Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

by Greg McKeown

sprawling, undisciplined debate. I was there to observe and coach the team, and after fifteen minutes of this I had to ask the team to stop. “What question are you trying to answer?” I asked them. Everyone paused awkwardly. Nobody had a response. Then someone made a comment about something else, and again the group went off on a tangent.

goals they were trying to accomplish and what decisions really needed to be made to accomplish them. They stopped the side conversations. They waded through all the ideas and opinions that had been haphazardly thrown out, listening for the hidden themes and big ideas that connected them. Then, finally, they moved from a state of motion sickness to momentum. They settled on a plan of action, made the necessary decisions, and divided up responsibilities.

PLAY Embrace the Wisdom of Your Inner Child A LITTLE NONSENSE NOW AND THEN, IS CHERISHED BY THE WISEST MEN. – Roald Dahl

“Play,” he says, “leads to brain plasticity, adaptability, and creativity.” As he succinctly puts it, “Nothing fires up the brain like play.”3

“One thing is certain, during play, animals are especially prone to behave in flexible and creative ways.”

We are built to play and built through play. When we play, we are engaged in the purest expression of our humanity, the truest expression of our individuality. Is it any wonder that often the times we feel most alive, those that make up our best memories, are moments of play? Play expands our minds in ways that allow us to explore: to germinate new ideas or see old ideas in a new light. It makes us more inquisitive, more attuned to novelty, more engaged. Play is fundamental to living the way of the Essentialist because it fuels exploration in at least three specific ways. First, play broadens the range of options available to us. It helps us to see possibilities we otherwise wouldn’t have seen and make connections we would otherwise not have made. It opens our minds and broadens our perspective. It helps us challenge old assumptions and makes us more receptive to untested ideas. It gives us permission to expand our own stream of consciousness and come up with new stories.

Albert Einstein once said: “When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.”6

play is an antidote to stress, and this is key because stress, in addition to being an enemy of productivity, can actually shut down the creative, in...

stress increases the activity in the part of the brain that monitors emotions (the amygdala), while reducing the activity in the part responsible for cognitive function (the hippocampus)7 – the result being, simply, that we really can’t think clearly.

play has a positive effect on the executive function of the brain. “The brain’s executive functions,” he writes, “include planning, prioritizing, scheduling, anticipating, delegating, deciding, analyzing – in short, most of the skills any executive must master in order to excel in business.”

Play stimulates the parts of the brain involved in both careful, logical reasoning and carefree, unbound exploration.

Play doesn’t just help us to explore what is essential. It is essential

SLEEP Protect the Asset EACH NIGHT, WHEN I GO TO SLEEP, I DIE. AND THE NEXT MORNING, WHEN I WAKE UP, I AM REBORN. – Mahatma Gandhi

We need to pace ourselves, nurture ourselves, and give ourselves fuel to explore, thrive, and perform.

sleep is what allows us to operate at our highest level of contribution so that we can achieve more, in less time.