Consider: “Essentialism”

In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown describes productivity as a mindset of less is better. He maintains that throwing more energy in fewer paths will lead to greater progress.

Here are two brief excerpts from the book:

The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few form the trivial many, eliminates the nonessentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage. In other words, Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless.

Essentialism…is a discipline you apply each and every time you are faced with a decision about whether to say yes or whether to politely decline. It’s a method for making the tough trade-off between lots of good things and a few really great things. It’s about learning how to do less but better so you can achieve the highest possible return on every precious moment of your life.

These books are set here as possibilities for you to explore. Posts and links are not endorsements or paid publicity.

Planning and Zoning

My husband loves to look at Planning & Zoning agendas and maps. He enjoys studying road maps and railroad maps to see the plan and reasoning behind it. He likes looking at a machine and figuring out how to make it work.

However, he does not enjoy planning his day. What looked good an hour ago is not where he’s headed now. So many projects, so little time.

As you may have picked up, I find planning my day a key to success! How does this work?

Well, planning is key, whether for the month, week, day, or next few hours. Re-planning is just as important, though. A change in my plans happens on a daily (or more) basis, but making the change is still planning.

How does this look?

My meal plan is usually about 2-3 days out. It also usually contains a meal needing more prep and a dish that is quick and easy. So, when he decides one morning to work late that evening, I don’t know how late that will be so I opt for the quick meal. If he gets home at 8, we don’t have to wait until 9 to eat. If I planned a productive day at home and a from-scratch dinner, but he wakes up with a list of errands, then I switch to the slow cooker recipe that will be ready whenever we are.

The meal plan for each day is not important, but the flexibility is. Meals lined up that can be quickly switched around is planning. Switching around meals at any point in the day is re-planning and flexibility. They work together.

And, yes, I have had meals in the oven that went straight to leftovers because of last-minute changes. It happens. Still a new plan.

Meals are just one example of planning and flexibility working together, but the principle applies in other areas. Plans are important, but they are not necessarily effective as first planned. How does that look in your life?