Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown offers encouragement and guidance to approach life from a direction that focuses on what is essential instead of trying to do/be everything. I had been looking forward to reading this book so much I almost started it when it arrived even though I was reading 4 or 5 other books at the time... Yes, I needed a lesson in essentialism. McKeown writes in an easy to understand format and presents some ideas that are quite relatable, yet I couldn't help but feel like this book is written from a place of privilege and therefore isn't as universal as it seems. When McKeown offers the example of a CEO whose doctor suggested he take a year off to address his health issues, I guffawed. Seriously? Who can actually do that? I can't even imagine a doctor making that suggestion. This is only one example of the privilege bleeding off the pages in the anecdotes he shares to make his points. I kept wondering who picks up the slack for the person who decides something isn't essential but that thing still has to get done. Maybe this is because that's my experience in life. I have often been the one left to clean up the messes of people who have decided something isn't important enough for them to do even though it has to get done. The idea presented in the book seemed to be that if it isn't essential to your goals, it isn't essential, but that's just not always reality. What's essential to one person might not be to another, and what isn't essential to one person might be absolutely essential to another. Granted he also often talks about the benefits of determining what's essential to a team's goal(s) in a job setting. Essentialism also offered some insights into the pitfalls of looking busy, feeling busy, and creating busy-ness because of an inability to focus on what is essential. He presents the idea of questioning doing things that don't contribute to one's overall goals in life in way that makes it feel like common sense. As a general concept, I like the idea of essentialism and I even like this book for the most part, but I think much of it is more aspirational than realistic. So, to be honest, my reaction to Essentialism is really mixed. I really wanted to love Essentialism, but I didn't quite make it there. I definitely didn't hate it either. I like Essentialism enough that I would recommend it but with the caveat that it doesn't apply to everyone equally. All that said, I am excited about applying some of concepts to scheduling my work and my life, and I recognize that my ability to do that means I have a certain amount of privilege in my life that some people don't have.



Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including:


Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood
The Visit (Black Stars) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Collected Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning


Reviews will be posted as I finish these books.



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