Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
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- Create Date：2021-01-01 13:35:26
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Greg McKeown
- ISBN：9780804137409
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Editor Reviews
Essentialism will give you richer， sweeter results and put you in real control， giving greater precision to the pursuit of what truly matters。”—Forbes
“In this likeable and astute treatise on the art of doing less in order to do better。。。McKeown makes the content fresh and the solutions easy to implement。 Following his lucid and smart directions will help readers find ‘the way of the essentialist。’”—Success
“Do you feel it， too？ That relentless pressure to sample all the good things in life？ To do all the ‘right’ things？ The reality is， you don’t make progress that way。 Instead， you’re in danger of spreading your efforts so thin that you make no impact at all。 Greg McKeown believes the answer lies in paring life down to its essentials。 He can’t tell you what’s essential to every life， but he can help you find the meaning in yours。”—Daniel H。 Pink， author of To Sell is Human and Drive
“Entrepreneurs succeed when they say ‘yes’ to the right project， at the right time， in the right way。 To accomplish this， they have to be good at saying ‘no’ to all their other ideas。 Essentialism offers concise and eloquent advice on how to determine what you care about most， and how to apply your energies in ways that ultimately bring you the greatest rewards。”—Reid Hoffman， co-founder/chairman of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Start-up of You
“As a self-proclaimed ‘maximalist’ who always wants to do it all， this book challenged me and improved my life。 If you want to work better， not just less， you should read it too。”—Chris Guillebeau， New York Times bestselling author of The $100 Startup
“Great design takes us beyond the complex， the unnecessary and confusing， to the simple， clear and meaningful。 This is as true for the design of a life as it is for the design of a product。 With Essentialism， Greg McKeown gives us the invaluable guidebook for just such a project。”—Tim Brown， CEO of IDEO
“In Essentialism， Greg McKeown makes a compelling case for achieving more by doing less。 He reminds us that clarity of focus and the ability to say ‘no’ are both critical and undervalued in business today。”—Jeff Weiner， CEO， LinkedIn
“Essentialism is a powerful antidote to the current craziness that plagues our organizations and our lives。 Read Greg McKeown’s words slowly， stop and think about how to apply them to your life—you will do less， do it better， and begin to feel the insanity start to slip away。”—Robert I。 Sutton， Professor at Stanford University and author of Good Boss， Bad Boss and Scaling Up Excellence
“Essentialism is a rare gem that will change lives。 Greg offers deep insights， rich context and actionable steps to living life at its fullest。 I’ve started on the path to an Essentialist way of life， and the impact on my productivity and well-being is profound。”—Bill Rielly， Senior Vice President， Intel Security
Reviews
Arlie Brashear
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If you are pursuing less is more， share this with those who live with you
Robert Nuorteva
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At first， this book felt like stating the obvious but it grew on me as I read through。 Many actionable reminders and insights， and the topic alone is an important one。 Quick listen as an audiobook。
Jim
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Think you can have it all？ Well guess what， YOU’RE WRONG！ And Essentialism is here to tell you why。。。That sounds pretty snarky， but in general I’d agree with it。 The idea of “less is more” but also “Less， but better” definitely resonates with me。 This book is about identifying those things （or ideally that THING（x）） in your life which is your true priority， and how to cut away the clutter so that your focus becomes clear。This is a pretty short read and， overall， I really enjoyed it。 A lot of the Think you can have it all？ Well guess what， YOU’RE WRONG！ And Essentialism is here to tell you why。。。That sounds pretty snarky， but in general I’d agree with it。 The idea of “less is more” but also “Less， but better” definitely resonates with me。 This book is about identifying those things （or ideally that THING（x）） in your life which is your true priority， and how to cut away the clutter so that your focus becomes clear。This is a pretty short read and， overall， I really enjoyed it。 A lot of the examples tended to lean towards the business/career-side of life， and while I appreciated most of them （e。g。 when companies try to focus on multiple-priorities， which is an oxy-moron）， I would’ve loved to have more examples of personal priorities （e。g。 which hobby/pastime should you be spending your time on）。Anyway， I feel like I highlighted about half of this book so I’m sure I’ll be revisiting it at some point。 。。。more
Stef
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A good， quick read to lead me into a new year。 Focused on simplifying and using only that what is MOST meaningful in life as a guide， this book offers insight into a more productive life by doing LESS。 It's a fast read with key takeaways highlighted。 I love the idea of "less， but better" heading in to 2021。 This book offered a lot of real world examples from business settings， especially。 A good， quick read to lead me into a new year。 Focused on simplifying and using only that what is MOST meaningful in life as a guide， this book offers insight into a more productive life by doing LESS。 It's a fast read with key takeaways highlighted。 I love the idea of "less， but better" heading in to 2021。 This book offered a lot of real world examples from business settings， especially。 。。。more
Becca Wierwille
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The disciplined pursuit of less is such a great message in a world filled with overwhelming to-do lists， chronic hurry， and cluttered inboxes。
Tõnu Vahtra
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“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done。 It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either。 It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential。”I was recently organizing a Getting Things Done overview/presentation to my teams and after this received a remark that personal efficiency is very important but without very “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done。 It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either。 It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential。”I was recently organizing a Getting Things Done overview/presentation to my teams and after this received a remark that personal efficiency is very important but without very clear focus it does not lead to a much better place （"the biggest waste is doing something very efficiently that does not need to be done at all"）。 There was not much completely original in this book but it had a nice collection of various theories and principles that support essentialism （i。e。 the freedom and importance of choice， the importance of saying no， the Pareto principle， cognitive fallacies like sunk cost fallacy， the power of habits）。 One risk of such books is that there are some parts that are very interesting and spot on while others feel completely off and make you question why you are wasting time on this book。 This book managed to be enjoyable throughout。“Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life someone else will。”“If it isn’t a clear yes， then it’s a clear no。”“The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s。 It was singular。 It meant the very first or prior thing。 It stayed singular for the next five hundred years。 Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities。”“Essentialists see trade-offs as an inherent part of life， not as an inherently negative part of life。 Instead of asking， “What do I have to give up？” they ask， “What do I want to go big on？”“The way of the Essentialist means living by design， not by default。 Instead of making choices reactively， the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many， eliminates the nonessentials， and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear， smooth passage。 In other words， Essentialism is a disciplined， systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies， then making execution of those things almost effortless。”“the killer question: “If I didn’t already own this， how much would I spend to buy it？”“When we forget our ability to choose， we learn to be helpless。 Drip by drip we allow our power to be taken away until we end up becoming a function of other people’s choices—or even a function of our own past choices。 In turn， we surrender our power to choose。 That is the path of the Nonessentialist。 The Essentialist doesn’t just recognize the power of choice， he celebrates it。 The Essentialist knows that when we surrender our right to choose， we give others not just the power but also the explicit permission to choose for us。”“Essentialists are powerful observers and listeners。 Knowing that the reality of trade-offs means they can’t possibly pay attention to everything， they listen deliberately for what is not being explicitly stated。 They read between the lines。”"Remember that a clear "NO" can be more graceful than a vague or noncommittal "YES"。""Routine， in an intelligent man， is a sign of ambition。" W。H。 Auden“A true Essentialist， Peter Drucker believed that “people are effective because they say no。”“In a reverse pilot you test whether removing an initiative or activity will have any negative consequences。”“When you say yes to something nonessential， you are saying no to something essential” 。。。more
Gabriel Salvador
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The essence of this book is to figure out what is essential and then say no to the other things that distract you from archive what is essential。 Before reading this book， I had a more generalized approach。 But then while I was reading this book I understood that my paradigm was wrong。 Now， I understand the importance of saying no to most of the things that are not important。
Erika
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Nothing new。
Diogo Filipe
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As a new “book reader”， this was one of the first books that always kept me excited to get back and read more。 So much value on this book， from the art of becoming an essentialist to the real-life examples provided。 A must-read。
KHALIL Ayoub
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Essentialism is a lifestyle that is defined in every aspect of life in this book， is a way of thinking， interacting with people。。。 And the most important is a way to find the happiness within your life。 I recommend this book to anyone who feels busy and unhappy all the time
Teun Voost
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Rating: 3。5 / 5 The essence of the book is great， such an inspired book。 The repetition in the author's writing style is a bit annoying though， if not ironic。 The writer is clearly a knowledgeable person who spend some diligent time working on the essential thought of this book， which is 'focus on the essential'。 I do think he could've written this book is about a 100 pages， instead of the current amount of pages。 Overall not disappointed， if anything it was better than I thought beforehand。 Sti Rating: 3。5 / 5 The essence of the book is great， such an inspired book。 The repetition in the author's writing style is a bit annoying though， if not ironic。 The writer is clearly a knowledgeable person who spend some diligent time working on the essential thought of this book， which is 'focus on the essential'。 I do think he could've written this book is about a 100 pages， instead of the current amount of pages。 Overall not disappointed， if anything it was better than I thought beforehand。 Still， it was a bit redundant at times。 。。。more
Akshita Chawla
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Good anecdotes Relatable contentUseful tipsBut for a book named essentialism， it contains a lot of redundant stuff
Joe Stein
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I liked this book。 Some highlights- major in the majors。 Stick to basics。 Eliminate the nonessential。
Shayla
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So well done。 I’m looking forward to his new book coming out this year。
عبدالله عطيه
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Well。This book claims that it conveys the teaching of "Essentialism" as a way of life， and there is nothing wrong with that is long as there is nothing wrong with picking a couple of scattered ideas and naming them something。Between "the power of Now"， "minimalism"， Charles Duhigg's "The Power of Habit"， and other literature， you can find a lot of great ideas。 The problem is with combing all those in an unnatural narrative and calling it an 'ism。The tone is cozy for sure。， and there are some goo Well。This book claims that it conveys the teaching of "Essentialism" as a way of life， and there is nothing wrong with that is long as there is nothing wrong with picking a couple of scattered ideas and naming them something。Between "the power of Now"， "minimalism"， Charles Duhigg's "The Power of Habit"， and other literature， you can find a lot of great ideas。 The problem is with combing all those in an unnatural narrative and calling it an 'ism。The tone is cozy for sure。， and there are some good anecdotes， but other than that and quoting some books and literature as stated above， there is no added value。 Furthermore， there is no unifying theme。I read a review that said something like "this book can be replaced by a blog post"。 This book for sure can be。 But the idea it self "sticking to what is essential" deserves and be thoroughly presented in a 300 page book。 I remember reading "deep work" which is about simply working uninterrupted and without distractions。 Although it is a very simple idea， the writer was successful in making it fill the pages of a book without sounding redundant or repetitive。 。。。more
Melissa
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This book is a must read！ It definitely changed the way I think about before buying more “stuff”。
Siamak Attarian
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One of the great things that I learned from this book was the ability to stop reading it after chapter 12。Not that there was something wrong with it; it was just I had more important things to do at the time than finishing the book。 Believe me， it's hard for me to left things incomplete， and fortunately， this book was a reminder that I should prioritize things。 This was a good example of it being the victim of its own success！ One of the great things that I learned from this book was the ability to stop reading it after chapter 12。Not that there was something wrong with it; it was just I had more important things to do at the time than finishing the book。 Believe me， it's hard for me to left things incomplete， and fortunately， this book was a reminder that I should prioritize things。 This was a good example of it being the victim of its own success！ 。。。more
Daniel Moholia
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McKeown provides a straightforward approach to evaluating what is truly essential in life。 He then addresses how to set up boundaries and habits that keep the essential center stage even when faced with the unpredictability of modern life。 A worthwhile and approachable read for those looking for clarity on how to get clarity。
Nicole
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So， which one are you？The non-essentialist: I have to。 It’s all important。 How can I fit it all in？ Says “yes” to people without really thinking。 Is overwhelmed by all of the information。 Sleep gets in the way of doing it all。The essentialist: I choose to。 Only a few things really matter。 What are the trade-offs？ Says “no to everything except the essential。 Scans to find the essence of the information。 Sleep enables the highest levels of mental contribution and breeds creativity。 I definitely id So， which one are you？The non-essentialist: I have to。 It’s all important。 How can I fit it all in？ Says “yes” to people without really thinking。 Is overwhelmed by all of the information。 Sleep gets in the way of doing it all。The essentialist: I choose to。 Only a few things really matter。 What are the trade-offs？ Says “no to everything except the essential。 Scans to find the essence of the information。 Sleep enables the highest levels of mental contribution and breeds creativity。 I definitely identify with the non-essentialist。 In work and in life， I struggle to say “no” which leads me to take on way more than I can realistically accomplish。 But…everything seems so important！ The thing is…it’s not。 This book helped me realize this。It takes you through 4 parts: 1 - Essence （What is the core mind-set of an essentialist？）2 - Explore （How can we discern the trivial many from the vital few？）3 - Eliminate （How can we cut out the trivial many？）4 - Execute （How can we make doing the vital few things almost effortless？）With a mix of thought-provoking advice and interesting stories from both non-essentialists and essentialists alike， I had a hard time putting it down and can’t wait to use the strategies that I’ve learned。 It will take a lot of practice， but I know that it will become easier until it becomes routine and effortless。 An excellent read！ I recommend it。 Get it on your shelves！ 。。。more
Shikha
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A good message but could be summarised in about a page。
Samuel
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This book is vital for everyone！I liked this book as it highlights a problem many of us face in life， feeling overworked， constantly busy and yet not seeing the results of this busyness。 This book guides us to think about the most essential things to achieve what we want from life， relationships， work or business。
Matheus Guide
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O livro é muito bom。 Julgando que a nossa vida é curtíssima e a qualquer momento pode ser ainda mais abreviada， saber gastar nosso tempo de vida com as coisas que são essenciais em nossa trajetória é prioridade。
WheeldonHS
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A book on essentialism that could have been condensed to a wiki entry。Mostly repetition of the same points over and over again。
Diane
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There was nothing earth shattering in this book but everything validating of what we should be， what we could be， what we would be。 It was a collection of great wisdoms that we all need to apply to everyday。 I would recommend the read to everyone who lives too busy and too chaotic。
Helen
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I've just finished this one， and obviously there's a lot of good stuff in it that I'll go back to （maybe） but it left me thinking， ha I wish I had the privileges of being a wealthy man who can devote all my time to the single minded pursuit of excellence and clarity。But I'm the sole earner in my family and I have three children。 I can't just farm out / ignore all the day to day noise and lock myself away to write or think or whatever。 I don't have opportunities to heroically turn down。 I am stil I've just finished this one， and obviously there's a lot of good stuff in it that I'll go back to （maybe） but it left me thinking， ha I wish I had the privileges of being a wealthy man who can devote all my time to the single minded pursuit of excellence and clarity。But I'm the sole earner in my family and I have three children。 I can't just farm out / ignore all the day to day noise and lock myself away to write or think or whatever。 I don't have opportunities to heroically turn down。 I am still dealing with the blow back of politely but firmly declining to participate in the office secret santa （which I only had three days notice about）。 I am not respected for saying no to it。All in all， more of a management book than I was expecting。 But that's not the fault of the author。 。。。more
Amy
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Essentialism is a breath of fresh air for a world of constant distraction。 True to the book’s teachings， McKeown makes the case for Essentialism succinctly。 While its teachings can be easily summarised， the message requires slow and deliberate consideration for how it applies to your life specifically。 I。e。 what is essential to you？ Like many others I drew similarities with complementary concepts in Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport and Atomic Habits by James Clear。 All three books make the case Essentialism is a breath of fresh air for a world of constant distraction。 True to the book’s teachings， McKeown makes the case for Essentialism succinctly。 While its teachings can be easily summarised， the message requires slow and deliberate consideration for how it applies to your life specifically。 I。e。 what is essential to you？ Like many others I drew similarities with complementary concepts in Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport and Atomic Habits by James Clear。 All three books make the case for a more intentional life， each approaching the problem of distraction from a unique perspective without overshadowing the others。 I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to lead a more intentional life （and especially those who are fans of the titles mentioned above）。 。。。more
Knygų Gaudyklė
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Geriausia knyga， kuri man atsitiko 🎈
Samiam
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I will only write what is essential。 Great book。
Adnan Ahmed Khan
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what a book， changed me in so many ways
Dylan
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Not sure how anyone is meant to pay their rent if they say no to everything and everyone。
Madhu Balaji
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