Essentialism

Why doing less, but better may be the only growth hack that still works in 2025

Vlad Podoliako
July 24, 2025

Hey friends

Quick story.

A year ago, my friend Ron handed me a paperback with a red headline on the cover:

“Essentialism – The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”, Greg McKeown

I tossed it in my backpack and forgot about it. Ironically, my backpack already contained another unfinished book, a laptop, and enough airport lounge receipts to start a bonfire.

The Core Idea

“If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”

Essentialism is simple, brutal math:

Most things are noise.
A few things matter.
Your job is to cut the noise so the important stuff gets all your energy.

McKeown breaks it into a loop:

Explore – Create space to figure out what really matters.
Eliminate – Say no to anything that doesn’t move the needle.
Execute – Make the vital few effortless by building systems.

Repeat, forever.

Why it hit me

I run multiple companies, flirt with side-projects, and recently hired a small army of AI agents that spin up even more opportunities. My calendar looked like Jenga played by caffeine junkies (totally true fact my team can confirm).

Essentialism asked one unforgiving question:

“Am I investing in the highest point of contribution, or just keeping busy?”

My honest answer is 40 % contribution and 60 % kinetic sand busy work.

Three light‑bulb moments

A · The 90‑Percent Rule

If an option doesn’t score 90/100, treat it as zero.

My tweak: Each OKR now has one “absolutely yes” metric. Nothing else.

B · Boundaries > Discipline

Willpower runs out; boundaries run on autopilot.

My tweak: A few weekdays are now wall‑off days — Slack on DND, phone in airplane mode, deep work only. If something’s truly on fire, the team knows how to reach me.

C · Buffer for the unexpected

Essentialists add 50 % extra time (we can call it margin) to every plan.

My tweak: I added 30 % to every task in roadmaps. The team groaned, then started hitting deadlines.

Stuff I killed (painful, liberating)

A weekly “quick catch‑up” call that spiraled into two‑hour wander sessions.
A half‑built micro‑SaaS whose TAM was smaller than my newsletter audience.
Three speaking gigs that stroked the ego but didn’t serve the mission.

Total hours saved per month: ≈ 46.

I reinvested 20 of those hours into a single high‑leverage play: refining the Folderly Circles rollout.

Results: faster onboarding, clearer roles, clear focus on the future.

My essential intent for 2025

Build human and AI systems that let founders grow 10× with 10 % of the usual clutter.

If a task advances that sentence, it’s in.
If it doesn’t, it dies politely, gratefully, immediately.

Try Essentialism this week

Take a two‑hour personal off‑site — no phone. Write every commitment.
Rate each 0‑100. Anything under 90 gets a polite no.
Protect one asset — sleep, workout, date night — like it’s revenue.
Add a big buffer to one key project. Watch stress drop.

Closing thought

Minimalism is owning fewer things. Essentialism is making fewer decisions.

In a world where AI can clone work at no cost, focused human intention is the scarce resource.

Post-Credit Scene · Further Fuel

Podcast: Greg McKeown’s What’s Essential — chat with Tim Ferriss on hard choices.
Experiment: Delete one app from your phone today. Feel the itch. Notice it fade.

Less, but better. See you next edition.

Thank you for reading.

Vlad