Essentialism

　　你是否曾發現自己忙到分身乏術？你是否曾覺得工作過度又未能充分發揮實力？你是否曾發現自己專做不重要的事？你是否覺得忙碌不堪卻缺乏生產力？就像你總是在移動，卻從未到達任何地方一樣？

　　作者以「少，但是更好」做為本書的核心概念，闡述為什麼讓生活化繁為簡如此重要。一旦有「事事都重要」、「有沒有辦法做好所有事」的想法，不管什麼請託、要求都攬在身上，結果就是自己愈繃愈緊，焦頭爛額，反而工作生活兩頭落空。

　　為了達到「專準主義」（Essentialism）的狀態，作者在書中以三步驟來解釋：第一，精挑：要判斷出目前什麼事情才是首要，先問問自己，「現在所做的事情，是否值得投入？」如果不是，應該要勇敢拒絕。要成為「Ichoose to」，而不是「I have to」的人。第二，簡化：如何刪除瑣碎無謂的枝節。第三，準確執行：如何移除障礙，讓執行過程減少阻力與痛苦。

　　本書不是教你如何在最短的時間內完成最多事情，而是教你如何只做正確的事。本書談論的並非時間管理或提升生產力的策略，而是提供一個系統性的方法，教你如何在個人和專業領域中變得更有效率、更有生產力和更有影響力。

　　最終，你會過忠於自己的生活，而不是別人期待你過的生活。

　　Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin?
　　Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized?
　　Are you often busy but not productive?
　　Do you feel like your time is constantly being hijacked by other people’s agendas?
 
　　If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the Essentialist.
 
　　The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done.  It is not  a time management strategy, or a productivity technique. It is asystematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter.  

　　By forcing us to apply a more selective criteria for what is Essential, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices about where to spend our precious time and energy – instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us.

　　Essentialism is not one more thing – it’s a whole new way of doing everything. A must-read for any leader, manager, or individual who wants to learn who to do less, but better, in every area of their lives, Essentialism is a movement whose time has come.

　　★本書中譯版《少，但是更好》由天下文化出版。

作者簡介

葛瑞格‧麥基昂Greg McKeown

　　擁有史丹福大學MBA學位，身為專準主義（Essentialism）的奉行者，葛瑞格在全世界巡迴演講、教授，以及寫作關於在生活及領導方面實行專準主義的重要性。曾受邀至著名企業如蘋果、谷歌、Facebook、LinkedIn、Salesforce.com、賽門鐵克，以及Twitter演講。他同時也是《哈佛商業評論》最受歡迎的部落客。葛瑞格在史丹佛大學與人合開「設計精簡生活」（Designing Life, Essentially）課程，並曾獲世界經濟論壇任命為「青年全球領袖」（Young Global Leader）。

　　Greg McKeown writes, teaches, and speaks around the world on the importance of living and leading as an Essentialist. He has spoken at companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Salesforce.com, Symantec, and Twitter and is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn Influencer’s group. He co-created the course, Designing Life, Essentially at Stanford University, was a collaborator of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Multipliers and serves as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum. He holds an MBA from Stanford University. www.gregmckeown.com