We can give up 90% of our hassle without sacrificing ourselves. Moreover, we must abandon them if we want to be happy and free.
Each of us has such a moment in life when too many things accumulate, and there is no energy for them anymore. And I want to say: “Enough! I'm over it!" Or is it really enough?
As a rule, we can give up 90% of our hassle without sacrificing ourselves. Moreover, we must abandon them if we want to be happy and free. This is exactly what the essentialists do (from the Latin essentia - essence). But how to separate the wheat from the chaff? Essentialism author Greg McKeon shares five methods to help you do this.
1. Space for thought
At the Stanford School of Design, there is a secret hideout called "booth noir." This is a tiny room that can fit no more than three people. There are no windows or any distracting objects in it, and the walls are upholstered with sound-absorbing material. People come here for the sole purpose of thinking. Here students get the opportunity to think clearly and focus on the problem of interest to them.
Such a place for solitude and reflection is necessary for every person. It will help you fully concentrate on the problem, deeply analyze all the alternatives and determine the most significant ones, make an important decision or complete the project. It is not for nothing that Isaac Newton, while working on the "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy," for two years almost did not communicate with anyone. It was voluntary loneliness and continuous concentration that allowed him to make a breakthrough in scientific thought.
2. Listen and take a closer look
Essentialists are good observers and listeners. Knowing that it is impossible to treat everything said with equal attention, they compromise, that is, they try to hear what the interlocutor is silent about. They read between the lines. You can describe this approach in the words of Hermione Granger from the saga about the wizard-boy Harry Potter: "I just think logically, and it allows me to drop unimportant details and clearly see what others do not notice."
Ordinary people also know how to listen, but they do it, preparing to answer something. They are distracted by information noise and pay too much attention to little things. They hear the loudest voice, but they get the facts they don't really need. Essentialists, on the other hand, know how to distinguish the most important thing from noise.
3. Permission to play
At the end of the classic Mary Poppins musical, Mr. Banks, usually unfriendly and sad, comes home and says that he was "fired, kicked out, thrown into the street." Nevertheless, he seems completely happy, so much so that the servants say: he is out of his mind, and even his son notices that he does not look like himself. Indeed, Mr. Banks seems like a completely different person.
For example, he fixes a kite broken by children and offers to fly it. Shaking off his dreadful work stress, Mr. Banks lets out his inner child. His good mood completely changes the whole atmosphere in the house, and the once melancholic Banks family becomes joyful and friendly. Of course, this story is just fiction, but it shows how important play is in our lives.
Let yourself play. According to the founder of the National Institute of Play, Stuart Brown, who has studied the "game stories" of 6,000 people, the game develops the plasticity of the brain, the ability to adapt and creativity. As Stewart says, "Nothing fires up the brain like play."
4. Restful sleep
The main asset that is available to us is ourselves. If we don’t invest enough in ourselves, that is, in our brain, our body and our spirit, we endanger the tool with which we can do the most benefit. The most common way people, especially ambitious and successful people, put this asset at risk is through lack of sleep.
For non-essentialists, sleep is just another burden of their crowded, busy, but always productive life. Essentialists, on the other hand, never deny themselves healthy, prolonged sleep. By protecting their assets, they fill life with energy and creativity. Marc Andreessen, one of the creators of Netscape says: “Seven hours of sleep - and I start to go dumb. Six is a dangerous level. Five is a big problem. Four turns me into a zombie. " On weekends, he sleeps for over 12 hours.
5. Strict selection: the 90% rule
This rule can be applied to any choice or dilemma. When evaluating an option, think about the most important criterion and rate it on a scale from 0 to 100. If a particular option gets a score below 90, drop it. This will help you avoid hesitation when choosing alternatives with scores ranging from 60 to 70. Consider how you would feel if you got a 65% score on a test.
So why can you consciously choose this level of option when making an important choice? The application of such a criterion forces one to sacrifice something; sometimes you have to give up a good opportunity and believe that a great opportunity is coming. Sometime it will be so, sometime not; the point is that this criterion forces you to choose the ideal options, rather than letting other people or the universe do it for you.
Surprisingly, in everyday life, all these things - space, observation, play, sleep and choice - can be regarded as something superfluous. At best, they are considered a pleasant addition to the main human activity, and at worst - manifestations of weakness and frivolity. But these are not distractions at all. On the contrary, only with their help can one understand what actually distracts us from the goal.
