Genre: Nonfiction
Length: 272 pages
Audiobook Length: 6 hours and 14 minutes
First Published: 2014
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Publisher’s Description
Have you ever felt the urge to declutter your work life?
Do you often find yourself stretched too thin?
Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized?
Are you frequently busy but not productive?
Do you feel 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.
The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done. It is not 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 towards the things that really matter.
By forcing us to apply a 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. A must-read for any leader, manager, or individual who wants to do less, but better, and declutter and organize their own their lives, Essentialism is a movement whose time has come.
Quotes from Essentialism
Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life someone else will.
You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.
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?
Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.
Essentialism: only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.
About Greg McKeown
Greg McKeown is a writer, speaker, consultant and CEO of McKeown Inc. He is the author of Essentialism and Effortless and the co-author with Liz Wiseman of Multipliers. Born in England, he currently lives in Menlo Park, California. Visit the author’s website →
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