Read the entire book “Essentialism” online - Greg McKeon - MyBook. The “you can get anything you want” attitude

Published with permission from The Crown Publishing Group and Synopsis Literary Agency

Chapter 1. Essentialist

Wisdom is to remove everything that is unimportant from your life.

Graphic designer Tricia Morse adhered to her work simple rule: Do what you are asked to do. When people came to her with requests, she agreed without hesitation. She was pleased to hear the gratitude of her clients: “Thank you so much! You helped me so much!”

The trouble is that Trisha agreed to so many things at once that she soon began to get tired. Everything was getting out of control. Trisha worked around the clock to please every client, but her work only got worse and more errors occurred. After some time, both the customers and herself stopped liking her drawings.

Desperate to defend herself, Tricia began to say no. At first she lacked determination. When she received another order, she asked herself: “Will I be able to complete it in the specified time and with the available resources?” And if the answer was “no,” the offer had to be rejected. Trisha's clients were not happy about this, but they respected her for her honesty.

Every small victory added to Trisha's confidence. Now she evaluated orders using a more rigorous criterion: “Can I spend my time and resources on something better?”

And if the answer was “yes,” Trisha refused the task. At first it seemed to her that she shouldn’t indulge like that own desires, but gradually she created a free space for herself in which she was engaged in creativity. She no longer scattered herself between dozens of projects, but carefully planned each one, taking into account potential obstacles. The quality of her work has returned to its previous level.

Trisha began to follow this principle in everyday life. Instead of immediately reacting to any request, she gave herself time to think and decide whether she should agree. Trisha began to reject almost all offers and requests, leaving only those that were really important. And then she properly planned the chosen tasks, prepared for them and eliminated all obstacles on the way to their implementation.

Surprisingly, after some time, clients began to trust Trisha even more. She became calmer in communication, and people understood that her words could be trusted. If she took on something, she really brought it to the end and put all her strength into it. As a result new approach Trishi benefited both parties. Her work became more enjoyable, and her clients received better quality results.

Now let's talk about you. How often have you answered “yes” to someone’s request, personal or work, without even thinking about what they actually asked you to do? How often have you hated what you do and thought, “Why did I even sign up for this?” How often have you agreed with someone just to please them or avoid problems? Or has “yes” become your universal answer to any question?

Think about it, have you ever suffered from overwork? Have you ever felt like you were working too much and not being effective enough at the same time? Why do you pay too much attention to the little things? Have you been constantly but fruitlessly busy? Did you feel like you were running as fast as you could, but weren’t moving?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then your only choice is to become an essentialist.

The Essentialist Path

Dieter Rams worked for many years as a senior designer at Braun. All his activities were based on the principle that there are only a few truly important things in the world, and everything else is noise. His task was to cut through this noise to the very essence of things. For example, at the age of 24 he was given the task of designing a gramophone. At that time, it was customary to cover gramophones with heavy wooden covers or even have them built into furniture. Instead, Dieter and his team created a turntable with a clear plastic cover, removing what they thought was noise from the design. This decision was so revolutionary that the company's managers began to fear bankruptcy. It seemed to them that such gramophones simply would not be bought. It takes a lot of courage to give up what you don't need. But in the 60s, the minimalist style began to gain popularity, and soon all turntable manufacturers were copying Braun's design.

Dieter's main design principle can be summarized briefly German phrase: weniger aber besser (“less but better”). And this is the best thing of all possible definitions essentialism.

The Essentialist Path is a constant search for less but better. Discipline plays a decisive role. It is important not just to remember this principle sometimes, but to adhere to it in everything.

The Essentialist Path It’s not about promising yourself: “Starting January 1, I’ll start saying “no” more often,” and it’s not about finally emptying out your inbox, or even about finding a new one for yourself. time management strategy. An essentialist constantly asks himself the question: “Is this what I’m doing?” There are so many opportunities and things to do in the world that we don’t have enough time or resources for everything. And although many of them seem interesting to us, only a few are truly necessary. The Essentialist Path teaches us to see what is really important, that is, to consider everything existing options and choose only the most valuable ones.

Essentialism doesn't help you do more things, it teaches you how to choose the right activities. But at the same time, you don't do less just for the sake of doing less. Essentialism is the ability to wisely invest your time and energy in things that matter most to achieve maximum effectiveness.

The difference between an essentialist and a non-essentialist is shown in the table on the next page. Both people put in the same amount of effort. But on the left side of the table, these efforts are distributed among dozens of different tasks. This person is likely to progress very slowly in each of his endeavors and does not feel any satisfaction from his success. The person on the right side of the table spends energy on just a few tasks. As a result, he sees his progress in areas that are important to him, and this brings him joy. The Essentialist Path means giving up the belief that we can do everything. Instead, it requires us to look at things realistically and make tough decisions. But in many cases, one such decision will save you from thousands of choices in the future, which means you won’t have to ask yourself the same question over and over again.

An essentialist does not learn from his own mistakes, but carefully plans his life to avoid them. He does not make decisions instinctively, but consciously selects from dozens of tasks a few of the most important ones and strives to complete them. The Essentialist Path always straight and bright. In other words, essentialism is a disciplined and systematic approach to identifying the most effective points of effort. If you learn to do this correctly, then completing the tasks itself will be almost no difficulty.

“Essentialism - the path to simplicity” is a book that Valeria recommended to me, for which I thank her very much! I expressed my opinion in video format:

You can download the book by clicking on the button:

Description of the book

This book is for everyone who is bogged down in everyday worries and who does not have enough time for the most important things. The author of the book, writer and psychologist Greg McKeon, reminds: your time and energy are priceless, they should not be spent on those things and those people that are not really important to you. You and you alone must determine what is worth your limited resources. Essentialism is a new approach that will allow you to do less but do better - in all areas of your life. He explains very clearly how to focus on what is most important and get rid of all the unnecessary things that surround you and prevent you from focusing on your priorities.

Published in Russian for the first time.

And as always, Lifehacker has a cool summary of the book:

Imagine your life and career as a closet. Then the things that are stored there are a list of daily tasks and responsibilities. If you're like most people, you probably have a lot of unnecessary stuff in your closet. You will never wear this sweater, you left several pairs of old trousers for walks in the forest (do you really go mushroom hunting that often?), and you generally keep that hat out of sentimentality. Is it time to do some spring cleaning?

Throw out everything unnecessary from your closet and from your life. A few tips from Greg McKeon's book will help with this.

What kind of essentialism is this?

Essentialism (from Latin essentia - essence) is a constant search for less, but better.

The essentialist path teaches us to see what is truly important, that is, to consider all existing options and choose only the most valuable ones. And remember: sometimes what you don't do is just as important as what you do.

So, let's get down to business!

1. Never forget about freedom of choice

Have you ever thought that you don't like your job? Or maybe you are studying to become a lawyer for the third year, although you have long realized that law does not interest you?

Ask yourself the question: “Can I change something?” Answer: absolutely.

Remember, you always have the right to choose. Once you realize this, you can proceed to the next step.

2. Set clear goals

Approximately and approximately are far from the same thing as clear and precise. A vague company mission statement can harm your workflow more than you think. This causes disorientation in the team: no one knows what exactly they are doing and why. Employees spend too much energy on unimportant tasks, forgetting about the main thing.

The same thing happens to every person. Try to clearly articulate what you want to achieve in your career and personal life. This determines how you will act. Having realized your true desires and values, you will stop scattering yourself on what you absolutely do not need.

3. Be peditor of your life

The Italian sculptor Michelangelo Buonarotti said: “I take a stone and cut off everything unnecessary.” This is exactly what you should do with your life.

Another interesting comparison:

Imagine that your life is an article in a magazine, and you... editor-in-chief. Do you know what an editor will do with everything unnecessary, unimportant, meaningless, distracting? That's right - he'll cross it out.

You may have dozens of prospects, but you shouldn't grab every chance. Choose one - the one to which you are really ready to devote yourself. Going back to our closet, admit that you can get rid of 90% of the clutter without much damage.

4. Avoid Commitments

Have you ever played a game of chance and after spending a significant amount, you couldn't tell yourself to stop? It's about sunk costs. Most people find it difficult to give up something they have already invested money, energy and time into.

But is it worth persisting and making even more efforts if it is obvious that the project is futile? Of course not. Don’t fall into this trap, learn to give up your obligations in time.

Another pitfall is the endowment effect. When we are engaged in a project, we perceive it as our property, which means we value it much higher than it actually costs.

Always ask yourself: “If this task did not belong to me, what would I be willing to do to get it?”

This way you will see the true value of the business and can refuse it if the game is not worth the candle.

5. Say a decisive “no”

Have you ever had to answer “yes” to requests from colleagues, friends, or relatives, despite your wishes? If this has never happened to you, you are an exception. As a rule, we are afraid of offending someone, we are shy in front of our boss and try not to disappoint people. But this leads to the fact that we miss something more important: our own life.

We need to become courageous and learn to say no. If you were planning to devote your weekend to your family, you should not agree to your boss’s offer to work on Saturday. If you were planning to write the first chapter of your book, refuse to meet with your friends. You may feel a moment of awkwardness when you say no. But it's only a minute. You don’t want to waste an evening, a few days or even a year of your life solving other people’s problems?

6. Use the 90% rule

This rule must be applied in any choice situation. When evaluating an option, think about the most important criterion and give it a score from 0 to 100. If any of the options gets a score below 90, forget about it. This way you will rid yourself of doubts and immediately discard unnecessary alternatives with scores from 60 to 70. Choose not good opportunities, but excellent ones. How many items in your wardrobe would you rate 90 points or higher? It's time for the rest to go to the dump.

7. Find mfood for thought

There is a secret hideout at the Stanford School of Design called the Noir Booth. It's a tiny room with no windows or distractions, and the walls are lined with sound-absorbing material. Any student can come there to be alone and reflect.

Try to find a place like this where you can retire and think calmly. There you will fully concentrate on the problem, analyze all the alternatives, determine the most significant ones and make an important decision.

Essentialists prefer to do less today in order to accomplish much more tomorrow. Yes, this is a concession. But in total, these small concessions lead to huge success.

Essentialism is a system that teaches you how to bring order to your life. And this is not a spring cleaning once a year or once a week, but a disciplined approach that you apply every time you receive another offer.

10 priority tasks

Companies talk in words about the balance of work and rest, but in reality they require employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and so on all year round. At work meetings, 10 priority tasks are discussed, and not a single person sees the irony in these words.

The favorites fail

Surprisingly, it is the desire for success that can cause failure. In other words, your own successes distract your attention from the more important things that led you to them. The paradox of success can be seen everywhere.

Give up unnecessary things

Research shows that we value the things we own more than they are actually worth, which is why we have such a hard time getting rid of them. If you are not completely sure, ask yourself Security Question: “If I saw this item in a store, how much would I be willing to spend on it?”

Choose the best

We can apply an advanced search by asking ourselves three questions: “What do I like best?”, “What do I do best?” and “What is the greatest demand for?” Of course, now the search engine will give us much fewer results, but this is the point of the exercise.

Buffett's success

Warren realized that it was impossible to make hundreds of correct investment decisions, so he decided to invest only in the business in which he was confident, but to bet a lot on it. 90% of his wealth is invested in just 10 businesses. Sometimes what you don't do is as important as what you do.

Illustration from the book

Have you ever suffered from overwork? Did you realize that you were working too hard, but not efficiently enough? Do you find yourself busy all the time and to no avail? You run as fast as you can, but don’t move – do you know this feeling? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then your only choice is to become an essentialist.

Essentialism doesn't help you do more things, it teaches you how to choose the right activities, that is, prioritize your life. The author of the book, founder of a training company in Silicon Valley, Greg McKeon, works with representatives of global corporations and guides them on the path of essentialism.

The book consists of four sections. The first describes the main features of an essentialist. In the next three they develop into a systematic process that can be used in any situation at any time.

Key Characteristics of an Essentialist

Research, or "Having Choices"

When we forget about the ability to choose, we learn powerlessness and gradually become instruments of other people's choices. By giving up the right to choose, we give others not just power, but also permission to make choices for us.

The author admits that making a choice is difficult. Choice involves giving up something that we perceive as a loss. However, this ability lies at the very core of what it means to be an essentialist. By focusing on what is essential, you are always making a choice. That in itself is liberating.

Refusal of unnecessary things, or “Presence of noise”

We live in a world where almost all the things around us are just noise, and only a few have real meaning.

Dieter Rams, who worked for many years as a senior designer at Braun, was convinced that there were only a few truly important things in the world, and everything else was noise. He based his work precisely on this principle. One day he was given the task of developing a gramophone design. In the 60s, it was common to cover turntables with heavy wooden covers or even build them into furniture.

Dieter and his team made a truly revolutionary decision: they decided to clean up the design noise and created a gramophone with a transparent plastic cover. The company's managers feared that gramophones with such an unconventional design simply would not be bought. They were wrong: the minimalistic style soon became popular, with all turntable manufacturers imitating Braun's design. The ability to do away with unnecessary things is the main design principle of Braun. He largely explains the company's success.

An essentialist thinks that almost nothing is important. The non-essentialist is the opposite.

Many good opportunities are often worth far less than a few truly great ones.

You can spend a lot of time and effort to find these meaningful things.

Action, or "Possibility of Compromise"

The author was once working with a management team that needed help setting priorities. One manager insisted that there were 18 “highest priority” projects. The author suggested choosing five of them. She worked through the list with her team for a week and ended up cutting it down by just one item. By refusing to make concessions, she distributed enough time and resources to complete five projects over seventeen. “We can do it all” was her position. It is not surprising that she did not achieve the desired result.

Concession is what brings our two desires into conflict. More money or free time? Finish a letter or catch a meeting? Do something faster or better? We want to say yes to both things, but we can't, no matter how much we want to. Evaluating the available options and discarding some of them is a natural necessity, because no one is given the opportunity to achieve everything he strives for and get everything he wants.

One of the most important concessions is sleep. When the author was 21 years old, he thought of sleep as a necessary necessity. I always wanted to spend this time more productively. You may also be thinking like this:

I don't need eight hours of sleep. I can sleep four or five hours peacefully.

But sleeping less and doing more is the wrong logic. Essentialists systematically and consciously incorporate sleep into their schedule so they can achieve more. Sleep is necessary for the essentialist to increase the effectiveness of his actions: to do less today in order to accomplish much more tomorrow. It has been scientifically proven that during sleep, the brain diligently sorts and organizes information, after which new neural connections are formed in it. This feature allows a person to think “with a fresh mind,” achieving more in less time.

Why people reject essentialism

Great social pressure

External circumstances and other people put pressure on us no less than a wide range of choices. The need to process large amounts of information has closely connected us with each other and increased the power of social pressure. This applies not only to professional, but also to personal life. Trying to please everyone, a person is not able to bring any benefit.

The author recalls the day when his daughter was born: he wanted to fill this significant moment in his life with peace and happiness, but in the end he devoted it to talking on the phone with the office, communicating email and constantly worrying about being late for a meeting with a client. When the author was asked whether he would appear at the meeting, he confidently answered “yes” and went to work, while his wife and newborn daughter were in the hospital.

The expression on the client's face did not look like respect at all. It was clear in his gaze: what are you even doing here?!

It later turned out that nothing important was decided during that meeting. But even if it were significant, the author believes, he would still make a fool of himself. In trying to please everyone, he did not bring any benefit, but only harmed his own family, reputation and relationship with the client.

Striving for more success and lack of self-discipline can lead to professional death. We are often embarrassed to say “no” because only the answer “yes” is accepted as praise in society. But for what reason?

The “you can get anything you want” attitude

This idea is not new, but in our time it brings harm, not benefit. People are looking to fit extra activities into their already overcrowded schedules. Employees are forced to be on call 24 hours a day, while their bosses continue to talk about the balance of work and rest.

Managers suffer from this attitude no less than their subordinates. On round tables and meetings, they discuss many priority tasks, and in the end they cannot decide which one is the main one.

Too many choices

For the first time in human history, the number of choices available to us exceeded our ability to control them. It has become difficult for us to separate the important from the unimportant. “Decision fatigue” is what psychologists call this phenomenon.

The more often we have to make choices, the worse the quality of our decisions becomes. However, the ability to make choices should never be forgotten.

How to focus on what's important

There are several methods for identifying what is truly important and increasing your own productivity.

Alternate your habits

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey devotes every day to a specific topic. On Mondays he holds meetings, Tuesdays are devoted to product development, Wednesdays are devoted to marketing, development and communications, on Thursdays he communicates with partners and developers, and on Fridays he devotes himself to corporate culture.

This operating principle helps Dorsey stay calm amid the chaos that is inevitable in any fast-growing startup, and makes it easy for his colleagues and partners to adapt to it. Developing your own routine is not easy, but if you succeed, you, like Dorsey, will realize that it is an inexhaustible source of benefit and will be able to avoid being torn between several tasks.

Organize your free space

Free space is not given by default, it needs to be planned. Thus, Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, leaves two empty hours in his schedule every day. He divides them into 30-minute chunks, but doesn't plan anything during that time.

Jeff kept this habit from the days when he had so many meetings a day that he didn’t even have time to think about their results. At first, he perceived these two hours as an unnecessary luxury, but then he realized that they increased his productivity. These free two hours are an opportunity for Jeff to be in his personal space and reflect on important topics. How can you improve products and meet customer needs? How to reduce the gap from competitors? What will the company be like in three years?

Jeff, like a true essentialist, has created space for reflection and analysis, and this helps him avoid turning his work into a disorganized pursuit of the big score. In the same way, each of us can learn to adjust the surrounding space to suit ourselves.

Another role model is Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft. Since the 1980s, he has held a “week of reflection” once a year - devoting this time to solitude, reading articles and books, reflection and studying technology.

If you feel like a whole week of free time is too much, you can have a “mini week of reflection” every day.

Even if your day is scheduled minute by minute, learn to find time for yourself. It doesn’t matter if it’s two hours a day, two weeks a year, or five minutes in the morning.

Set boundaries and feel free

Your boss includes you on a committee to work on his favorite project, a colleague asks you to help prepare a report at a time when, for example, you are in a hurry to a meeting or waiting for an important call.

In the business world, people are constantly trying to use your water for their lawns. If someone is trying to water their lawn at your expense, the only way out is to build a fence.

You need to set boundaries not at the moment when you are asked for something, but much earlier. Remember, if people solve their own problems, it will benefit both you and them.

The author talks about a case when he and a colleague did not see eye to eye on any project, but in practice their business relationship turned out to be very harmonious. Why? At the first meeting, the author described his priorities to his colleague and explained which jobs he was willing to accept and which ones he would refuse. The colleague also expressed his wishes - thus, they both set their boundaries. Thanks to this, they did not waste time turning to each other with intrusive requests.

The most important

So, to live like an essentialist, you need to replace three deep-rooted falsehoods with three truths.

Instead of “I must”, “all this is important”, “I can do both”, you need to tell yourself “I choose”, “only a few things matter”, “I can do anything, but not everything”. This way you get rid of the nonsense of non-essentialism and replace it with the essence of essentialism.

Becoming an essentialist is a long process, but the benefits are endless.

Greg McKeon

Essentialism. The path to simplicity

Published with permission from The Crown Publishing Group and Synopsis Literary Agency

Legal support for the publishing house is provided by law firm"Vegas-Lex".

Wisdom is to remove everything that is unimportant from your life.

Lin Yutan

Graphic designer Tricia Morse had a simple rule in her work: do what you're asked to do. When people came to her with requests, she agreed without hesitation. She was pleased to hear the gratitude of her clients: “Thank you so much! You helped me so much!”

Every small victory added to Trisha's confidence. Now she evaluated orders using a more rigorous criterion: “Can I spend my time and resources on something better?”

And if the answer was “yes,” Trisha refused the task. At first it seemed to her that she couldn’t indulge her own desires like that, but gradually she created a free space for herself in which she was engaged in creativity. She no longer scattered herself between dozens of projects, but carefully planned each one, taking into account potential obstacles. The quality of her work has returned to its previous level.

Surprisingly, after some time, clients began to trust Trisha even more. She became calmer in communication, and people understood that her words could be trusted. If she took on something, she really brought it to the end and put all her strength into it. In the end, Tricia's new approach benefited both parties. Her work became more enjoyable, and her clients received better quality results.

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then your only choice is to become an essentialist.

The Essentialist Path