The Power of Less – book review

by Tracy

thepowerofless

If you’re a member of the IHMMB forums, you’re probably aware that I’ve become a huge fan of Leo Babauta and his blog Zen Habits. It would seem that my theme for 2009 is self improvement; I previously wrote about my Go Group and how they’ve been a huge force in pushing me to get out there and work towards my goals.

The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life by Leo Babauta is an excellent manual for those seeking to improve their productivity by simplifying their lives.

It provides step by step instructions on how to set goals, eliminate clutter and unnecessary distractions and establish good habits. A good portion of the book is dedicated towards a work environment but with a little tweaking, the same ideas can be adapted for life outside the workplace. The book itself is well organized and laid out and a joy to read.

There is also a free companion e-book Thriving on Less – Simplifying in a Tough Economy that is available to the public at large. It’s worth a read, a lot of the money saving tips aren’t new but I very much like the philosophy of knowing what is enough and being happy with what you do have.

I was so inspired by The Power of Less that it motivated me to start a new project. Ever since I wrote the Go Group post I’ve been thinking of ways I could use my site to help people. Leo says that committing to new habits and routines publicly is a great motivator and one way to do that is on online forums. And so Go Group was born. I envision it as a place where IHMMB posters can journal about their efforts to do positive things with their lives and get support and encouragement and the occasional kick in the butt. I also plan on using it as a place to share links to blog posts and articles that I’ve found inspiring and hope others do the same.

The world seems like a tumultuous, uncertain place right now, what better time to take stock and make the things that are really important to you a priority? Why not pare down to the essentials that make you happy and productive and eliminate as much as possible the things that drag you down? The Power of Less can help you do that.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Tagged as: Go Group, Ihmmb Forums, Leo Babauta, The Power of Less, Zen Habits

  • http://alexshalman.com/ Alex Shalman

    This is a sick book. I’ve been taking my time reading it, and applying things as I go along, so I haven’t put up my official review yet. I will say this though – I highly recommend it.

    Alex Shalman´s last blog post..AlexShalman.com Podcast #011 – Interviewing Rabbi Henry Harris

  • http://alexshalman.com/ Alex Shalman

    This is a sick book. I’ve been taking my time reading it, and applying things as I go along, so I haven’t put up my official review yet. I will say this though – I highly recommend it.

    Alex Shalman´s last blog post..AlexShalman.com Podcast #011 – Interviewing Rabbi Henry Harris

  • http://ihatemymessageboard.com/ Tracy

    Isn’t it awesome, Alex? The beauty of it (and frustrating part for the reviewer) is that he makes it so simple and logical that there is no way to describe it without ripping off the whole book.

    It’s one of those books I’ll read through once to get the gist, and then refer to over and over.

    DM me when you post your review, I’d love to read it.

  • http://ihatemymessageboard.com Tracy

    Isn’t it awesome, Alex? The beauty of it (and frustrating part for the reviewer) is that he makes it so simple and logical that there is no way to describe it without ripping off the whole book.

    It’s one of those books I’ll read through once to get the gist, and then refer to over and over.

    DM me when you post your review, I’d love to read it.

  • http://jayfrawley.com/ Jay

    I also enjoyed the book. I was half expecting (sorry Leo) for it to be a long post, or combination of existing posts, but it was not. It had a lot of value packed into those pages and for $11 it was well worth the price. Good Review Tracy. ;-)

    Jay´s last blog post..The Sunday Ponder

  • http://jayfrawley.com Jay

    I also enjoyed the book. I was half expecting (sorry Leo) for it to be a long post, or combination of existing posts, but it was not. It had a lot of value packed into those pages and for $11 it was well worth the price. Good Review Tracy. ;-)

    Jay´s last blog post..The Sunday Ponder

  • http://www.tumblemoose.com/ Tumblemoose

    Thanks, Tracy.

    It sounds like a must get. I’ll be checking it!

    Review worth a stumble, too!

    George

    Tumblemoose´s last blog post..The organized writer

  • http://www.tumblemoose.com Tumblemoose

    Thanks, Tracy.

    It sounds like a must get. I’ll be checking it!

    Review worth a stumble, too!

    George

    Tumblemoose´s last blog post..The organized writer

  • http://ihatemymessageboard.com/ Tracy

    @Jay, I was half expecting the same thing. I’m sure a good deal of the material has already been covered in the Zen Habits blog, but I like that care was taken to rewrite it all in book form rather than just staple a bunch of blog posts together. I’ll be keeping this one in my office for frequent reference so well worth the $12

    Although @Tumblemoose, I saw on the Power of Less site a tab for “Review Copy” in the top nav bar (of course, I only saw this after I bought and read my copy!). Might be worth a shot to see if they still have some available.

  • http://ihatemymessageboard.com Tracy

    @Jay, I was half expecting the same thing. I’m sure a good deal of the material has already been covered in the Zen Habits blog, but I like that care was taken to rewrite it all in book form rather than just staple a bunch of blog posts together. I’ll be keeping this one in my office for frequent reference so well worth the $12

    Although @Tumblemoose, I saw on the Power of Less site a tab for “Review Copy” in the top nav bar (of course, I only saw this after I bought and read my copy!). Might be worth a shot to see if they still have some available.

Previous post:

Next post: