Essentialism

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077875-essentialism

The book in 3 sentences:

This book is minimalism, but not for belongings, its for the brain.
This book eliminates decision paralysis and clears the mind for optimum functionality.
It is extremely easy to be very productive with a clean desk, this book helps you achieve the mental equivalent of that ‘clean desk’ so you can function with utmost productivity, and not have to worry about stuff that are trivial/wont affect you much.

Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; its about how to get the right things done.

The best asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves.

It is the organized, systemic approach for determining what is absolutely essential and then eliminating what is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution to the things that actually matter.
The way of the essentialist is relentless pursuit of less but better. “Am I investing in the right activities?”
The essentialist understands that there is no way to fit it all in, we need to make sacrifices and trade-offs.
Living by design, not by default. Being in control of our own choices is the path.

Having a clarity of purpose enables us to succeed in our endeavour.
We are presented with increased options and opportunities when we succeed. We are seen as the “go-to” person.
Having many options and opportunities translates into something that demands our time and energy and leads to diffused efforts.
This then becomes the reason why we don’t succeed. These things will distract us from our highest level of contribution.

Is to conquer the beliefs that you can do everything.
Is to replace the beliefs with fact that only a few things really matter, I can do anything but I will consciously choose not to do everything.

This is a singular word, it has no plural. At least, it didn’t until very recently.
If we don’t choose where to put our focus, energy and time into, other people will choose it for us, and we will lose sight of everything that is meaningful and important.

Individual choice: We can choose how to spend our energy and time.
The prevalence of noise: Almost everything is noise, and only very few things are actually valuable.
The reality of trade-offs: We cannot possibly have it all, or do it all. We can only do a few things.

When assessing an option, think about the one most important criterion for that decision, and then give that option a score between 0-100.
If the rating is lower than 90, then change it to 0 and reject the option entirely.
“If it isn’t a clear yes, then it is a clear no.”

First write down the opportunity.
Write a list of 3 minimum criteria the options would need to pass in order to be considered.
Write down a list of 3 ideal or ‘extreme’ criteria the option has to pass in order to be considered.
If the option doesn’t pass the first set of criteria entirely, then it is an immediate no.
If the option passes that first set, and then doesn’t pass a minimum of 2 criteria in the extreme set, then it is still a no.
If the option passes the first set and then passes 2/3 criteria of the second set, then it is a hard yes.