Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than one million copies sold! Essentialism isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done.

“A timely, essential read for anyone who feels overcommitted, overloaded, or overworked.”—Adam Grant

Have you ever:

Found yourself stretched too thin?Simultaneously felt overworked and underutilized?Felt busy but not productive?Felt like your time is constantly being hijacked by other people’s agendas?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the Essentialist.

Essentialism is more than a time-management strategy or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution toward the things that really matter.

By forcing us to apply more selective criteria for what is Essential, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices about where to spend our precious time and energy—instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us.

Essentialism is not one more thing—it’s a whole new way of doing everything. It’s about doing less, but better, in every area of our lives. Essentialism is a movement whose time has come.

*Includes a downloadable PDF featuring the 21-day Essentialism Challenge

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Customers say

Customers find the book quick and easy to read. They appreciate the truly helpful content and relatable ideas. However, some readers feel the book is highly repetitive and monotonous.

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9 reviews for Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

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  1. Amazon Customer

    I just finished a wonderful book called Essentialism by Greg McKeown
    I just finished a wonderful book called Essentialism by Greg McKeown. He talks about the disciplined pursuit of less. A wonderful mantra for business and for our personal lives. I don’t say this often, but this is a book I wish I wrote but am so grateful to have it to share with friends and family. Ripe with the wisdom of the role of simplicity, focus and being present, it has a clarity of thought that is rare in most books.Have you ever said one of these phrases….“I’m stretched too thin”“My plate is too full”“Someone else is controlling my day””I can’t say no””I don’t know what to do first”The book has a clear and simple premise that resonates with my own world view. We all need to do less stuff and be more focused on things that truly matter. Greg preaches not doing essential things, but adopting an essentialist way of being in the world. It is an important distinction.To help illustrate the theme, Greg uses a wonderfully accessible metaphor of our bedroom clothes closet.How many things do you own in your closet that you never wear? If you were truly honest, you probably wear 20% of the clothes hanging up or in your wardrobe. The other 80% are things that you say, “well if I lose a few pounds” or “maybe that disco style will come back” or “I can’t get rid of that shirt that I never wear for sentimental reasons.”Can you prune out your work like you should clean out your closet?So much of our day and time is spent on the non-essential. We stuff our work days filled without time to think or get deep into a few critically important activities. Instead we sit in endless meetings that repeat the same information over and over again.Greg suggests saying no if you can’t say, Hell Ya! If you are on the fence, say no.I’m one of those guys who keep a NOT to do list of things that waste my time. I believe in the power of focus especially for marketing professionals. When asked to do something, I like to take a deep breath before responding and ask a few questions to understand why it is important. If its another tactical idea, I like to say, “I’ll put it on our list of things to consider” when we are thinking about executing at a tactical level.But more often than not, with all due props to Nancy Reagan, I like to just say no. No. I can’t be distracted by your lack of planning. No I can’t be distracted by an idea that just popped into your head and distracts me from what I deem essential. And especially no I won’t work on something you haven’t thought through clearly enough that it warrants time on a calendar.No. I’m not going to waste time on something that we don’t have funds for and, if we did would require me removing another project from the list.Becoming an EssentialistWhen you know where you are going and your vision is clear, you have crisp criteria to measure activities. Will this help me achieve my goals that I have carefully evaluated for our business? If no, then I shouldn’t be doing it. It would be nice to do but I don’t want to interfere with my core efforts.Often people feel obsessed about doing whatever is asked of them. They can’t say no just like they can’t streamline the clothes in their closet. When everything has equal weight, nothing is of real value.Are you focused on the disciplined pursuit of the essential?There are many great practical ideas in this book which sets a clear course to help you find the essential activities that are right for you and your life. You need space to think. The problem is that we don’t take the time to discern among choices. We need to have habits that allow us to think.W.I.N.There is an example of a coach who has an extraordinary winning record in high school rugby. Greg tells the story of WIN – the coach insist that the team is always winning. But in this case WIN stands for WHAT’S IMPORTANT NOW. He gets the team focus on this moment, this play not the error they just made.The coach, Larry Gelwix, figured out how to keep his team in the present moment. He doesn’t want them worrying about next week’s game or the error they just committed. He wants them focused on what is important now. Powerful. Essential. Wise.Do you turn things off?Do you schedule thinking time on your calendar? Are you so over scheduled that your day is 100% filled without room for the unexpected? Do you plan time to think or are you just so busy with so much nonessential work that you use it as an excuse to only react?Reading this book is essential if you want to clear away the clutter of work that waste your time and provides virtually nothing of real value to help you achieve your life goals. There are precise examples of what a non-essentialist does versus an essentialist. And they are instructive and valuable guideposts throughout this book.Now, excuse me while I drop some old clothes off at Goodwill.

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  2. L. Pressler

    Good Read!
    I bought this for the obvious reason to help me prioritize and use my time wisely. Easy, quick, informative and helpful. I have recommended it to my over achiever coworkers. Puts life into perspective!

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  3. T. L. Cooper

    What’s Essential? What’s Nonessential? Who Decides?
    Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown offers encouragement and guidance to approach life from a direction that focuses on what is essential instead of trying to do/be everything. I had been looking forward to reading this book so much I almost started it when it arrived even though I was reading 4 or 5 other books at the time… Yes, I needed a lesson in essentialism. McKeown writes in an easy to understand format and presents some ideas that are quite relatable, yet I couldn’t help but feel like this book is written from a place of privilege and therefore isn’t as universal as it seems. When McKeown offers the example of a CEO whose doctor suggested he take a year off to address his health issues, I guffawed. Seriously? Who can actually do that? I can’t even imagine a doctor making that suggestion. This is only one example of the privilege bleeding off the pages in the anecdotes he shares to make his points. I kept wondering who picks up the slack for the person who decides something isn’t essential but that thing still has to get done. Maybe this is because that’s my experience in life. I have often been the one left to clean up the messes of people who have decided something isn’t important enough for them to do even though it has to get done. The idea presented in the book seemed to be that if it isn’t essential to your goals, it isn’t essential, but that’s just not always reality. What’s essential to one person might not be to another, and what isn’t essential to one person might be absolutely essential to another. Granted he also often talks about the benefits of determining what’s essential to a team’s goal(s) in a job setting. Essentialism also offered some insights into the pitfalls of looking busy, feeling busy, and creating busy-ness because of an inability to focus on what is essential. He presents the idea of questioning doing things that don’t contribute to one’s overall goals in life in way that makes it feel like common sense. As a general concept, I like the idea of essentialism and I even like this book for the most part, but I think much of it is more aspirational than realistic. So, to be honest, my reaction to Essentialism is really mixed. I really wanted to love Essentialism, but I didn’t quite make it there. I definitely didn’t hate it either. I like Essentialism enough that I would recommend it but with the caveat that it doesn’t apply to everyone equally. All that said, I am excited about applying some of concepts to scheduling my work and my life, and I recognize that my ability to do that means I have a certain amount of privilege in my life that some people don’t have.

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  4. Phinsap

    Useful book
    Through no fault of my own, I haven’t finished reading this book, but I continue to read. Frequently I will read a few pages then take a couple of days to a week to digest and see how the information can fits in my life. Thought at first I’d only get partial benefit from it as I’m retired. But that ain’t true. The demands of life don’t evaporate with retirement they just have different names. With this book my backbone has stiffened and my expectations have risen. Not an easy book, but one worthy of my time.

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  5. Fausto Felix Lopez

    I really like the stories, explanations and how applicable the different ideas are in daily life

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  6. SC

    Practical book about how to see life and work in a simpler way

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  7. abdelrahman

    This book on essentialism offers a lot of valuable insights and practical ideas for focusing on what truly matters in life. The author presents compelling arguments for simplifying our lives and prioritizing the essentials, which can be quite eye-opening and inspiring.However, the content can feel somewhat repetitive as the book progresses. The core concepts are reiterated multiple times, which can make the reading experience feel a bit drawn out. Despite this, the book is still worth a read for anyone looking to streamline their life and focus on what’s most important. Just be prepared for a bit of repetition along the way.

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  8. Amazon customer

    I am here after reading this book. I have got it from cocoblue seller. The copy is original and the page quality is super you can trust this seller. And the content of the Book is worth reading.

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  9. Giulia

    I have re read this book already twice and it’s so direct and well written it’s one on my favourites on the subject

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