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BE AWARE OF THE STATUS QUO BIAS The tendency to continue doing something simply because we have always done it is sometimes called the “status quo bias.”
In a reverse pilot you test whether removing an initiative or activity will have any negative consequences.
a good editor is someone who uses deliberate subtraction to actually add life to the ideas, setting, plot, and characters.
Likewise, in life, disciplined editing can help add to your level of contribution. It increases your ability to focus on and give energy to the things that really matter. It lends the most meaningful relationships and activities more space to blossom.
Since ultimately, having fewer options actually makes a decision “easier on the eye and the brain,” we must summon the discipline to get rid of options or activities that may be good, or even really good, but that get in the way.
condensing allows us to do more with less.
condensing doesn’t mean doing more at once, it simply means less waste.
eliminate multiple meaningless activities and replace them with one very meaningful activity.
Having a clear overarching intent, as discussed in chapter 10, enables us to check ourselves—to regularly compare our activities or behaviors to our real intent. If they are incorrect, we can edit them.
Becoming an editor in our lives also includes knowing when to show restraint. One way we can do this is by editing our tendency to step in.
Editing our time and activities continuously allows us to make more minor but deliberate adjustments along the way.
when we don’t set clear boundaries in our lives we can end up imprisoned by the limits others have set for us. When we have clear boundaries, on the other hand, we are free to select from the whole area—or the whole range of options—that we have deliberately chosen to explore.
ADD 50 PERCENT TO YOUR TIME ESTIMATE
“planning fallacy.”6 This term, coined by Daniel Kahneman in 1979, refers to people’s tendency to underestimate how long a task will take, even when they have actually done the task before
add a 50 percent buffer to the amount of time we estimate it will take to complete a task or project
Essentialists accept the reality that we can never fully anticipate or prepare for every scenario or eventuality; the future is simply too unpredictable. Instead, they build in buffers to reduce the friction caused by the unexpected.
TO ATTAIN KNOWLEDGE ADD THINGS EVERY DAY. TO ATTAIN WISDOM SUBTRACT THINGS EVERY DAY. —Lao-tzu
What is the obstacle that is keeping you back from achieving what really matters to you? By systematically identifying and removing this “constraint” you’ll be able to significantly reduce the friction keeping you from executing what is essential.
An Essentialist produces more —brings forth more—by removing more instead of doing more.
“What is the obstacle that, if removed, would make the majority of other obstacles disappear?”
Essentialist starts small and celebrates progress.
of all forms of human motivation the most effective one is progress. Why? Because a small, concrete win creates momentum and affirms our faith in our further success.
Instead of starting big and then flaring out with nothing to show for it other than time and energy wasted, to really get essential things done we need to start small and build momentum.
There is something powerful about visibly seeing progress toward a goal.
When we start small and reward progress, we end up achieving more than when we set big, lofty, and often impossible goals.
The Essentialist designs a routine that makes achieving what you have identified as essential the default position.
There is another cognitive advantage to routine as well. Once the mental work shifts to the basal ganglia, mental space is freed up to concentrate on something new.
nearly 40 percent of our choices are deeply unconscious.7 We don’t think about them in the usual sense.
if we want to change our routine, we don’t really need to change the behavior. Rather, we need to find the cue that is triggering the nonessential activity or behavior and find a way to associate that same cue with something that is essential.
develop a routine of doing your hardest task in the day first thing in the morning.
to operate at your highest level of contribution requires that you deliberately tune in to what is important in the here and now.
Nonessentialists tend to be so preoccupied with past successes and failures, as well as future challenges and opportunities, that they miss the present moment.
Multitasking itself is not the enemy of Essentialism; pretending we can “multifocus” is.
“the pause that refreshes.” This technique is easy. He stops for just a moment. He closes his eyes. He breathes in and out once: deeply and slowly. As he exhales, he lets the work issues fall away.
Lao Tzu: “In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.”
THE BARRENNESS OF A BUSY LIFE. —Socrates
is easy to get caught up in the “paradox of success” we discussed in chapter 1. We have clarity of purpose, which leads us to success. But with our success we get new options and opportunities. This sounds like a good thing, but remember, these options unintentionally distract us, tempt us, lure us away. Our clarity becomes clouded, and soon we find ourselves spread too thin. Now, instead of being utilized at our highest level of contribution, we make only a millimeter of progress in a million directions. Ultimately, our success becomes a catalyst for our failure.
The unintended consequence is that Nonessentialist managers try to have their teams pursue too many things—and try to do too many things themselves as well—and the team plateaus in its progress. An Essentialist leader makes a different choice. With clarity of purpose, she is able to apply “less but better” to everything from talent selection, to direction, to roles, to communication, to accountability. As a result her team becomes unified and breaks through to the next level.
