INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized? Are you often 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. It’s about doing less, but better, in every area of our lives. Essentialism is a movement whose time has come. From the Hardcover edition. Review "Do you feel it, too? That relentless pressure to sample all the good things in life? To do all the 'right' things? The reality is, you don’t make progress that way. Instead, you’re in danger of spreading your efforts so thin that you make no impact at all. Greg McKeown believes the answer lies in paring life down to its essentials. He can’t tell you what’s essential to every life, but he can help you find the meaning in yours.” -- Daniel H. Pink, author of TO SELL IS HUMAN and DRIVE “Entrepreneurs succeed when they say "yes" to the right project, at the right time, in the right way. To accomplish this, they have to be good at saying "no" to all their other ideas. Essentialism offers concise and eloquent advice on how to determine what you care about most, and how to apply your energies in ways that ultimately bring you the greatest rewards.” -- Reid Hoffman, co-founder/chairman of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 NYT bestseller “The Start-up of You” "Greg McKeown’s excellent new book is a much-needed antidote to the stress, burnout and compulsion to “do everything,” that infects us all. It is an Essential read for anyone who wants to regain control of their health, well-being, and happiness." -–Arianna Huffington, Co-founder, president, and editor in chief, Huffington Post Media Group” “ Essentialism holds the keys to solving one of the great puzzles of life: how can we do less but accomplish more? A timely, essential read for anyone who feels overcommitted, overloaded, or overworked—in other words, everyone. It has already changed the way that I think about my own priorities, and if more leaders embraced this philosophy, our jobs and our lives would be less stressful and more productive. So drop what you’re doing and read it..” --Adam Grant, Wharton professor and bestselling author of *Give and Take * “As a self-proclaimed "maximalist" who always wants to do it all, this book challenged me and improved my life. If you want to work better, not just less , you should read it too.” * - Chris Guillebeau, NYT bestselling author of The $100 Startup "Great design takes us beyond the complex, the unnecessary and confusing, to the simple, clear and meaningful. This is as true for the design of a life as it is for the design of a product. With Essentialism, Greg McKeown gives us the invaluable guidebook for just such a project." -Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO "In Essentialism, Greg McKeown makes a compelling case for achieving more by doing less. He reminds us that clarity of focus and the ability to say ‘no’ are both critical and undervalued in business today." -Jeff Weiner, CEO, LinkedIn "While everyone else is still leafing through Lean In or Outliers , get a competitive jump on the new year with....Essentialism... learn how to identify the right things, focus on getting them done, and forget the rest. In other words, 'do less, but better.'” -Forbes “Essentialism is a powerful antidote to the current craziness that plagues our organizations and our lives. Read Greg McKeown’s words slowly, stop and think about how to apply them to your life – you will do less, do it better, and begin to feel the insanity start to slip away.” - Robert I. Sutton, Professor at Stanford University and author of Good Boss, Bad Boss and *Scaling Up Excellence. In a world of increasing chaos and complexity, the ideas and tools of Essentialism turn chaos into commitment and complexity into accomplishment. This timely, well written book is a must read and do for any employee, manager, leader, or parent whoever feels overwhelmed. It is truly the right book at the right time. - Dave Ulrich, Professor, University of Michigan School of Business and Partner, the RBL Group "Essentialism is a rare gem that will change lives. Greg offers deep insights, rich context and actionable steps to living life at its fullest. I've started on the path to an Essentialist way of life, and the impact on my productivity and well-being is profound." -Bill Rielly, Senior Vice President, Intel Security "In this likeable and astute treatise on the art of doing less in order to do better...McKeown makes the content fresh and the solutions easy to implement. Following his lucid and smart directions will help readers fine "the way of the essentialist" - Success Magazine "Essentialism will give you richer, sweeter results and put you in real control, giving greater precision to the pursuit of what truly matters.” -Forbes.com 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. Essentialism isn't about getting more done in less time. It's about getting only the right things done. Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized? Are you often 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. 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. - Jacket flap. Discusses A Systematic Discipline For Discerning What Is Absolutely Essential, Then Eliminating Everything That Is Not, So You Can Make The Highest Possible Contribution Towards The Things That Really Matter. Part I: Essence. The Essentialist -- Choose: The Invincible Power Of Choice -- Discern: The Unimportance Of Practically Everything -- Trade-off: Which Problem Do I Want? -- Part Ii: Explore. Escape: The Perks Of Being Unavailable -- Look: See What Really Matters -- Play: Embrace The Wisdom Of Your Inner Child -- Sleep: Protect The Asset -- Select: The Power Of Extreme Criteria -- Part Iii: Eliminate. Clarify: One Decision That Makes A Thousand -- Dare: The Power Of A Graceful No -- Uncommit: Win Big By Cutting Your Losses -- Edit: The Invisible Art -- Limit: The Freedom Of Setting Boundaries -- Part Iv: Execute. Buffer: The Unfair Advantage -- Subtract: Bring Forth More By Removing Obstacles -- Progress: The Power Of Small Wins -- Flow: The Genius Of Routine -- Focus: What's Important Now? -- Be: The Essentialist Life -- Appendix: Leadership Essentials. Greg Mckeown. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Essence: What is the core mind-set of an Essentialist? The essentialist Choose: the invincible power of choice Discern: the unimportance of practically everything Trade-off: which problem do I want? Explore: How can we discern the trivial many from the vital few? Escape: the perks of being unavailable Look: see what really matters Play: embrace the wisdom of your inner child Sleep: protect the asset Select: the power of extreme criteria Eliminate: How can we cut out the trivial many? Clarify: one decision that makes a thousand Dare: the power of a graceful "no" Uncommit: win big by cutting your losses Edit: the invisible art Limit: the freedom of setting boundaries Execute: How can we make doing the vital few things almost effortless? Buffer: the unfair advantage Subtract: bring forth more by removing obstacles Progress: the power of small wins Flow: the genius of routine Focus: what's important now? Be: the Essentialist life Appendix: Leadership essentials "Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized? Are you often busy but not productive? Do you feel your time is constantly being hijacked by other people's agendas? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the way out is the way of the Essentialist. Essentialism isn't about getting more done in less time. It's about getting only the right things done. Only once we discern what is absolutely essential and eliminate everything else can we make our highest possible contribution toward things that truly matter. By forcing us to apply more selective criteria for where to spend our precious time and energy, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices, instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us. Essentialism is not one more thing to do. It's a whole new way of doing less, but better, in every area of our lives"--Back cover