Prioritizing with essentialism

- [Narrator] Blink number one. In order to avoid drowning in unnecessary work, you need to adopt the principle of essentialism. Our lives are so jam-packed with tasks and responsibilities that we struggle to identify which of them are the most important to us. That is our priorities. Even if we make a concerted effort to go through all our task and pick out the ones we should prioritize we still end up with too much on our hands. This overload of stuff massively hinders our productivity. Luckily however, we can get our priorities straight by adopting essentialism. Essentialism focuses on four main points. Do less but do it better. The cornerstone of essentialism is the never ending task of identifying the less-important things in your life to cut out. And doing what's left over to a higher standard. Reject the notion that we should accomplish everything and choose instead specific directions in which you can excel. Essentialism isn't about making tiny progress in many directions. Instead, choose a direction and make great strides in the things that matter most to you. Constantly question yourself and update your plans accordingly. The process of deciding what's worth doing and what should be let go is ongoing. The essentialist is always deciding whether what she is doing is actually worth her time or if she should invest her time and energy in a more productive area. Finally, once those few vital tasks have been distilled from the trivial many, the essentialist wastes no time in ensuring that the changes are put in place. While all that might seem easy, most of us are actually far from the mark. In the next few blinks you'll discover how far away most of us are from the essentialist approach.