> [!tldr] **The cornerstone of essentialism and minimalism.** “**Less, but better**” is the core message of the book “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown. It is doing fewer things overall, but putting more energy into those things ([[Minimal Activities]]). It’s about reducing the scope of your concerns to those that truly matter, then managing those things better. (to avoid [[Majoring in Minor Work]]). I very much buy into the philosophy of doing fewer things, the _right_ fewer things, and doing them to a high standard. I believe this leads to better overall [[Per Capita is more Important than Gross|ROI]] for energy in, product out. It prevents [[Burnout]]. Leads to better overall happiness & [[Life Satisfaction Formula|life satisfaction]]. This message is very similar to the core message of “Digital Minimalism” by Cal Newport, which is closer to “less _is_ better”. Less, but better is also one of the goals of an [[Enterprise Architecture]] practice. I'm experimenting in 2026 with less but better in weightlifting. Rather than 5 sets of 5, but more like 2 sets of ARAP. If I remember to I'll write a note about those results. ### Example(s) I hesitate to even include this examples section because it could be a never-ending list, and that runs counter to the ethos of this very note. However I'd like to a space to collect small examples. #### Close all tabs to the right Right clicking the tab bar in Chrome & Safari offers an option to `Close all tabs to the right`, but *not* `Close all tabs to the left`. This choice reduces the likelihood of accidentally closing a bunch of tabs you want to leave open, but also subtly reinforces expected user behavior - more important tabs are kept to the left. **** # More ## Source - [[Essentialism]] - [[Digital Minimalism]] ## Related - [[Minimalism]] - [[Essentialism]] - [[YAGNI]] - [[Email High Volume, Low Quality]] - [[Pareto Principle]] - [[Simple is Maintainable]] - [[Maintenance is Underappreciated]] - less stuff less to maintain, can hold a higher standard - [[Simplicity]] - [[Worse is Better]] - [[Intermittent Fasting]] - [[Standard Processes]] - do fewer things & standardize them