Effortless - Greg McKeown

Description

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ESSENTIALISM COMES A GUIDE TO MAKING THE MOST IMPORTANT TASKS EFFORTLESS

The intricacy of modern life has created a false dichotomy between things that are 'hard and important,' and those that are 'easy and trivial.' Everything has become so much harder than it ought to be. But, Greg McKeown, bestselling author of Essentialism, says, there is a third alternative. In Effortless, he offers practical strategies for making the most vital tasks the easiest ones. Honed over the better part of a decade, these strategies include:

· Asking 'What Step Can I Remove?' (accomplish more, in fewer steps)
· Having the Courage to Be Rubbish (prioritize progress over perfection)
· Deciding What 'Done' Looks Like (don't keep running after you pass the finish line)

McKeown's philosophy of essentialism has helped thousands to eliminate nonessential activities and focus on the few that really matter. Working out what is essential is the first step - making these tasks effortless is the next. Effortless will show you how.

Review

I've not read the author's first book "Essentialism", but I felt that this book was a standalone work that can be read independently, although it is a follow on book.

I thought the first part of the book was overly wordy and was trying too hard to sell the idea of "effortless".  A little like an infomercial, it promised many times that I would be able to make things more "effortless" and gave examples of people who had. However, I wanted the "how to" now and not be made to wait for it. Once I got through the first part of the book it was fine, and the "how to's" rolled off the page and I was gratified at last.

You may be familiar with the term “work smarter… not harder”, it originated in the 1930s from a man called Allen F. Morgenstern. In essence I felt that this is what this book was trying to say, but giving real world up to date examples. The book is certainly current as one such example was making masks for Covid -19. It was these parts of the book that I enjoyed the most, reading about how people had transformed processes or simplified their work. In fact this is a technique of "telling stories" that the book itself recommends.

The key concepts of effortless are recapped at points throughout the book so you can easily get a quick reminder without reading the whole book again. Another chestnut of advice from my childhood of "less haste, more speed" is also expanded on in the book to provide evidence of why "Mother knew best" afterall!

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review. This book is published on 27 April 2021.