Do you ever feel like you are being pulled in many different directions, chasing multiple, ill-defined goals? This modern age of attention we live in is designed to draw people towards the latest, flashiest item or trend. It makes our work lives seem hectic and unfulfilled, much like walking on a treadmill, where we take lots of steps but never get anywhere. Is there a path out of this trap?
I recently read a
book that provides an answer to this dilemma. In Essentialism: The Discipline Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown outlines a lifestyle that emphasizes finding the most important things to do and only focusing energy on those priorities. On his web site, he describes Essentialism in this way:
“The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s not about getting less done. It’s about getting only the right things done. It’s about challenging the core assumption of ‘we can have it all’ and ‘I have to do everything’ and replacing it with the pursuit of ‘the right thing, in the right way, at the right time’. It’s about regaining control of our own choices about where to spend our time and energies instead of giving others implicit permission to choose for us.”
To learn more about the Way of the Essentialist, visit Greg’s web site or check out the book from your local library.
Sometimes when we think about the effort it will take to get organized a negative reaction will arise. Is it really worth all the time and energy necessary to put things in their right spot? How about the constant practice of getting things out of your head – sounds like a pain! Can’t we just relax and have fun?
“Imagine if we had a learning curriculum for modern knowledge work.
Why do I use the word “efficient” to describe this path of librarianship? In my article, 
Last week, my article on 
n his recent book, 
The other day I received the following email from 
“A typical question I get is, “What’s the one thing that we do that gets in the way of us being productive?” It’s not one thing, but five, all wrapped together: People keep stuff in their head. They don’t decide what they need to do about stuff they know they need to do something about. They don’t organize action reminders and support materials in functional categories. They don’t maintain and review a complete and objective inventory of their commitments. Then they waste energy and burn out, allowing their busy-ness to be driven by what’s latest and loudest, hoping it’s the right thing to do but never feeling the relief that it is.”
The 
Efficient Librarian 