Not Everything Is Important
“ Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.
Many capable people are kept from getting to the next level of contribution because they can’t let go of the belief that everything is important. But an Essentialist has learned to tell the difference between what is truly important and everything else. “
Focus on what is important. That may be a simple concept, and yet it’s so hard to do, especially in today’s age when technology allows us to do so much more in presumably less time.
Suppose your email was shut off for a week. What will you do? How are you going to get things done? I would argue that (once you stop freaking out and thinking that you can’t do your job) you will be forced to only talk to the people you really need to talk to (and perhaps call them up or stop by their office). This will free up more of your time and mental focus, and you will work on what really needs to get done. You may well have the most effective week in a while.
How do you spend your ‘free time’? How do you decide what to do on a Wednesday evening after work with all the available options? You could go to the gym, or to happy hour, or call your mom, or go home and watch Netflix or google random stuff. When we have so many options, it’s easy to get distracted and do what seems most appealing (or what requires the least amount of effort). Which may be fine sometimes — spontaneity is important. But it becomes a problem when we develop the habit of not thinking, of not being intentional with our time, effort and energy, and missing the forest from all the shiny trees.
The concept of ‘essentialism’ is not about improving efficiencies or maximizing our time in a given day or week. It’s about stepping back to think about what’s essential and create time and space to focus on that. Frequently, what is essential requires more time and/or effort than what is not. It may be catching up with your best friends. Or getting back into a solid exercise routine. Or investing in your personal growth. So we tell ourselves we can’t do it now because we are ‘too busy’ or ‘too much is going on.’ Maybe over the summer when things let up. Maybe next year when this big project is over. Meaning maybe never.
Stop inventing excuses, take responsibility and control of your life, and live it in accordance with your values and goals. Don’t get sucked into the rabbit hole of doing things for the sake of being in motion and feeling important. My challenge to you is, instead of asking yourself “what else am I going to do if I could carve out a little extra time?” (or not even thinking about anything because you are ‘too busy’) ask yourself “what’s the ONE thing that’s really important to me?” And then do THAT, not as an add-on, but by eliminating things that don’t add value. You really can. And you really should. You owe it to yourself.
P.S. I recommend reading Greg McKeown’s “ Essentialism: the Disciplined Pursuit of Less “ — it’s an essential book worth reading. You can probably find it in your local library.
Zarko Palankov seeks ways to connect ideas, people and organizations, to create platforms for learning, collaboration and growth, and to fundamentally change the leadership paradigm: how we work together toward a common vision. He is building a social venture, LeadIN, whose mission is to grow the individual and collective leadership of people and organizations. Feel free to contact Zarko at zarko@lead-in.co or follow LeadIN on Twitter @leadincommunity.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on May 14, 2018.
