Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

by Greg McKeown

We all have goals in life. But many do not achieve them. Most of the time, we work to help others achieve their goals. Why? Because we often fail to distinguish between what is essential to achieving our dreams and what is not. We don't decide how to use our most important resource – our time. Instead, we let others decide and fill our to-do lists for us.

We get more and more done, and we have little capacity left for our own goals.

But we can decide to change that! We have to learn to prioritize: We need to separate essentials from non-essentials. We don't have to do more things but less. Instead of dividing our energy among many different activities and making little progress in many different directions, we need to focus our energy on one activity – the one activity that will take us furthest toward our goal.

However, we can only do this if we cut back in other areas – if we say "no" to non-essential tasks.

So before we accept tasks (or set them for ourselves), we need to check whether they are essential. That is, whether they make the highest possible contribution to achieving our goals. And we need to check our to-do list(s) regularly to see if the tasks are still essential. We must rigorously eliminate those that are not.

Of course, this is easier said than done. That's why the author offers numerous practical tips and assistance. Even for situations where you can't just say "no." For example, an excellent answer to the boss's question of whether you can also take on task X is: "Gladly. What do you want me to deprioritize for that?"

You probably won't get any groundbreaking new insights from this book. You'll often think, "The author is right; that's exactly what I should do." That shows you are aware that you are not in complete control of your life. And that is precisely why you need to remind yourself regularly what is essential for you and what is not.

The book is easy to read and entertaining. It contains numerous anecdotes and encourages you to (re-)take control of your life.

🎧 Suitable as an audiobook? Yes, absolutely, and it is read by the author himself.

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Genres

Productivity Minimalism Focus Time Management Personal Development & Growth Decision Making Self-Discipline Business Strategy