Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown
Hat tip to Nicole Williams (see her website http://techmarketer.org/) who recommended 
this book on Twitter.
If you’ve ever been frustrated at your work by a lack of clarity (who hasn’t) or felt like you were being stretched too thin, then you’ll get something out of the advice in this book.
I’m a huge fan of any business that opts for simplicity, clarity and doing one or two things really well instead of soo many things averagely. (yes please!)
For me this book was all about setting priorities for your life (work and play) and focusing on what really matters – which of course sounds incredibly easy but in practice is much harder!
Advice from Essentialism
(Headings = mine, all quotes directly from the book)
Priorities – if there are 25 of them then they are NOT priorities!
“The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing.”
“If you don’t prioritise your life, someone else will.”
Embrace minimalism
“What if we stopped being oversold the value of having more and being undersold the value of having less?”
Stop bragging about being busy
“What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance?”
Embrace the following truths:
1. “Only a few things really matter”
2. “I can do anything but not everything”
Block out thinking time from your day
“Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, for example, schedules up to two hours of blank space on his calendar every day.”
Value your health – look after you the ‘asset’
“The best asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves…” “One of the most common ways people – especially ambitious, successful people – damage this asset is through a lack of sleep.”
Here’s to saying no more often!
Happy reading,
C x
The Marketer's Bookshelf 
As you well know, I love this book. Thanks for sharing and for the hat tip 🙂