Essentialism Book Summary
Essentialism (2014) teaches you how to do better by doing less. By offering practical solutions for how to get your priorities straight, Essentialism helps you to eliminate all of the junk in your routine that’s keeping you from being truly productive and fulfilled.
About the Author
Greg McKeown is an author and management consultant who has coached at companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter and LinkedIn. He holds an MBA from Stanford University, where he co-created the course Designing Life, and is also the author of the best-selling book Multipliers.
In order to avoid drowning in unnecessary work, you need to adopt the principle of essentialism.
Our lives are so jam-packed with tasks and responsibilities that we struggle to identify which of them are the most important to us, that is, our priorities. Even if we make a concerted effort to go through all our tasks and pick out the ones we should prioritize, we still end up with too much on our hands.
This overload of stuff massively hinders our productivity. Luckily, however, we can get our priorities straight by adopting essentialism.
Essentialism focuses on four main points:
Do less, but do it better. The cornerstone of essentialism is the never-ending task of identifying the less important things in your life to cut out, and doing what’s left over to a higher standard.
Reject the notion that we should accomplish everything, and choose instead specific directions in which you can excel. Essentialism isn’t about making tiny progress in many directions. Instead, choose a direction and make great strides in the things that matter most to you.
Constantly question yourself and update your plans accordingly. The process of deciding what’s worth doing and what should be let go is ongoing. The essentialist is always deciding whether what she is doing is actually worth her time or if she should invest her time and energy in a more productive area.
Finally, once those few vital tasks have been distilled from the trivial many, the essentialist wastes no time in ensuring that the changes are put in place.
While all that might seem easy, most of us are actually far from the mark. In the next few blinks you’ll discover how far away most of us are from the essentialist approach.
Lessons From The Book
1
In order to avoid drowning in unnecessary work, you need to adopt the principle of essentialism.
2
If we become overwhelmed by our tasks, then we lose our ability to make choices for ourselves.
3
Embrace the idea of “less but better” and accept trade-offs as an inherent part of life.
4
Giving yourself space to escape and seeing the bigger picture will help you pick out the vital from the trivial.
5
Get your creative juices flowing by playing – just don’t forget to give yourself time to rest.
6
Be ruthless in cutting away things that aren’t essential.
7
Say “no” to nonessential tasks and plan the essential ones carefully.
8
Stop doing unnecessary things by withdrawing from failures and setting boundaries.
9
Keeping on top of what’s important requires that you eliminate what slows you down and that you prepare carefully.
10
An essentialist life centers around yourself, a routine and proceeding step-by-step.