Reclaim the Essential
Apply the principles of Essentialism to the Creative Life
Lately I have been listening to the audiobook Essentialism by Greg McKeown. Greg’s website is here, and he has free chapters, a podcast link, and a link to his newsletter. Although the book uses many stories from the business world, I decided to apply it to my own situation in life to see how the constructs he presents could help me use my time in a way that aligns better with my personal goals.
When I first retired, my only goal was to ditch the 9 to 5 pressure. Initially, I earned a modest income from writing for a content mill, because I couldn’t figure out what to do with my days other than sit in front of my computer. Then I began dabbling in art and reigniting some of my other hobbies like knitting and quilting.
Lately I have been feeling a little adrift and sluggish so I asked myself what are my goals for the next decade of my life. Nothing like getting a headstart 3 years early on turning 70!
Here is what I listed as my goals:
To retain good health for as long as possible.
Forge tighter connections with family and friends.
Maximize creative time and effort
Find one meaningful volunteer activity
Never stop learning (It’s more than just a great substack, it is essential for aging well.)
Here is my preliminary assessment and plan to succeed at them, because Excel has always been my favorite thinking space.
To help me meet these goals, some other tactics from the book will help me along:
Learn to say no gracefully to social commitments and volunteer work.
To commit your time to something means that you have to uncommit your time from something else.
Unlearn the don’t waste rule that is stuck in my head. For example, I am always trying to use up cheap watercolor paper, instead of just using the full roll of Arches cold press I bought during the lockdown. I was brought up by frugal parents and grandparents and I should have resisted some of my bargain paper purchases. Recently I cast aside a watercolor sketchbook with a few remaining pages and a journal that had paper that did not behave well with my cartridge pens.
Avoid the sunk cost bias. How many paintings and other projects have I set aside to work on later because it seems wasteful not to finish them? It’s time to just pitch them out. I may have learned what not to do in the process of working on them, or they may have been projects that looked great on youtube that didn’t hold my interest for more than a few days. It is ok to throw them away. It really does free up some positive creative energy to do so.
I look forward to finishing this book and will write next week about any additional insights.
Do you feel like you are stretched too thin across too many interests? I am hoping that my understanding of essentialism will help me find both better focus and better satisfaction.
Reclaiming Creativity is a free newsletter. Coffee donations are greatly appreciated and motivate me to keep writing. Thanks to those who have donated, if you are still reading. Sometimes it’s hard for me to trace you over to your substack id from Kofi.
So many wise words here, Jo - thank you so much for sharing these really useful insights! I've learned so much - and I'm going to try to implement some of what you're doing!
So many similarities here and my past career excel was a huge part of my CREATIVENESS with bold, boxing in shaded cells, touches of colored text. A huge fan and haven't picked at it for decades. I may need to revisit, , organizing my bullet lists might help sort out all I wish to entertain. Been releasing more I've accumulated, or it gets too heavy Lovely birdie, so vivid and sweet!