#786: Tactics and Strategies for a 2025 Reboot — Essentialism and Greg McKeown

Greg McKeown is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most . 200,000 people receive his weekly 1-Minute Wednesday newsletter, and he recently released The Essentialism Planner: A 90-Day Guide to Accomplishing More by Doing Less . Sponsors: Momentous high-quality supplements: https://livemomentous.com/tim (code TIM for 20% off) Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: https://eightsleep.com/tim (save $350 on the Pod 4 Ultra) Wealthfront high-yield cash account: https://Wealthfront.com/Tim (New clients get 3.50% base APY from program banks + additional 0.65% boost for 3 months on your uninvested cash (max $150k balance.) Terms apply. The Cash Account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (“WFB”) member FINRA/SIPC, not a bank. The base APY as of 11/27/25 is representative, can change, and requires no minimum. Tim Ferriss, a non-client, receives compensation from WFB for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of WFB. Experiences will vary. Outcomes not guaranteed. Instant withdrawals may be limited by your receiving firm and other factors. Investment advisory services provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Securities investments: not bank deposits, bank-guaranteed or FDIC-insured, and may lose value. * Timestamps: [00:00] Who is Greg McKeown? [05:12] Handling destabilizing events and personal turmoil. [10:47] Writing as therapy and “screaming onto the page.” [13:35] Using Morning Pages and AI tools for personal reflection. [17:52] Carl Rogers and the power of deep listening. [20:33] Reviewing the core concepts of Essentialism and Effortless. [24:54] Temporal landmarks and the fresh start effect. [29:25] Personal quarterly offsites and the importance of direction over speed. [31:13] The three essential questions for quarterly reviews. [34:16] Making essential tasks effortless — practical examples and strategies. [37:03] The law of inverse prioritization — why important things don’t get done. [38:45] Strategies for making tasks simpler — the microburst concept. [44:37] The courage to be rubbish. [47:09] Pre-mortems and anticipating obstacles. [52:37] Michael Phelps’ preparation and routine. [01:07:31] The 1-2-3 method and defining what “done” looks like. [01:15:19] Meaning over productivity, and making vs. managing. [01:23:14] Radical gratitude and finding meaning in suffering. [01:36:43] Parting thoughts on deep connection and listening. * For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast . For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter ( 5-Bullet Friday ) at tim.blog/friday . For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts . Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books . Follow Tim: Twitter : twitter.com/tferriss Instagram : instagram.com/timferriss YouTube : youtube.com/timferriss Facebook : facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld , Hugh Jackman , Dr. Jane Goodall , LeBron James , Kevin Hart , Doris Kearns Goodwin , Jamie Foxx , Matthew McConaughey , Esther Perel , Elizabeth Gilbert , Terry Crews , Sia , Yuval Noah Harari , Malcolm Gladwell , Madeleine Albright , Cheryl Strayed , Jim Collins , Mary Karr, Maria Popova , Sam Harris , Michael Phelps , Bob Iger , Edward Norton , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Neil Strauss , Ken Burns , Maria Sharapova , Marc Andreessen , Neil Gaiman , Neil de Grasse Tyson , Jocko Willink , Daniel Ek , Kelly Slater , Dr. Peter Attia , Seth Godin , Howard Marks , Dr. Brené Brown , Eric Schmidt , Michael Lewis , Joe Gebbia , Michael Pollan , Dr. Jordan Peterson , Vince Vaughn , Brian Koppelman , Ramit Sethi , Dax Shepard , Tony Robbins , Jim Dethmer , Dan Harris , Ray Dalio , Naval Ravikant , Vitalik Buterin , Elizabeth Lesser , Amanda Palmer , Katie Haun , Sir Richard Branson , Chuck Palahniuk , Arianna Huffington , Reid Hoffman , Bill Burr , Whitney Cummings , Rick Rubin , Dr. Vivek Murthy , Darren Aronofsky , Margaret Atwood , Mark Zuckerberg , Peter Thiel , Dr. Gabor Maté , Anne Lamott , Sarah Silverman , Dr. Andrew Huberman , and many more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .