If you work for yourself, or even an employee, you might often feel overwhelmed at work with meetings, emails, social media, getting clients, servicing clients, creating content, updating your website. And the list goes on.

While I love to juggle multiple things, I have found that my effectiveness has increased and my sense of overwhelm has decreased by applying Essentialism in my business. I first came across Essentialism when I read Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of less.

Essentialism is about eliminating the unnecessary so you can focus on your best work. It’s not hard or complicated. And it can be practiced by anyone, from the seasoned entrepreneur to the newest business owner.

Here are just a few benefits of embracing essentialism in business:

Essentialism Clarifies Your Message

Without essentialism, you waste valuable time trying to be everything to everyone. I know a friend, who started a boutique marketing agency. this when she started her boutique marketing agency. She handled many different types of projects and she struggled to define her brand.

But after reading the book and getting clarity, she chose to focus all of her attention on Facebook marketing campaigns. She expected her business to dip as she made the transition but she doubled her profits within a few months. And she felt a lot less stressed!

Essentialism Defines Your Focus

It’s tempting to believe you can do everything and while you may be able to for a short while, the sad truth is that you can’t do everything well. Even more importantly, you’ll be distracted as you try to balance all the areas of your business.

Essentialism is about defining your focus so you’re working on the tasks where you truly shine and that give you a good return on your time and effort. When you get to sit down and do deep work on projects that are within your zone of genius, you feel good. You feel energized and motivated. You can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning and every new project is filled with exciting possibilities.

Essentialism Creates Accountability

Pursuing essentialism has another seldom mentioned benefit - creating accountability. When you’re trying to tackle everything by yourself, there’s no time to stop and analyze what’s working or where your clients are coming from. Instead, you’re stuck in survival mode, trying to keep all of the balls you’re juggling in the air.

Without tracking, measuring, or analyzing, you’re flying blind in your business. You’re making guesses about what services your clients want or what products your audience needs. If these guesses are wrong, you could make some expensive (and time-consuming) mistakes.

But when you embrace essentialism in your business, you know what to focus on and which metrics truly matter. You take the time to measure your results and analyze both your successes and failures. When you spot problems, you can quickly adjust course.

Essentialism isn’t just another buzz word. It’s a powerful concept that can transform the way you look at your business and how you serve your customers.