Definition: The more choices we make, the more the quality of our decisions deteriorates.

Insights:

1. Once decision fatigue sets in, we lose our ability to filter what is important from what isn't.
2. Once you are able to automate decision making, and perform tasks automatically, you are less susceptible to decision fatigue.

References:

1. Daniel Kahneman - coffee mug experiment

Examples:

1. No one washes or cleans a rental car

Insights:

1. A feeling of ownership is powerful.
2. We have a tendency to undervalue what isn't ours and overvalue what is.

Principles:

1. Beware the endowment effect. Of your possessions ask: "If I did not own this item, how much would I pay to obtain it?"

Insights:

1. When we take the time to think about what we are giving up by saying 'yes' to someone or something, the easier it is to say 'no'.

Principles:

1. Focus on what you are giving up when you say yes.

Insights:

1. 20 percent of efforts produce 80 percent of results.
2. By distinguishing the "trivial many" from the "vital few" in many areas of life we can improve it significantly.

References:

1. Vilfredo Pareto discovered the Pareto Principle
2. Joseph Moses Juran, Quality Control Handbook - expanded on the Pareto Principle and called it "The Law of the Vital Few" - observed that you can greatly improve the quality of a product by resolving a minority of the problems

Definition: People tend to underestimate how long a task will take.

Insights:

1. Social pressure is a big factor in the planning fallacy. When we communicate how long it will take us to do something, we might not want to admit that it will take a long time.

Principles:

1. Add 50 percent to your time estimates.

References:

1. David Thoreau: "simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real"
2. Dalai Lama: "If one's life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness."
3. Ela Bhatt: "Out of all virtues simplicity is my most favourite virtue. So much so that I tend to believe that simplicity can solve most of the problems, personal as well as the world problems."

Definition: The tendency to continue doing something simply because we have always done it that way.

Examples:

1. Work systems including employee evaluation methodologies

Insights:

1. We can overcome the status quo bias by employing "zero-based budgeting": every expense and item in the budget must be justified from scratch, rather than using the past years figures. Use this principle to allocate resources based on current needs, not history.

Principles:

1. Be aware of the status quo bias
2. Apply zero-based budgeting

Quotes:

"Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

"Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognise a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Principles:

1. Be mindful of what is important right now