Greg McKeown – Workplace Navigator

I can make things a lot harder than they need to be. In fact, as Greg McKeown writes in his book, Effortless, “Challenge the assumption that the “right” way is, inevitably, the harder one.” I remember seeing Diana Kander last year at a coaching conference and her saying that we have an additive bias. So instead of what do I need to add to my list, what should I stop doing? This came up for me recently in my morning routine. I have been doing a brain teaser app for almost ten years. The majority of the games are no fun for me anymore, I’ve long ago plateaued at a certain level and it’s become an annoyance. So, I stopped doing it. McKeown sheds light on the things I rarely question because it’s a habit or it’s expected or I’m in an out-of-date paradigm.

Here are 6 tips towards effortlessness:

Find easy. McKeown recommends asking yourself, “What if this could be easy?” McKeown calls this Effortless Inversion. He shares an experience when he over prepared for a presentation on leadership, and because he over prepared, he bombed. I facilitate trainings frequently and I know if I have cue cards or too strict an agenda, it’s never as good as when I am in the moment and adapt and adjust to the audience. Something is taking too long but the group is in a zone? Cut the content piece that will take 15 minutes. I’ve learned in over 30 years of facilitation; the easiest course is the best instead of trying to cram everything I ever knew on the subject into the heads of the participants. Look for the easy path.

Presence. It’s so easy to get caught up in a work messaging channel, your social media feed or your news feed. I think of how a crawler on the bottom of a screen just creates a sense of doom. I feel like I have to read so I don’t miss out but 99% of the time it’s not critical. When my mind is distracted, everything seems harder. I can’t seem to catch a break and be in the present moment. McKeown suggests clearing the clutter (in this case visual clutter). Get rid of the irrelevant so you can make space for what matters. When I get caught up in overwhelm, I head outside for a 10-minute walk to flush out the clutter. Being present makes things more effortless.

Add joy. “It’s no secret that many essential activities that are not particularly joyful in the moment produce moments of joy later on,” writes McKeown. “But essential activities don’t have to be enjoyed only in retrospect. We can also experience joy in the activity itself.” I have learned to enjoy doing the dishes. I also try to add joy by either playing dance music while I put the laundry away or listen to books or podcasts while commuting or on long drives. I look forward to long drives because I know I’ll probably finish a book I’m reading and get to start a new one. I light a candle when I meditate although while I find it essential, I don’t find it to be arduous. It helps me look forward to it though. Figure out ways to add joy.

Just start. When I finished reading 4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, my biggest takeaway was doing what he calls “serializing” which is putting aside 30, 60 or 90 minutes a day across the work week to do focus work. You don’t have to label it with a specific task, you just need to get started on whatever has risen to the top of your to do list that requires focus. The main thing is to just start. Because most focus work takes more than 30 minutes to do, you start but don’t finish. We procrastinate because, if we don’t have time to finish, we don’t start. If you let go of the idea that you have to finish, it’s much easier to get started. McKeown writes, “Instead of procrastinating, wasting enormous amounts of time and effort planning for a million possible scenarios, we can opt for taking the minimum viable first action: the action that will allow us to gain the maximum learning from the least amount of effort.” Take the minimum viable first step.

Fail cheaply. Practically everything I write is what Anne Lamont calls a $hitty first draft. I don’t bother perfecting outside of obvious typos if I glance back at the last sentence. My long-suffering editor Susan can attest to this. The main thing to me is to get started and get the words and ideas on paper. I don’t get wrapped up in perfection. I’ve seen many of my clients get stuck in perfection. In James Clear’s Atomic Habits, there was a classroom of photographers who were divided into two groups, the quantity group (take as many photos as you can) and the quality group (focus on each photo being perfect). At the end of the semester the quantity group had the best photos. Fail cheaply and often.

Set limits. This is all about setting a pace. A pace that can be maintained. I think of my calendar, I don’t want to work past 4 PM. It’s a rare week when I do. I also don’t work Friday afternoons. I never write more than one blog post a week. As McKeown wrote, an effortless pace: slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Reject the false economy of “powering through.” Create the right range: I will never do less than X, never more than Y. Recognize that not all progress is created equal. Keep a range and pace that works on a consistent basis.

Simple and effortless is easier than hard and complex. It’s about keeping boundaries, letting others know what they are and keeping yourself accountable. Which will you try first?

I just finished Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. It’s an eye-opening book in times of digital overwhelm and multi-tasking. There is this unrelenting pressure to take on more. One more book placed on top of the tottering stack. One more appointment edged into a jam-packed day. One more load of laundry before going to bed. This is especially difficult for me as my top strength from StrengthsFinder is Maximiser. I am constantly searching for ways to make things even better. Essentialism seems to contradict that.

barrett-ward-551977-unsplash

Becoming an essentialist is understanding your true north; understanding yourself and what is REALLY important rather than what is important to everyone else. It entails not focusing on other’s expectations but what is truly important to you. From there, you just need to align your actions and thoughts with your passion. Easy? Heck no. Important? Yes.

Thoughts on becoming an essentialist:

Mindset. “We are facing an unholy alliance between social media, smart phones, and consumerism. It’s not all bad, but certain forces that have come together are producing an unintended result for all of us,” Greg writes. “Our whole society has become consumed by the undisciplined pursuit of more. The only way to overcome this problem is to change the way we think—adopt the mindset of only doing the things that are essential—and do it now.” It’s a mindset of discernment. Selectivity. Culling out the clutter and focusing on engaging what matters most to us. It isn’t flipping a switch. It’s that discernment everyday with everything. It’s a mindset.

Trade-offs. For everything you say “yes” to, you are saying “no” to something else. If you say yes to a business trip during spring break, you are saying no to time off with your kids. If you say yes to finishing that project tonight, it’s a no to dinner with your friend. If you take the job that keeps you home instead of traveling on a monthly basis, it may be a yes to being with family more and a no to making more money or a promotion. It’s time to wake up and realize that you can not have it all. There is always a trade-off. Make sure you trade for what’s truly important to you.

Delay yes. This hearkens back to the wisdom of my dear friend Janine: “Don’t make a decision until you need to make a decision.” Greg writes, “It’s a good idea to recognize the value of contemplation versus impulse.” This is incredibly hard for someone as impatient as I. I want everything finished…yesterday. All the presents wrapped and under the tree on Thanksgiving. Press pause. Take a breath. Go inside your body and wait. This has paid off immensely for me personally over the last year. I kept trying to push a rope for months. When I leaned back and sat in patience and waited, and waited, and waited. The reward was life changing. Delay yes.

Less. Greg posits, “We’ve been oversold the value of more and undersold the value of less.” The fear of missing out can affect your decisions in your career, entrepreneurial pursuits and your relationships. If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no. If it’s a maybe, it’s a no. I love Alton Brown and his show Good Eats. He would never have a kitchen utensil that was a “uni-tasker”. He figured out ways to use a garbage can lid and aluminum foil to smoke a turkey rather than buying a turkey smoker. Less can be more.

Endowment effect. As Lawton Ursrey wrote in Forbes, “The Endowment Effect is the idea that we value objects and also opportunities higher if we own them versus if we don’t.” As Greg writes, “This is a classic heuristic trick—it’s a myth. The idea that you must own something to find value is not true. Not having something or letting go of something has real and sometimes the most value.” I faced this head on over the last nine months as I de-cluttered my life. I only retain what I truly love, truly use and what truly fits. There are the sentimental mementos like a Lego airplane my son made some fifteen years ago and a pillow my daughter made in kindergarten. I cherish these. I’ve dropped some four dress sizes in the last few years. The only thing in my closet are items I love and that fit. If you spent $200 on that pair of shoes ten years ago and they don’t feel comfortable on your feet, they are of no value to you.

Moment. Our time is the most important commodity. Don’t let Facebook, Instagram or your inbox take you away from the current moment. As Greg writes, “Our phones for example have great utility but there is a downside. As a result, we need to put in place seatbelts—ways to limit the downside. One seatbelt is just turning it off.” I have made a more conscious effort to leave my phone charging on the kitchen counter after I am home for the evening. Limiting my check ins to several times a day. This is not easy as it is an addiction. Leave it behind, turn it off and shut down notifications. You are alright, right now. Wouldn’t you rather experience what’s going on? Be here right now.

I am a work in progress. I don’t need to be perfect at this today or tomorrow. I am just working on it. I left a meeting last week because the value had dropped – it had morphed into a gab session. It was uncomfortable, but I had better use for my time. Lean in and get essential.