should only spend time on the top 10% of things. Give something a % score. < 90 == 0. Hell yes or No kind of vibe
  • Things should be close to exactly what you're aiming for
  • If I didn't already own this, what would i be willing to pay for it
  • Don't be afraid to say no, its not worth the social awkwardness and potential but non existent damage to the relationship. I'm flattered but I simply don't have the bandwidth right now
  • When saying no at work, remind boss what you would have to drop and let them grapple with the trade off
  • I cannot x but I'm willing to y. I cannot drive you but I'm willing to lend you my car
  • Owning an object makes you value it more. Also applies to actions/activities
  • 0 based budgeting. Budget starts at 0. Priorities context over history
  • Reverse pilot, does removal of X actually have unintended consequences. Try it and see
  • Find your own hidden boundarys and make them explicit and written
  • Build in buffers / prep early
  • Always add 50% to all time estimates
  • Loom to improve on the things that are the biggest bottle necks
  • Interesting idea. Make a token system for children. Get tokens ever week, can trade in for screen time or money. Or can do better activities like learning or reading for token
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