This question turned up in my Daily Forwards Step. There was also this quote:

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.
Lin Yutang

This quote is also in the Zen To Done e-book. In Turning 2008 into 80-20 at my other blog I write about separating the chaff from the wheat using the 80/20 rule.

Question: Can YOU distinguish essential from non-essential?

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.