Essentialism

The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

By: Greg McKeown

Narrated by: Greg McKeown

Brought to you by Penguin.

Have you ever found yourself struggling with information overload?

Have you ever felt both overworked and underutilised?

Do you ever feel busy but not productive?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is to become an essentialist.

In Essentialism, Greg McKeown, CEO of a leadership and strategy agency in Silicon Valley who has run courses at Apple, Google and Facebook, shows you how to achieve what he calls the disciplined pursuit of less. Being an essentialist is about a disciplined way of thinking. It means challenging the core assumptions of "we can have it all" and "I have to do everything" and replacing them with the pursuit of "the right thing in the right way at the right time".

By applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows us to regain control of our own choices so we can channel our time, energy and effort into making the highest possible contribution toward the goals and activities that matter.

Using the experience and insight of working with the leaders of the most innovative companies and organisations in the world, McKeown shows you how to put Essentialism into practice in your own life, so you, too, can achieve something great.

©2015 Greg McKeown (P)2015 Random House AudioBooks

Well researched to bring you the best perspectives of history's inspirational figures

Thank you Greg McKeown for your work that is edited to perfection. It's made your message concise and clear; so your views and borrowed views are easily consumed. I've learnt a lot and look forward to reading it again to dissect more learnings to apply to my life. A tip for readers of this review, you may also enjoy Everything That Remains, by The Minimalists.

Self-help but smart

Self help books rightly have a poor reputation for lots of salesmanship and little substance. But this is a smart, nuanced and pragmatic book. There are lots of useful insights and practical hints that can be applied widely. The basic thesis itself (less but better) is fairly anodyne, but the focus on trying to apply this in a disciplined way is what makes the book stand out. I also enjoyed hearing the author read the book, to give it the personal touch.

Absolutely fantastic!

I’ve already decided to listen to it again at least three times through! I really love the book and all of the concepts! It ties in minimalism, mindfulness and many other very important ways of living so smoothly and gives you a completely whole picture of the kind of life we need to continuously strive for. I’m so grateful to Greg for teaching me to say ‘No’. I really struggled with that before. I’ve gained back so much more time!

Very useful but a little hard work

The overall advice here is very good, useful and clearly articulated. It has really helped shift my own thinking in productive directions. My main quibble is the lack of warmth and humour both in the writing and the author’s delivery. It’s all just a bit relentless. Warmth and humour are not ‘inessential’, as a university lecturer I know that they are essential for making learning engaging and memorable. In the absence of this it’s all just a bit serious all the points are delivered as if they are VERY IMPORTANT the whole time. This meant I listened in small doses to make it less stressful and more enjoyable. Also, a side point, as an academic, I work in teams where lots of people follow Greg’s advice and are very focussed on their own work to the exclusion of anything that isn’t their research. They make for poor colleagues. I realise he has some caveats to his argument, but I do wonder about what it means when everyone doesn’t take on stuff that isn’t core to their life’s purpose, my experience is that this makes them harder to work with for collective goals for the organisation. Just a thought.

life changing

great book. easy to follow with a clear message. thoroughly enjoyed working through this. I highly recommend this book.