Book Review: Essentialism by Greg McKeown

In June 2020 the pandemic had just closed my TV writers’ room, I’d gone all-in on freelancing, and I was deep in the say-yes-to-everything phase every new freelancer knows. That’s the version of me who read Essentialism.

That same year, I got ruthless. Fewer clients. Higher rates. Clearer boundaries. I won’t give one book full credit for a whole reinvention, but this one handed me the argument for it.

Greg McKeown’s case: almost everything is noise, a few things matter enormously, and the disciplined pursuit of less — fewer commitments, deliberately chosen — beats the undisciplined pursuit of more. If it isn’t a clear yes, it’s a no.

What I Loved About Essentialism by Greg McKeown

I’ll formalize what I told Goodreads in 2020: the two best career books I’ve read are this and How to Do Nothing. Neither one reads like a “business book,” and neither one tells you to do more. Paring your life down to what matters (and letting the rest go without apology) turns out to be what most of us actually need.

McKeown also puts joyful productivity and actual play at the center of a sustainable working life, which saves the book from reading like a productivity diet. And the engine underneath it all is the trade-off: you are always trading something for something, whether you notice or not. Essentialism makes the trade visible — and once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

What I Didn’t Love About Essentialism

Only the on-ramp: for the first fifty pages, doing less to accomplish more feels counterintuitive — borderline irresponsible if you’re in a season where saying yes feels like survival. (See: me, June 2020.) Stay with it. The logic compounds, and by the back half you’ll be auditing your calendar like it owes you money.

Final Thoughts on Essentialism

Six years and one seven-figure business later, do less, better is still the strategy. Everything is a trade-off whether you notice or not — this book teaches you to pick your trades on purpose. That’s the whole thing, and it’s enough.

My final score: 5 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do I recommend this book? 👍 Yes — one of the two best career books I’ve ever read.

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