Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Essentialism

by Greg McKeown

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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.

Reviewed by Hillary on

3 of 5 stars

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So I am all about paring down to the basics these days. I had heard about this book and thought now I can learn how to pare down to the bare bones of survival. I know, I know it is a good dream but not feasible. However, this book did have some good points about boundaries and stuff. Like if your boss wants you to work on Sunday but you reserve that day for the Lord then you tell your boss to suck it and stick to your guns, and somehow you gain respect and your time back.

There is my biggest problem with this book. Supposed you work at Mickey D's. If you tell you boss off there then basically you are SOL and jobless. While this book had some good advice, it is only applicable if you are in the upper economic classes. I mean in the freelancing community the hot topic is, should one take weekends and time off to recharge? I love my job, and I love to write, so I haven't yet reached that crisis point when I tell everyone to fuck off that it is the weekend and not to bother me until Monday. But alas I know some who have. More power to ya. But if my cousin who is a road cleaner (I know there is an official name, but I cant think of it at the moment) tells HIS boss that he is not going to clear the road of snow in the wintertime on weekends cause that is family time, well again he would be SOL.

Again this book is an excellent book if you are upper middle class or richer. It seems that the American consumerism had gotten so big that it busted and now instead of McMansions we all want to go live in tiny houses with a tiny yard and a tiny friends list and a tiny...you get the picture.  But what if one doesn't have the money or the means to get a tiny house custom built. What if you are really poor, and you do that extreme couponing thing and you need the room to store all that stuff. I feel that not everyone would have the ability to put this book into practice. I know that is more of a comment on our social classes than the book itself but still.

I would recommend this book, though. It DOES have some good valid ideas. We say yes to so many things when we need to be saying no.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 3 November, 2015: Finished reading
  • 3 November, 2015: Reviewed