Making things easy with one question

Effortless: Make It Easier To Do What Matters More

By Greg McKeown

“What if this could be easy?”

When I read that line, I realized Greg McKeown was writing to an audience I was not part of. After all, “What if this could be easy?” isn’t a viable question for the work I am doing. Still, his book Essentialism had impacted me as I shared here, so I trudged forward through my unbelief as I continued to read Effortless. Then I ran face-first into this question he penned: “What is the simplest way to achieve this result?”

That one question made me evaluate every process I have in my business and realize there was unnecessary complexity. From interviewing guests on my podcasts to coaching executives and training speakers, I realized there was too much complexity. Instantly, I began to unravel the complexity and make things effortless. Applying that one question has saved me over 20 hours per month on one ongoing project.

McKeown wrote Effortless because even though he is an essentialist, he discovered he was doing the right things the wrong way. McKeown realized he was making things too hard in his life, leading to exhaustion. Like many today, he was burned out. While our culture idolizes hard work and doing hard things, McKeown came to a conclusion: “Burnout is not a badge of honor.”

He writes, “What could happen in your life if the easy but pointless things became harder and the essential things became easier?” The reason to do this is, as he explains, “Past a certain point, more effort doesn’t produce better performance. It sabotages our performance.” Very few of us believe too much hard work might bring diminishing returns.

However, we might feel like unraveling the complexity will take away the endless possibilities of excellence. Unfortunately, many get stuck in the middle of the possibilities due to too much complexity. McKeown says, “When we remove the complexity, even the slightest effort can move what matters forward.” 

If you want to simplify your life, read Essentialism. If you aren’t afraid of making your life a bit easier, read Effortless. If you aren’t sure you’re ready to commit to the whole book, try this question out, and see if it makes your life a bit lighter: “What are the minimum steps required for completion?”

You might just discover the steps are effortless.