Yesterday I listened to the audiobook Essentialism by Greg McKeown.
I think I'm generally pretty good at prioritizing and time management in my own life, so while I had heard high praises of the book, I didn't think I would get much out of it.
I was wrong. A thread >>
I think I'm generally pretty good at prioritizing and time management in my own life, so while I had heard high praises of the book, I didn't think I would get much out of it.
I was wrong. A thread >>
2) What is the premise?
-ppl are spread too thin doing too many things
-how to say no and prioritize
-how to keep your boundaries
-how ppl underestimate how long things will take
-how to lead teams to have an essential mindset
etc...
-ppl are spread too thin doing too many things
-how to say no and prioritize
-how to keep your boundaries
-how ppl underestimate how long things will take
-how to lead teams to have an essential mindset
etc...
3) Many of the root causes of taking on too many things are social.
We don't enjoy saying no to ppl. We generally want to help if can. It's easy to say yes to requests in the moment and underestimate the required work, and then get overwhelmed with the work later.
We don't enjoy saying no to ppl. We generally want to help if can. It's easy to say yes to requests in the moment and underestimate the required work, and then get overwhelmed with the work later.
4) Part of the underestimation of time is that things always take longer than we think and buffer time is needed.
E.g. there's traffic. There's a snafu. You need to wait for something from someone else. There's scope creep in the project.
E.g. there's traffic. There's a snafu. You need to wait for something from someone else. There's scope creep in the project.
5) Some real life examples:
-doing a 1 hr podcast or conf talk takes 2 hours because of prep time, mic checks, approvals
-writing a rec for 30 under 30 or Up & Coming VCs may take 30 min for the actual writing. But it takes 1-2 hrs for editing & getting info from the candidate
-doing a 1 hr podcast or conf talk takes 2 hours because of prep time, mic checks, approvals
-writing a rec for 30 under 30 or Up & Coming VCs may take 30 min for the actual writing. But it takes 1-2 hrs for editing & getting info from the candidate
6) And if you think about it, none of these things either on the recommender side or the recipient side actually further their goals.
Both are vanity metrics and don't move the needle on building a repeatable lead gen channel for a successful biz or firm
Both are vanity metrics and don't move the needle on building a repeatable lead gen channel for a successful biz or firm
7) As someone who in the past has written TONs of recommendation letters for these types of accolades + more, it really made me think.
Was it essential for anyone I wrote these letters for? In listening to the audiobook, it was a clear no.
Was it essential for anyone I wrote these letters for? In listening to the audiobook, it was a clear no.
8) As an aside, this is not a knock on everyone who has asked me to write them a recommendation letter for these sorts of things! Nor a knock on those contests.
It just got me really thinking deeply about what is essential. Not just for me but for all the ppl I work with.
It just got me really thinking deeply about what is essential. Not just for me but for all the ppl I work with.
9) The book also talks about how often ppl end up doing non-essential things because the goal itself is unclear.
He analyzed a variety of mission statements of companies, and it made me realize our own mission statement @HustleFundVC is unclear.
He analyzed a variety of mission statements of companies, and it made me realize our own mission statement @HustleFundVC is unclear.
10) Most mission statements he claims are too pie in the sky.
A good mission statement should still be inspirational but also clear whether you are making progress.
A good mission statement should still be inspirational but also clear whether you are making progress.
11) An ex he gave was Brad Pitt's foundation Make It Right: their mission is to "rebuild 150 safe, energy-efficient & affordable homes" for an area in NOLA for families who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina.
They are at 90 homes right now. It's clear where they stand.
They are at 90 homes right now. It's clear where they stand.
12) Other ideas I came up w that combine inspiration w concreteness:
-teach 10m new angel investors in the next decade
-showcase 100m new dancers in the next 30 years
-donate $1b to ppl in the US living under the poverty line
This is what mission statements should sound like.
-teach 10m new angel investors in the next decade
-showcase 100m new dancers in the next 30 years
-donate $1b to ppl in the US living under the poverty line
This is what mission statements should sound like.
13) Once you know what the concrete overarching goal is then it's easier to work backwards and decide which activities actually move the needle on that goal.
Does speaking at that conference help build 150 homes in NOLA?
Does speaking at that conference help build 150 homes in NOLA?
14) He also had an interesting framing around picking activities to do. Often we think that everything we are doing currently is top priority.
But a good way to re-evaluate is to think if you had to pick new activities today, would you pick the current list that you have?
But a good way to re-evaluate is to think if you had to pick new activities today, would you pick the current list that you have?
15) This removes sunk-cost fallacies. Often we want to continue doing what we've been doing because we've spent a lot of effort / time / money.
But continuing to do something requires more effort / time / money, and where is the best use of resources now knowing what we know?
But continuing to do something requires more effort / time / money, and where is the best use of resources now knowing what we know?
16) It's ok to experiment with a lot of things, but once you have information on where to spend effort / time / money, cutting things is really important.
Cut to the point where each person on a team should just be doing 1 thing at a given time. And that's it.
Cut to the point where each person on a team should just be doing 1 thing at a given time. And that's it.
17) Lastly, ppl love to fill their time to stay busy. But there's value to having free time because that's when you get creative ideas and do your best thinking.
So rarely is there such thing as cutting too much, because your mind will fill that extra time with solid thinking.
So rarely is there such thing as cutting too much, because your mind will fill that extra time with solid thinking.
17) tl;dr
Essentialism made me rethink how I should set goals and re-evaluate activities in both my personal and professional life.
I highly encourage everyone to read or listen to this book. It will get you thinking about how you can make better decisions in your own life.
Essentialism made me rethink how I should set goals and re-evaluate activities in both my personal and professional life.
I highly encourage everyone to read or listen to this book. It will get you thinking about how you can make better decisions in your own life.
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