Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

They care only about their own agendas, and if we let them they prevent us from making our highest level of contribution by siphoning our time and energy off to activities that are essential to them, rather than those that are essential to us.

(imagine how much less stressful sitting in traffic would feel if we weren’t running late),

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? – T. S. Eliot

four simple principles inherent in editing do apply to editing the non-essentials out of our lives.

The best journalists, as Friedman shared later with me, listen for what others do not hear.

“If I didn’t already own this, how much would I spend to buy it?”

instead of being utilised at our highest level of contribution, we make only a millimetre of progress in a million directions.

the deeper I have looked at the subject of Essentialism the more clearly I have seen courage as key to the process of elimination.

They say yes automatically, without thinking, often in pursuit of the rush one gets from having pleased someone.