How Essentialist are you?

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Discover Your Essentialist Mindset

How Essentialist are you? This quiz will help you reflect on your priorities and approach to work-life balance. By answering a series of thought-provoking questions, you can identify how well you manage commitments and whether you embrace the essence of less is more.

Explore your project management style
Assess your work-life balance
Gain insights to improve your productivity

10 Questions2 MinutesCreated by FocusedMind44

How many of the projects in which you are currently involved - either at or outside of work - do you consider “high priority”?

2-3

All of them

How often do you end the day with more items on your “to do” list than you had at the start of the day?

Never

Sometimes

Always

Imagine that a friend convinces you to help her put together a fundraiser for a charity you are both involved in. But moments after committing, you realize that you simply don’t have the time it would take to organize or plan a successful event. What do you do?

Call your friend and tell her that due to other commitments, you won’t be able to help out with the event after all.

You feel committed, so you dedicate any spare time and effort required to put together a satisfactory event.

You’ve accepted the challenge. For the next month, you devote your lunch hour, and a couple of hours each Saturday to event planning.

Choose the statement you most agree with. “I believe that play (defined as anything we do for the joy of doing rather than means to an end – whether it’s doing a puzzle or listening to music, or throwing around a baseball)” is:

Essential for exploration and innovation. Opens our minds so we can think more flexibly, unconventionally, and creatively.

Great during vacations and weekends, but doesn’t always fit in the reality of everyday work and home demands

Primarily for children. Time could be spent doing more productive, professional-related things.

I believe people who try to “do it all” are:

Unrealistic

Probably only going to succeed some of the time

Hardworking and impressive

If I want to get ahead at work, the best strategy would be to:

Only agree to take on a select few projects or assignments (no matter who is asking), and execute them well

Be selective about the things I volunteer to do, but make sure to say yes whenever my boss explicitly asks me to do something

Always volunteer to work on projects, sit in on meetings, and join teams

How many hours a night do you typically sleep?

A solid 7 or 8

Usually about 6, but I try to squeeze in more when I can

I do fine on 5 hours or less

An acquaintance invites you to a party being held the same night you have plans to go out to dinner with your spouse. You:

Decline the invitation and feel fine about it

Decline the party invitation but feel a little guilty

Accept the invitation and move your dinner reservation a little earlier so that you can do both

You’re trying to get out the door after a long day at work when an email from your boss lands in your inbox. You:

Quickly scan the email to discern whether or not it is urgent to respond. If not, you leave it for the next day.

Dash off a reply from your phone as you’re hailing a cab. You might have forgotten to include some of the information she asked for, but a quick response is best.

Sit back down at your desk and craft a thorough reply. It may mean missing your train, but your prompt response is important enough to risk it.

If you’re trying to form a healthy new habit – or kick an unhealthy one – you will get the best results by:

Starting with a small goal and then rewarding each little bit of progress

Setting a large, ambitious goal from the outset

Trying to work it into my schedule, as work permits. I don’t have much spare time.

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