Editing Your Life
Making things better means deliberately subtracting, not adding.
Editing Your Life applies the principles of professional film and book editing to personal and professional decision-making. McKeown notes that since 1981, nearly every Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards was also nominated for Best Film Editing, demonstrating that what you remove is as important as what you keep.
The framework has four principles drawn from professional editing. First, Cut Out Options: the Latin root of 'decision' (cis or cid) literally means to cut or to kill, so decision-making is inherently about elimination. Second, Condense: do less but make every activity count for more, like writing a shorter letter that says more. Third, Correct: use the editing process to course-correct back toward your essential intent when you drift. Fourth, Edit Less: know when to show restraint and not over-manage, because sometimes the best edit is no edit at all.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, describes the CEO role as being 'chief editor' of the company, constantly taking a thousand possible things and deciding the one or two that make sense. This editorial mindset applies equally to individuals managing their own time and commitments.
- Subtraction is as powerful a tool as addition, and most systems improve more from removing than from adding.
- Every decision is fundamentally an act of elimination, and naming what you are cutting is as important as naming what you keep.
- Doing less but making each remaining activity count more is a higher-leverage move than doing more things at lower intensity.
- Course corrections are easier and less costly the earlier in a process they happen.
- The discipline of restraint, knowing when not to edit, is as valuable as the discipline of cutting.
- Cut Out OptionsReview your current commitments, projects, and activities. For each one, ask: 'If I were not already involved in this, would I choose to start it now?' Eliminate anything where the answer is no. Remember, the word decide literally means to cut away.
- Condense Your ActivitiesFor the commitments you keep, find ways to achieve the same result with less effort and fewer steps. Ask 'Can I accomplish this with fewer meetings, fewer emails, less time?' Make every activity count for more, like a good editor makes every word count.
- Correct Course Toward Your IntentPeriodically check whether your current activities are drifting from your essential intent. Use editing as a correction mechanism: when you notice drift, remove the activities pulling you off course and redirect energy toward what matters.
- Edit Less When AppropriateKnow when to exercise restraint and not over-manage. Sometimes the best edit is no edit. Not every activity needs to be optimized. Leave space for the essential activities to breathe and develop without constant interference.
Jack Dorsey described his role as CEO not as someone who builds things but as the chief editor of the company. He explains that a thousand ideas constantly flood in from engineers, designers, and support staff, and his job is to decide the one or two that make sense for what they are doing.
Editing Your Life applies the principles of professional film and book editing to personal and professional decision-making. McKeown notes that since 1981, nearly every Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards was also nominated for Best Film Editing, demonstrating that what you remove is as important as what you keep.
The framework has four principles drawn from professional editing. First, Cut Out Options: the Latin root of 'decision' (cis or cid) literally means to cut or to kill, so decisi