Less, but better.

Less, But Better | Essentialism

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Less, But Better | What's this book about?

The main theme of Less, But Better is to introduce the concept of Essentialism, which is the wisest investment of time and energy, making the greatest possible contribution by doing only what is necessary.

The concept of Essentialism can be simplified to mean that we must choose which activities to engage in because too many choices waste time, energy, and resources. Non-Essentialists ask "How can I do both?" for each choice, while Essentialists only ask "Which one do I want? while the Essentialist asks "Which one do I want?". The truth is, say "yes" to any opportunity. In fact, saying yes to any opportunity means saying no to other opportunities, and many people don't choose because it's hard to choose, but the Essentialist knows that when we give up the right to choose, we're actually choosing to let someone else decide for us. So Essentialist defines goals and roles, dares to say no to the unnecessary, avoids wasting time and energy, focuses on his or her passions, talents, and solutions to the world's most important needs, and avoids activities that don't fit the goals.

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Essentialism | What to do?

The actual implementation of Essentialism can be roughly divided into 3 steps:

1. Passion and Talent for Exploration

The first thing to do is to determine what is most important to you. Only by setting goals can you prioritize.

2. Choice: Eliminate redundant goals and activities

It's not enough to decide which things you can't contribute the most, you need to actively minimize these activities. Regularly reflect on your daily life to ensure that you are focusing on the things that contribute the most and are performing at your best.

3. Implementation: Remove barriers and create systems that are easy to implement.

Time spent eliminating non-essential activities is invested in designing a system that makes implementation virtually effortless. This includes establishing processes, designing environments that help focus, and reducing the amount of effort required to make decisions.

Step 1 | Explore Passion and Talent

Which of the things we do is most effective varies from person to person. It depends on what I'm passionate about, what will unlock my talents, and what will fulfill a critical need in the world. So the first step is to explore what really matters to you.

Knowing yourself is easy to say, but not many people actually do it completely. Many people don't realize the importance of this step. If you ask anyone to ask you what your most important goal in life is, there are many people who give the same answer as others without really trying. As a result, it is easy for people to fall into the trap of working for "what others want".

So what, specifically, is the quest to do? Here are a few key points.

1. Create space for reflection: We need time and space to explore, to listen to ourselves, to debate with ourselves, to think.

2. Take time to understand yourself: To understand what is really important to you, you have to be like a reporter who investigates and digs to see the truth. The easiest way to do this is to keep a diary, recording what makes you happy and what makes you unhappy and why, and then reading the diary regularly at regular intervals to get a clear sense of what is really important to you. Going back and reading it regularly is very important here.

3. Find the clues from your childhood: If you can't figure out where your passions lie, start by remembering your childhood. When you were a child, or even younger, what were the things and games that made you forget everything? What was your favorite part?

Step 2 | Select: Eliminate Redundant Goals and Activities

For the essentialist, once you know enough about your passions and talents, once your mind is clear, the choices will be quite easy. When a new opportunity or a new thing comes up, the big decision must be made when the brain is clear, so it is important to get enough deep sleep.

As for the principle of choice, if the answer is not yes, then it should be no. In our modern society, it's easy to get caught up in trivial tasks and lose sight of what's really important. By learning how to clarify goals and roles, plan our lives and set clear limits, we can simplify our lives and focus on what really matters.

Clarification of objectives and roles

Lack of clarity can lead to wasting time and energy on unimportant tasks. For example.

  • Some people start learning a skill, either out of interest or because it is required for their job. However, in the course of learning, they begin to focus primarily on obtaining certificates and earning recognitions. Even if they are able to apply the skill independently, they seek higher levels and invest more time and money in the certification exam. This may not be very meaningful to them because they have already mastered the practical application of the skill.
  • Some people start using a variety of different tools and apps in order to increase their efficiency and productivity. However, the sheer number of these tools and applications starts to confuse them, leading to distractions and reduced efficiency. They may spend too much time understanding and learning about these new tools and less time focusing on what they were already doing.
  • A person may start out just wanting to get healthier or lose weight, so he starts a program of exercise and diet control, doing light workouts and also watching his eating habits. Over time, this person begins to compare himself to his friends at the gym and the quest for the perfect body becomes his ultimate goal. He began to train like crazy, and his dietary restrictions became too strict, leaving him in a state of physical and mental overload. This excessive pursuit of perfection not only increased his stress, but also began to affect his health.

For everything in life, we need a clear understanding of purpose and underlying intent. Goals should be inspiring, specific, meaningful and measurable. For example, if your goal is to lose weight for good health, then you could set a specific goal of losing 1 kilogram per week and evaluate your progress regularly.

Planning based on clear objectives

Life can be "edited" through deliberate subtraction, a way of simplifying life and focusing on what really matters. Editing involves eliminating useless choices, streamlining activities to increase efficiency, and engaging in regular review and self-examination based on clear overarching goals and intentions. Being mindful of the need not to make huge changes to our lives all at once, and pursuing change less often can increase the chances of success. We can wait, watch and see how things unfold, and little by little, we can go back and review and change the status quo.

There are two difficult points in the planning process:

  • Avoid falling into the trap of the sunk cost bias. Sunk costs are the bias to continue investing in a failed project even after investing time, money or effort. It's important to avoid the sunk cost bias and to admit failure in order to start succeeding. To find out if something is a sunk cost for us, ask yourself if you would be willing to start doing it now if you hadn't already started doing it or developed the habit. This will help us realize our bias against the status quo.
  • Learn to set limits and avoid having your main goals influenced by others and sudden requests. This can be achieved through courageous expression, the development of a social contract, clear limits, and the delineation of no-go areas.

Learn to say no gracefully

Saying no is a leadership skill, and it's important to know how to say no gracefully. We all need to learn how to say "no" gracefully in order to remove existing sunk costs and set limits. Here are some tips that can be applied in life and at work.

  • Using awkward pauses
  • Use the "No, but..." sentence pattern. For example: "No, I can't do it now, but I can help you XXX ...."
  • "Let me check my calendar and get back to you."
  • Use the email auto-reply to say "I'm in focus mode".
  • Say to your boss, "Okay! Which thing should I lower my priority".
  • Use "You're welcome to do X, I'm willing to do Y" to elegantly say "I won't do Z". For example, "You're welcome to borrow my car. I'll make sure the keys are here." It means, "I won't drive you."
  • Referring the request to someone else: "I can't do it, but X might be interested"

Step 3 | Implementation: Remove barriers and create systems that are easy to implement.

With precise goals and values in mind, it is then a matter of practicing them; Essentialist believes that every minute of time and every bit of energy is precious, and that spending it only on the important things is the highest guiding principle. In our daily lives, we must focus on "how to save time and energy" and "how to effectively utilize the time we save".

The first key is to focus and save your brain. Focus on the task at hand and don't let the future distract you. Establishing good habits can save valuable brain power and relieve your mental burden, making you more productive. In this regard, I recommend reading Why Do We Live and Work the Way We Do? The book is very thorough and the link is at the end of this article.

The second key is to look for ways to save time. Reviewing your daily activities and removing the obstacles and meaningless activities that slow down your progress is the most effective way to increase your efficiency.

The third key is to use the time you save wisely. Use that time to think big, invest in thinking about goals and eliminating the unnecessary, designing a system that makes it easier to do everything. By sandboxing and pre-planning scenarios in advance, you can reduce the stress and resistance to unforeseen circumstances.

When we have extra time, we can use it to do other things that we want to do, that are good for our body and mind, and that give us more satisfaction. After all, productivity is not just about living a more efficient life, it's about living a happier and more meaningful life.

Extended Reading

Fewer, But Better.

TheWhy do we live and work like this?The

Atomic Habits


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