Essentialism: less is more
Essentialism isn't just another productivity tool; it's a mindset shift.
I gave up doing more. Instead, I decided to do solely what I wanted to do. Sounds like a car crash, I know.
In last week's post, where I explained my burnout experience, I mentioned essentialism on a couple of occasions. Today, I want to unpack this topic and give you action for this week — based on what I did — not because I am big-headed, but because essentialising seemed to make a difference.
I wish I could tell you by now that I solved the whole 'burnout puzzle' and life's good. Not at all. Life is good, but the burnout still lingers.
I dropped hints here and there last week that I dropped several big projects and commitments to free up time to do — well— what I want to do, for example, reading.
To me, that is what’s at the core of Essentialism. Focus on what is essential and politely ditch what isn’t. (Without becoming an ass about it).
I first heard about Essentialism in Greg McKeown’s Skillshare class; by then, I had a sense of what it was because I kept coming across his book on Amazon. Their algorithm kindly kept driving it my way, and I resisted until I watched his class, which I liked, so I thought to myself — to heck with this, I’ll buy it.
Soon enough, it became absolute gold in terms of getting some ideas to ponder and actionable tips I was eager to apply. Right now, I am up for experimenting with ANYTHING with even the slightest promise that it might make me feel better than yesterday.
![pomegranate pomegranate](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febc9b6a5-99d5-456d-b548-77d51ccd4dd5_4452x3339.jpeg)
What essentialism is that is pretty much self-explanatory, but it has a key principle:
The key point to remember about essentialism: It's not just about doing more things in less time; it's about doing the right things, and doing them well.
What is Essentialism?
Essentialism is about cutting out the noise and focusing on what matters. It means doing less but doing it better.
It could resemble cutting through the skin of a pomegranate to get to the mouthwatering seeds.
Skin, calyx, albedo, and membrane represent the choices, demands, information, and commitments you get bombarded by daily.
If you’re not careful enough, you can get sidetracked from the true delicatessen, which is what you enjoy and why you’re getting through the flux and mess in the first place.
Initially, there are only three core coffee beans you need to apply to make essentialism your daily coffee fix:
Three core coffee beans of essentialism
Less But Better: Essentialism means doing things that really matter and make you happy instead of trying to do as many tasks as possible.
It sounds logical, almost common sense, yet entirely unrealistic. This is why, for most of us, the alarms blare. Excellent idea, Greg, but I cannot just skip on all of my commitments, demands and responsibilities. What’s essential for me right now is to build my Substack to the point where I consider it a successful publication. That requires a lot of time and effort, but I consider it essential right now. Yet, I must keep paying my bills, so I stick with the day job and do other boring things like chores.
Don’t let this first bean trip you up. Here’s what McKeown means:
Whenever you say yes to something less important, you take time and attention away from those vital few items. McKeown suggests asking this question: What is something essential in your life that you're under-investing in?
From my example - I spent a number of months committed to long-term training in management because it was related to my current job, and it made sense to upgrade my skills. It required a lot of time and effort, even outside of my work. So eventually, it was eating away from my personal time, which meant less time to work on my project. Ultimately, it postpones my ability to progress, get a more extensive readership, and improve my writing.
If my ultimate goal is to become a skilled writer of publications and newsletters, why should I spend time upgrading skills in my current job that I don't intend to pursue long-term?
This brings me to the second bean — choices.
Choice: Recognize that you have a choice in almost everything you do. This means you can say no to things that aren't really necessary and say yes to those that align with what you really care about and want to achieve.
This is the tough part. And it is the part that trips most of us up, especially if you have people-pleasing tendencies. Or if you are a naturally caring, supportive and optimistic person. Saying yes for the awkwardness and discomfort of saying no.
Here’s where McKeown suggests a number of practical answers you can give instead of saying YES to EVERYTHING!
You can say, "Look, let me check my calendar, and I'll get back to you.
This will buy you some time to, for the most part, peddle out of this new commitment, trying to entrap you.
As your colleague Bill thinks you’re checking your calendar, you instead strategically review your essential list and decide whether this is part of the essential or nonessential pile.
For that, McKeown suggests using what he calls The 90% rule.
This idea suggests that you should see your life as a ladder where things are organised from small to big. As you go up the ladder, things become more significant. You will find the super important things when you reach the top of the ladder, which is at 90 per cent or above.
He suggests that before you give your definite answer to Bill, you consider the task/project/initiative and check the following:
On a scale of 1 to 100, how important is this to me? How excited am I about this? I'm really enthusiastic, or am I just okay about it?
By halting and assessing the task, you start to sense the difference between this 90 per cent and above, the clear yeses and everything else.
Trade-offs: Understand that every choice has a trade-off. By saying no to something, you're making room to say yes to something else that's more important.
This is nothing new; we are all traders all day long.
The key is to make as many GOOD trade-offs as possible. You can only do so by becoming more deliberate and more intentional and taking accountability for having a choice, for the most part.
Having a choice or no choice does not mean that you will ditch the commitments or demands you don’t feel like doing. Most of us would ditch the job. But there are bills to pay and life to live, so it’s unrealistic. The idea of having a choice means creating a room to negotiate.
Here’s how I claimed my choice recently.
So, I’ve been enrolled on the coaching degree since January last year; after some experiences of burnout, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, I could not gather enough attention and focus for my studies. I also knew I did not want to quit the training.
The time-out was seriously needed. So, I took the opportunity to negotiate and get myself some time out. My course provider allowed a one-month break in study.
The month may seem like a short time, but it allowed me to conclude the stressful process I’ve been experiencing at work and renavigate my future steps. It also allowed me to take a break from coaching, which allows me to take it into perspective, miss it and enjoy it more when I restart at the end of March.
How to implement essentialism
Identify What's Essential: Ask yourself, "What is the most important thing I should be doing right now?" Get clear on your 10%.
Eliminate the Non-Essential: The hardest part. Say NO to 90% of the tasks, activities, etc.
Create a Routine: Develop routines that will be easy to stick to!
Pause and Reflect: Regular check-ins and review of the top 10%.
Essentialism isn't just another productivity tool; it's a mindset shift. And I think and feel I am ready to make that shift.
It requires a disciplined approach to make tough choices about where to spend your time and energy based on the three core beans of essentialism I provided.
One would argue it always comes down to those tough choices.
But ultimately, it comes down to doing more of GOOD trader-offs.
That leaves us with one question only — what’s essential for you this week?
Until next week,
Jana
Really nice read. I wrote on a similar topic recently about the power of saying no. We are generally wired to say yes to so many things that we get overwhelmed and burned out. I love the filter you put this through. It's great to have a system or criteria for what tasks or projects you really need to focus on and then let the rest go.