The Power Of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential

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The Power Of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 2,348 ratings · 301 reviews

With the countless distractions that come from every corner of a modern life, it's amazing that were ever able to accomplish anything. The Power of Less demonstrates how to streamline your life by identifying the essential and eliminating the unnecessary freeing you from everyday clutter and allowing you to focus on accomplishing the goals that can change your life for the...more

Hardcover, 170 pages

Published January 1st 2009 by Hyperion (first published 2008)

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Apr 04, 2012 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: nonfiction

This book can change your life. It did mine before I was finished reading it, and that was totally unexpected by me. I thought the book was about paring down the material things in life, but it's only marginally about that. It's about finding what's important and essential in your life and getting back control and personal time to do the things you love.

The book is easy to read and could be a fast read, but I suggest you take your time. Try out some of the suggestions. They work! The concepts i...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Nathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read it in less than a week, and I loved every sentence of it. If you want something, get it. If you want everything get it all, just one thing at a time. Live in the moment, whatever you're doing, do that, and only that. Slow down, and be happy.

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Aug 28, 2012 Jeff Yoak rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-collection, read-in-2012, physical-on-hand

I've looked for some time for a good secular book that looks into notions of things like meditation, mindfulness and such without all the mysticism. This book is squarely non-mystical and glances that target. Unfortunately, I couldn't get all of the value out of the audiobook as much of what I think will be valuable are exercises to be written down and done, practices to include in 10k, 30k and 40k gtd reviews and other things that you can't simply remember. I finished the audio a few days ago a...more

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May 04, 2013 Lyle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Leo addresses many important issues in improving your life, such as the power of habit, and how one should make only small changes at a time.

I read this book already sold on becoming a minimalist, and wanted some practical advice. I like Leo's writing style - very friendly and helpful, and shows the wisdom of experience.

However, despite his emphasis on making small changes, it isn't clear how to get started with his program. Each chapter gives a different strategy and it's not clear how to apply...more Leo addresses many important issues in improving your life, such as the power of habit, and how one should make only small changes at a time.

I read this book already sold on becoming a minimalist, and wanted some practical advice. I like Leo's writing style - very friendly and helpful, and shows the wisdom of experience.

However, despite his emphasis on making small changes, it isn't clear how to get started with his program. Each chapter gives a different strategy and it's not clear how to apply them all together.

He talks about having One Goal at a time (6-12 months). But also three projects (1-4 weeks each), one of which should be related to the goal. So, from where do I draw my other projects? We should also have three Most Important Tasks for the day. One of the MITs should be related to one of your goals - but wait, you should only have One Goal. And then later he says each MIT should be goal-related, or related to one of your three projects. And to batch small tasks like email.

You should do all the MITs first thing in the day, just after drinking some water to wake you up. But wait - what if I can only a task at the office? Or only when I'm out and about? Or only in the evening? And when exactly am I supposed to get in that meditation, exercise, or a healthy breakfast? So I personally start with the meditation, then exercise, and breakfast. I set up MITs for personal things. If one of them is small I might do it before work or during break. Then I get to work, and set up my MITs, and start working on a work-related one. But I do most of my personal MITs in the evening.

His lack of distinction between work and personal life makes things problematic for those of us who have day jobs. He says to just have three projects, split between work and personal time. It makes much more sense to me to have two projects at work, and two projects at home, at any given time. He says that at work our boss may be choosing our projects, and we should talk the boss into limiting it to three - so does that leave us with no personal projects? I think he is biased by his own work-from-home experience.

He also says not to make appointments - just schedule time spontaneously with your friends. Well, you may just find that when you do this, they already have plans. It's respectful to other people to schedule appointments.

Then he talks about making a Short List of five priorities. He talks about commitments, sometimes as equivalent to priorities, sometimes as a subdivision of them. Don't do anything that's not on this list - but cut down the commitments gradually. How are these priorities/commitments supposed to be related to the goals/projects? He doesn't really explain. He says he has only four priorities: Spending time with his wife and kids, writing, running, and reading. So, I guess he doesn't have any other friends. He never visits any other family. He never spends any time managing his money. He never participates in community activities, or takes any interest in politics. It doesn't seem that eating is even a priority for him.

Maybe I'm being picky, but I have a hard time making this whole approach practical. It seems that Leo is quite content with his selection of activities, never desires to do anything else, and is an introvert of the extreme order. But damn, he is a nice guy, and inspiring. I want to follow his system, but I think it needs tweaks, for me.(less)

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Nov 21, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 3 of 5 stars

This short book addresses the issues we all face of having limited time and many things to do. Babauta addresses the issues of attention, productitivy and motivation as he gives advice to help you do less, but do it better. One of his key concepts is to only make one change at a time. Trying to change too many things at once is a recipe for failure. Another concept is to start small. When we go to make a change, the tendency is to make a big change, but that can be hard to keep up. If you start...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Aaron Maurer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

A very simple book(go figure). Very short and to the point. One of my goals this past year has been to not get so overwhelmed with multiple project at school(teacher), life, hobbies, and with my family. I have been reading various books to help me learn how to take things, slim them down, and slowly eliminate the unnecessary things in my life and To Do list.

This book has proven to be a great help in helping me establish some patterns and habits. This summer for example I took a break from all s...more

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Oct 30, 2010 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: self-help, personal-growth, organization, time-management, simplifying

I used to read Leo's blog, Zen Habits, so most of this book was familiar. He writes about time management, productivity, organization, prioritizing, simplifying, single tasking, focusing, etc. Even though there was nothing really new or extremely original here, it does help to remind myself of some of these ideas. The book was short, straightforward, and easy to read through quickly. I did pull out my notebook and answer questions about what my values are, what my goals are, what I love, what's...more I used to read Leo's blog, Zen Habits, so most of this book was familiar. He writes about time management, productivity, organization, prioritizing, simplifying, single tasking, focusing, etc. Even though there was nothing really new or extremely original here, it does help to remind myself of some of these ideas. The book was short, straightforward, and easy to read through quickly. I did pull out my notebook and answer questions about what my values are, what my goals are, what I love, what's important to me, and so on, so he got me thinking. He recommends setting just one big goal at a time, something that will take 6 months to a year, and then breaking that down into subgoals that take about a month, then weekly goals. Every day you choose the three most important tasks to accomplish that day and one of these should be leading toward that weekly goal, thus ultimately toward your "One Goal."

One of Leo's big things is to encourage us to feel more accountable by talking about our goal as much as possible so people will check up on our progress. So in that spirit, I will share that my One Goal (yes, it's always capitalized for some reason) is to completely clean, organize, and paint my house in the next year, to get it in the kind of shape it would need to be in to sell, even though we have no plans to sell. I broke that down into my monthly goals. Each room in the house gets a month for me to deep clean, declutter, and paint. Then there are leftover months to focus on things like outdoors, organizing the garage, repairs, and closets. For the first month I chose getting control of the clothes by completely catching up all laundry and ironing and also weeding through all our clothes to donate what we don't wear anymore or what doesn't fit, etc. Then, of course, all through the year I'll have to continue to maintain the rooms I finish and keep up with the laundry and cleaning.

I plan to really start on Monday, November 1 and I'm going to give it 14 months, until the end of 2011, to finish. It does help to have a big plan broken down into little steps. If I really do this, meaning Leo has managed to give me the motivation and tools to make this work, then I will definitely come back to this review at the end of next year and change my rating to 5 stars!(less)

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Sep 09, 2009 David rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who tried GTD and are not executives!

This book is split into 2 parts, a philosophy or approach to life/work and then a second half of actions to put it in place.

I have been looking for a book on organization/work flow for some time that I related to and found a connection to and a sense of "OF COURSE!". This book did it for me. I had looked into Getting Things Done and tried to implement some of them. I kept "Getting things done in my organization system" and not in the real world.

This book is a summary and distillation of the fr...more

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Apr 27, 2009 getAbstract rated it 5 of 5 stars

How to get out of the fast lane

The next time you’re sitting at a red light, note how many of the drivers around you are talking on cellphones or text messaging. Do your co-workers scurry about, occasionally pausing to converse, even though they’re clearly preoccupied? Most people seem resigned to living in the fast lane, where stress and multitasking are unavoidable realities. Not Leo Babauta, even though he is the father of six children. Babauta believes you can stop the insanity by simplifying...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Bruno Cunha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Bruno by: Abilio de Assis

Como sempre falo, livro bom é livro lido. Existem livros para nos divertir (tem gente que vê novela e Big Brother) e tem livros que acrescentam muito em nossas vidas. Adoro os dois tipos e esse livro “Quanto Menos, Melhor”, do Leo Babauta, editora Sextante, certamente acrescentou muito na minha vida. Esse livro dá dicas simples para você reduzir o estresse. Exemplos práticos e reais, empregados pelo próprio autor, demonstram o poder das dicas propostas no livro. Imagino que ser repórter, escrito...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have some problems with this book. The general principles seem pretty straightforward, but as you read deeper into it, you become confused. 'Pick one...', 'pick five...', 'make a list of three...', 'just one at the time', 'single task - when you showering or driving don't think about anything else', vs. 'use your driving time to think about...', 'write down' vs. 'go paperless' etc. It's all simple and useful, but for a book on setting limitations, it could have a much simpler hierarchy of thin...more I have some problems with this book. The general principles seem pretty straightforward, but as you read deeper into it, you become confused. 'Pick one...', 'pick five...', 'make a list of three...', 'just one at the time', 'single task - when you showering or driving don't think about anything else', vs. 'use your driving time to think about...', 'write down' vs. 'go paperless' etc. It's all simple and useful, but for a book on setting limitations, it could have a much simpler hierarchy of things, so you don't get lost in what's a Goal, what's a Task, what's a Habit and what's a Commitment. Also, the examples could be more diverse - not everyone has a creative job or an office job (or any job for that matter), not everyone lives in a house or an independent household. Of course the reader can apply the tips to her or his own life, but it would be nice if the author himself included some examples showing a different lifestyle than his own (instead of repeating himself quite a few times). I share my room and my desk with my partner, and we share the rest of the house with another person. I may not always be able to make the changes I want in a space that doesn't belong to me. Of course there's ways around it, you can negotiate with your partner or flatmates, and I'm pretty sure the author had to make some compromises with his wife and kids, but he just doesn't mention it. The book tends to overlook other people's needs and habits, portraying them as either YOUR 'quality time' partners, people that help YOU stay motivated, people YOU report to, or people that interfere with YOUR schedule - but not as active subjects with their own schedules you need to respect and sometimes cooperate with.
That being said, I would recommend this book anyway, especially as a guide to setting and pursuing important goals in life. It helps to stop and think what's really important and what's not necessary. I just wouldn't say that it's a simple recipe for a life change that anyone can achieve. (less)

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Jan 22, 2013 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: simple-green-living

I don't know why I like Leo Babauta. That is, I'm not sure what differentiates him from Tim Ferriss in my mind. Babauta openly admires Tim Ferriss, he's had Ferriss on his blog, Ferriss' quote is on the front of Babauta's book, but I can't stand Tim Ferriss and I like Leo Babauta. Why is that?

Well, I think Babauta has many of the same aims -- streamlining your life for your greatest comfort/personal wellness -- as Tim Ferriss, but he's selling it in a different package. Tim Ferriss teaches other...more I don't know why I like Leo Babauta. That is, I'm not sure what differentiates him from Tim Ferriss in my mind. Babauta openly admires Tim Ferriss, he's had Ferriss on his blog, Ferriss' quote is on the front of Babauta's book, but I can't stand Tim Ferriss and I like Leo Babauta. Why is that?

Well, I think Babauta has many of the same aims -- streamlining your life for your greatest comfort/personal wellness -- as Tim Ferriss, but he's selling it in a different package. Tim Ferriss teaches others to believe that Tim Ferriss is EXTREME! and AWESOME! and I think he is, mostly, an impossibly vain charlatan. I find him to be grating and the networking/lifehacking lifestyle he promotes very alienating. Whenever I encounter a Ferriss fan, our conversations tend to finish with me angry. I think, "Don't network to me. Speak with me. Have a conversation or don't but this weird, in-between encounter where you try to play a confidence game on me makes me detest you."

Leo Babauta is nothing like this. Certainly he has a vested interest in promoting his blog, zenhabits.net, but he is always honest about his own shortcomings and his primary interests. He liked spending time with his wife and kids, but he felt like he worked too much to do so. He struggled with smoking for years. He didn't exercise and was overweight. Babauta is pretty frank about where he was before and where he means to go, and he has tried to develop a moderate system for himself that has allowed him to make slow changes in his basic habits. In this book, he offers advice but not self-promotion, and I think that is why Babauta and The Power of Less is (for me, anyway) palatable, and Tim Ferriss is not. This book is basically an extension of zenhabits, and if you like that blog, you'll enjoy the book.

I began reading zenhabits in 2010, at about the same time I encountered The Zero Waste Home blog run by Bea Johnson (http://www.zerowastehome.blogspot.com/), and I found them both to be incredibly helpful sources of inspiration. I had three jobs and was a full-time graduate student, and I was trying to make big changes in my life (ease into vegetarianism, dramatically reduce my household waste, become a runner). Trying to manage all of this was a lot of work for me! Bea Johnson and Leo Babauta certainly helped me make those kinds of transitions with their advice.

Even writing this review is part of one of the goals I created while following zenhabits. As a library science student, I was never able to take a course on Reader's Advisory (it always conflicted with another course I needed), but I still think it's important to be able to offer advice to patrons. So instead I review my books on goodreads, despite the fact that most social networks make me anxious and uncomfortable. Slow growth is important! Maybe in 20 years, and with Babauta's help, I'll be on Facebook.

Nah. Probably not even then.

(less)

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Oct 11, 2012 Ethernight rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: about-personal-development, as-audio, genre-nonfiction, my-library-on-hand, my-library-audio, as-ebook

This book espouses a philosophy that I acknowledge the wisdom of: focus your attention on the things that really matter, in part by cutting the things that matter less. There were some solid chapters with good material--one that summed up a lot of the most valuable aspects of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, and another chapter or on forming or changing habits.

That being said, I didn't feel as though I walked away with the feeling of being fired up about how to apply th...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Ryan Adair rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: technology, productivity

Leo Babauta writes: "There has never before been an age in which we could get so much done so quickly. There also has never before been an age in which we were so overwhelmed with information and tasks, so overloaded with e-mails and things to read and watch, so stressed by the incredible demands of our lives.

"For many people these days, work is a constant stream of e-mails, of news and requests, of phone calls and instant messages, of papers and notes and files. The day starts with an in-box fu...more Leo Babauta writes: "There has never before been an age in which we could get so much done so quickly. There also has never before been an age in which we were so overwhelmed with information and tasks, so overloaded with e-mails and things to read and watch, so stressed by the incredible demands of our lives.

"For many people these days, work is a constant stream of e-mails, of news and requests, of phone calls and instant messages, of papers and notes and files. The day starts with an in-box full of e-mails, and ends with an in-box just as full, and each e-mail represents a request for information or for actions that we don't have time to fulfill. We are drinking from a fire hose of information, with no idea of how to reduce the flow.

"It's stressful and wasteful. And if we stop to think about it, it's not how we want to spend out lives."

And he is completely right. We don't want to live stressed out lives, constantly coming and going but never arriving. We want to live lives that matter, lives that influence others, lives that are slow and thoughtful and deep. We want to live lives that are intentional, lives that create the pace rather than try to keep up with it. And that is exactly what The Power of Less is all about. Slowing down and focusing on one thing at a time, both simplifying and intensely focusing on the task or circumstance directly in front of us.

So how are we to live this type of life? Are we to have a Waldenian character constrained to the woods, or grow with the times and learn to process the vast amounts of information we see in our everyday lives? The author proposes a dramatic middle ground for the way we consume information but not let ourselves be overloaded by it: That is "one where we can still enjoy access to vast amounts of information, still have instant communication when we want it, still get things done quickly—but one in which we choose how much we consume and do."

In fact, everything in the book comes back to this simple statement: "Focus on the essential and allow everything else to drop away."

While the first part of the book deals with the principles of living with less, the second part gets more practical in how to actually implement some of the theoretical ideas at the beginning—goals, projects, tasks, time management, e-mail, internet, filing, commitments, daily routines, decluttering your work space, slowing down, health and fitness, and motivation.

Though pretty obvious, the simple way the author broke down how to achieve goals really stuck out to me: Choose a goal. Break it down into sub-goals. Break the sub-goals down into weekly actions, and those weekly actions into daily tasks. Then those daily tasks are going to be part of your MITs (Most Important Tasks) that you do every day.

There was so much in here that seems like no-brainer common sense but, when you get in the hustle and bustle of life, is easily forgotten. It was fun to have an easy-to-read book that didn't take long at all, to remind me of all the practicalities of living a productive life that is rich in relationships and depth. Thanks Leo!(less)

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Sep 20, 2010 Cara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: life

Ironically, a book about simplicity and "limiting yourself to the essential" has become the eighth addition to my currently-reading list! But I know other people have holds on it, so I only have two weeks to read it before it has to go back to the library.

I read Leo Babauta's Zen Habits blog (http://zenhabits.net/) all the time, and find it challenging and inspiring. Interestingly, earlier this year I was reading Ten Natural Laws of Success and Time Management and contrasting his very organized,...more

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May 17, 2010 Tom added it

We are all overloaded by the sheer volume of information that comes into our lives on a daily, hourly, and even minute-by-minute basis. Leo Babauta, author of the popular blog Zen Habits, offers in this small but powerful book a methodology for increasing one's effectiveness and happiness in work and in life. He focuses on six core principles:

1. Setting limitations
2. Choosing the essential
3. Eliminating the rest by simplifying and decluttering
4. Focusing
5. Creating habits
6. Starting small

As indi...more

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Aug 06, 2009 Caitlin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: creativity

I think this one is really worth 3 1/2 stars, but of course that's not an option here. It's not a bad book, it's just that I think there are better and more practical productivity books out there. I think it's most effective when read as an addition to more rigorous, perhaps method-based productivity books, or if, in spite of having a system, things are still overwhelming you.

It has it's good parts - Babauta makes good points about slowing down life's pace and not trying to do everything at once...more I think this one is really worth 3 1/2 stars, but of course that's not an option here. It's not a bad book, it's just that I think there are better and more practical productivity books out there. I think it's most effective when read as an addition to more rigorous, perhaps method-based productivity books, or if, in spite of having a system, things are still overwhelming you.

It has it's good parts - Babauta makes good points about slowing down life's pace and not trying to do everything at once. Single-tasking, limiting the number of things you divide your attention between, consciously slowing down while driving are definitely all things that help us to be less stressed - but I also wonder how long it's been since the author was in a real-life office environment; whether he ever went to his boss and said "From now on I'm only going to work at three projects at a time". Sure, some bosses may be sympathetic and some people may be able to get away with just doing it and not telling anyway, but I suspect the majority of people won't be able to follow through on this one. From my own experience, generally I find myself in a team that hasn't enough people, where we report to someone who is reporting to someone else, who is reporting to someone else again, and at each level of that heirarchy projects are being invented and pushed down the chain to us lowly minions at the bottom who get stuck with trying to achieve all this with little option to push back. It's a brilliant theory, but I don't think it's terribly practical.

That said, it's quite an interesting book to read - it's pretty well written and the chapters are quite short and split into subsections - very much web-writing style, which makes it good to pick up and put down in short chunks of the day. It makes a good add-on read to a more intensive productivity book such as David Allen's Getting Things Done. It's easy to get carried away with setting up new systems and making lists of everything you want to do and then wanting to start on them all - Babauta's book gentles that feeling and reminds us that if we really want to achieve things, then we need to approach them with moderation and control.(less)

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Oct 02, 2011 Mike Gibbs rated it 2 of 5 stars

While this was a pleasant and easy read, Babauta's approach to personal productivity is a little impractical for normal people. Much of his advice regarding the workplace requires a high degree of autonomy to implement. Additionally, much of his advice regarding the workplace will seem very familiar to those of you who have read anything by David Allen. Every page or two you encounter concepts like project lists, tickler files, one-way inboxes, breaking projects into discrete actions, or having...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Lacey Louwagie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, self-help

It's sort of ironic that my main criticism of this book is that it could have been a little shorter.

Still, it IS a very helpful book in producing more productive habits, and I've been more productive since reading it and applying some of its techniques in my life. Leo Babauta's premise, that by trying to do too much, we actually accomplish less, is completely sound. His admonition to focus in a world full of distractions and multi-tasking is definitely needed.

The most helpful suggestions for me...more It's sort of ironic that my main criticism of this book is that it could have been a little shorter.

Still, it IS a very helpful book in producing more productive habits, and I've been more productive since reading it and applying some of its techniques in my life. Leo Babauta's premise, that by trying to do too much, we actually accomplish less, is completely sound. His admonition to focus in a world full of distractions and multi-tasking is definitely needed.

The most helpful suggestions for me in this book were the "top three" ones. One is that you make a long list of ALL the ongoing projects you're working on (basically anything that can't be accomplished in a few hours.) Then, you choose three of those projects to focus on. You can NOT add any other projects to that list until you've completed all three. In a similar vein, each morning you're instructed to make a list of three "most-important-tasks." This is three tasks total, not three work tasks, three personal tasks, etc. And then, you start working on those tasks immediately, even before : gasp : checking your email. This is the tip that's helped me be most productive, and it's good for me to learn anew to prioritize every morning. Of course, usually I end up accomplishing much more than the three items on the list -- but I always at least accomplish those, meaning that every day the most important tasks get done. I've also been more productive due to fighting the urge to mujti-task, and resisting checking my email more than twice a day (personal) or once an hour (business).

There are a few suggestions in this book I'm going to blatantly disregard, though, like the one about being "present" and not trying to "multi-task" while doing simple things like washing the dishes or driving. Um, you're giving this advice on an audiobook? My guess is that audiobook listeners are expert simple-task-multi-taskers. I am NOT giving up my audiobook time to be more "present" in boring tasks -- not having my audiobook "carrots" would probably make me a lot less productive in taking care of pesky chores, period!

Also, it was annoying that the author assumed his priorities should be your priorities. While the specific advice about dealing with email seemed fairly universal (I think we're almost all overwhelmed by/addicted to our email), I could have done without all the detailed information about how to set up and stick to an exercise routine. And while there's some acknowledgment of how to handle situations where you don't get to dictate your own priorities, he doesn't really have anything to say about people who work jobs where there's no autonomy at all (desk staff, cashiers, etc.) The assumption is that most people reading the book have "office jobs," and the work suggestions will be most helpful for those folks. Still, most of the advice in the book can be modified to fit your particular situation. And of course, like any self-help book, it's only useful if you apply it! Luckily, the ideas in this book are pretty easy to apply (but I was still too lazy to do all of them. :p)(less)

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Aug 08, 2011 Deepak Chaudhary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended

This os a great book get it for yourself and give it as a present anytime you need to buy something for someone. this books shows how we just drowning in a never ending list of things to do most of which do not even matter. It has very practical ways of getting you to figure out what is important in your life and eliminating the rest. The peace of mind you get when the unimportant is eliminated is just priceless. With the important things left like exercise and developing better habits the books...more

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May 01, 2011 Artem rated it 4 of 5 stars

Хорошая книга для тех, кто хочет познакомиться с концепцией "делать меньше". The Power of Less — пожалуй, не самая практическая книга, я вообще с трудом представляю себе кого-то, кроме ее автора, кто смог бы воплотить все рекомендации. Более того, я остался не до конца уверен в действенности метода. Однако кое-что вполне реально перенести в жизнь, что я с удовольствием и делаю. Рекомендую прочитать адептам и фанатам мультитаскинга и GTD. Вы сможете дополнить и обогатить свои техники.

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Mar 09, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-books-goal-52

This book is amazing. It is deceptively simple. It works. I started it in August last year. He has you doing, much, much less, but achieving gargatuan feats in a few months. The idea is you do less, and achieve much, much more. At first it was painful - you pare down to the absolutely necessary and MUST limit yourself to only a few things that you focus on at any given time. For example, if you are making changes in your life - you can only work on one new habit a month. But wow, once you get a...more

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Mar 24, 2009 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: parcbench, how-to

This book changed my life--no joke. A lot of it seems like you've read it before in some woman's mag, but when it's put all together in a book, it's pretty powerful. One of the most useful lessons I learned (which we could probably all use) was single-tasking. We all think we can multi-task and do multiple things at once, but WE CAN'T. We can do mutiple things, but not well. Single-tasking is doing one task at a time, with complete focus, and then finishing it. Not letting other things get in th...more

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May 07, 2012 Julian Pecenco rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks, ebook

Simple and too the point, exactly as you'd expect it to be. A great overview of the Zen Habits site to get started without reading five years worth of blog entries. I used to read the site regularly, but hadn't done so recently, so the book was a wonderful tool to get back into it. I like Leo Babauta's method, and plan to implement it as I continue to work to declutter and simplify my life. I listened to the audiobook version (from the library,) and while it got me interested enough to want more...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zen Habits, Leo Babauta's blog, is one I started following a year or so ago; I recall that the most recent entry at the time dealt particularly with the practice of Zen, which has intrigued me since I started high school. Subsequent entries and now his e-book has reinforced to me that the bulk of his writing deals with the second word, Habits, rather than Zen. Which is fine - Leo gives a very friendly and unintimidating introduction hereon how to change one's habits, and by extension, change one...more

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Jan 05, 2009 Frank rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: life-in-general

I wrote a complete review of the book at my blog at letmypeopleread.blogspot.com (search for it) but I will say. Less is the new more. Ok that sounds crazy, but I've notices a rise in blogs and books dedicated to simplicity. This book was written by the blogger of zen habits blog. I think we've hit an overload in this culture of information, entertainment, appointments, dates etc... Sometimes, it's we must find the essential and eliminate the rest. That is the premise of this books and I'm findi...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Okay, some of the ideas in this book are so obvious that I could have easily thought them up on my own. But the point is that I haven't. And reading this inspired me to do some note-taking in prep for some habit-changing. I really think the methods in the book make change more approachable..realistically doable.

One of the main ideas that stuck with me most is that we fritter away our lives doing so MUCH that the things we really had hoped to accomplish never get our attention. He talks about ho...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Maxine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 50-book-pledge, did-not-finish, health, non-fiction, philosophy, zen, minimalism

This was a DNF for me as I wasn't a huge fan of Babauta's writing style. Somewhat surprising as I like his blog Zen Habits. I think it was a problem of too much at once. Babauta's writing style and his points are those that need to be read, thought on and absorbed. I think the book, although short, was too much too fast.
Of course, one could read the book slowly, but I had taken this out of the library, so it wasn't an option.

The book itself goes into more detail than his blog of the various step...more

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Feb 14, 2010 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: minimalists, the overworked, parents, United States citizens

Right now I have five books that I'm in the middle of, and just can't seem to get the motivation to finish.

And then I pick up this book from the library and NOM! NOM! NOM! in three hours I'm done.

Over the past six months I've been borderline obsessed with books like this and the ideas contained therein. This book is succinctly written, making big ideas fold into smaller ideas well. The pages are 100% content and 0% fluff. An easy read and a great help.

I want to buy a copy to have on hand as I mo...more

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Jan 20, 2010 Miette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading this book at the beginning of 2010 is perfect, as I'm trying to start the year off right, filled with good intentions to make this a better year. I've listened to the Power of Less on the way to work twice through now and have begun implementing several of the many tips Leo Babauta presents in handy lists. I agree with others who have reviewed it that it reminds me a lot of David Allen's Getting Things Done. My favorite tip so far is to start each day by identifying the three most import...more

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About Leo Babauta

Leo Babauta is a simplicity blogger & author. He created Zen Habits, a Top 25 blog (according to TIME magazine) with 260,000 subscribers, mnmlist.com, and the best-selling books focus, The Power of Less, and Zen To Done.
Babauta is a former journalist of 18 years, a husband, father of six children, and in 2010 moved from Guam to San Francisco, where he leads a simple life.
He started Zen Habits...more

More about Leo Babauta...

Books by Leo Babauta

Focus: A simplicity manifesto in the Age of Distraction

The Effortless Life: A Manual for Contentment, Mindfulness, & Flow

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“Principle 1: By setting limitations, we must choose the essential. So in everything you do, learn to set limitations. Principle 2: By choosing the essential, we create great impact with minimal resources. Always choose the essential to maximize your time and energy.” — 5 people liked it

“The Power of Less is perfect for achieving goals: Limit yourself to fewer goals, and you’ll achieve more. At the same time, we’ll look at ways to narrow your focus on your projects, so that you can complete them more effectively and move forward on your goals. We’ll apply limitations to our projects to increase our effectiveness.” — 3 people liked it

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The Power Of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential

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