Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (utgåvan 2014)

Interesting. I'm not attempting to downplay what's said in this book, but I think "Essentialism" is just Japanese "Minimalism" applied also to human activity and business practices instead of just possessions. That being said, I wish more company executives practiced what McKeown preaches, especially in terms of clarity of purpose for teams in both goals and performance evaluation. This should be required reading for all managers.
I agree with other reviewers that the book was overly long and repetitive considering its message is Essentialism. ( )

I like the ideas put forward in the book. Unfortunately, like so many self-help books, the advice of Essentialism feels classist. Almost all of the examples are geared towards people that are in high paying business careers. It’s a bit harder to imagine applying the suggestions to minimum wage work. Whether or not it can be applied regardless of position, working class, or education level doesn’t seem to have been a high priority for the author. The book certainly makes you want to look at your life and priorities differently. Maybe the advice can work for everyone if they truly commit to it. Still I would have like it a bit better if the book felt inclusive of more socioeconomic backgrounds. ( )

Surprised at the high average rating. It's wordy, waffly and repetitive. Lots of anecdotes and stories from what could only be described as first world uber-privileged problem department. Some good but old ideas regurgitated and repackaged. ( )

"If you don't prioritize your life, others will." I love this quote. The version I've been repeating for years is this, "If you don't write your life's script, someone else will do it for you."

“You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.” There are a lot of thought-provoking quotes by famed leadership author John Maxwell, but this one is aptly relevant to idea of essentialism. There's is simply so much out there of little value, and so much more of it compared with a decade ago, that it's imperative to not let your time get stolen away by the non-essential.

Essentialism makes a persuasive case against allowing yourself to be held hostages to the time demands of modern life that seem to have exponentially increased compared to a generation or more ago. It's hard not to agree with this. But as a counterpoint, I also agree with the philosophy of being a generous giver of one's time and service. I think there's a lesson in both of these approaches and also think this is close to what the author is arguing for. Cut out the non-essential but be service-minded towards the absolutely essential.

There's a spectrum going on here and it's far too easy to end up at the wrong end. The author speaks of the non-essentialist, a person who is thoughtless about how they allocate their time. That's being at the wrong end. But it's also possible to cut yourself off from everything you deem non-essential when in reality you've just cut yourself off from an array of rewarding new experiences. Tough choices. The difficulty isn't really the cutting, but the choosing. ( )

Sometimes you get the right book at the right time. This was one of those books for me. It isn't for everyone. The author purpose is in trying to get you to follow the mantra "less, but better." I don't think this is an easy one to follow and if you are not open, then this book will seem simplistic. It some ways you are right, but for the right audience this can be profound. It was for me. ( )