Effortless

Greg Mckeown is an accomplished public speaker and author. He has spoken at Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Pixar, Salesforce.com, as well as at Stanford University and the World Economic Forum. His first book, Essentialism, was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Greg McKeown is also the coauthor of Multipliers. His blog for the Harvard Business Review is consistently ranked highly, as is his podcast What's Essential. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University, Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, and Harvard University.

Lots of people feel burned out at work today — they have too much to do. If that's you, consider for a moment that the solution probably isn't to work harder. A better approach might be to make your most essential things easier, and your distractions harder to do. That's the essence of "effortless".

Specifically, to achieve more, and to stack the deck in your favor, take the three effortless steps:

Step #1 — Get into the EFFORTLESS state. The first step towards making the right things effortless is to clear the clutter in your head and heart. Simplify your processes to make your work easier to do. To feel more fully present in each moment:

Step #2 — Take EFFORTLESS action. Once you're in the effortless state, you then simplify processes to make the work easier to do consistently. Do that by:

Step #3 — Achieve EFFORTLESS results. Most effortless actions will generate linear results, but if you're smart, you'll work towards generating residual or maybe even exponential results. To produce great results again and again:

1. Don't try and work harder all the time. Always look for smarter ways to work. One great approach is to make your essential tasks easier to do, and your distractions harder to do.
2. Always look for ways to simplify your processes, so you make the right things easier to do consistently well.

Greg McKeown is a well-known author. His first book, Essentialism, became a NY Times bestseller, and this book is heading down the same path. The basic premise of Effortless is if you're feeling burned out, like you have too much to do, welcome to the crowd. The solution isn't to work harder. A better approach is to make your essential tasks easier to do, and your distractions harder to do. Simplify your processes, drop what doesn't add value, and get into a state where you can do the right things effortlessly.

What I did like about this book is it's very hands-on and practical. The author doesn't just make suggestions, he gets into the details about how to make the right things easier to do. I like that. When you're a fan of self-education, you don't just need formulas, you need context so you can adapt and make it happen in your life and in your career circumstances. As Greg McKeown says, "When you simply can't try any harder, it's time to find a different path".

Do the right things, by all means, but also do them the right way. I like that philosophy. Great book.