One thing I'll say for this Leo Babauta's The Power of Less -- it's a very quick read. So quick that, after I read it a while ago in one sitting, and wasn't too impressed, I was able to skim it again in 5 minutes to remember what's in the book.

There's really nothing new in here that you can't read in other self-help books: goal-setting, routine, doing the difficult first, keeping a positive attitude. One thing that's very popular is forcing yourself to do something (and encouraging yourself) by making artificial commitments to others (exercise partner, publish goals on website).

Rather I would agree with something else Babauta says -- that if you've got passion and enjoy what you do, the rest comes easily. But identifying that activity, and arranging to spend most of your time on it (read "get a job you enjoy") is not necessarily easy and there's no recipe for it.

Refreshing that he takes the other side (or the new popular side) regarding multi-tasking: against. But nothing's black and white. Not even trivial tips like to only look at e-mail twice a day. Sometimes progress and idea-generation comes from the flow -- look at kids who are online all the time while doing their homework. Single-minded focus can be lonely, and not as effective as suggested because it avoids synergy with others.

I guess my recommendation is to divide your reading on this topic in two: for the goals and principles side, read Stephen Covey (or better, read his "wisdom literature" classic sources). For the detailed practical side, there are enough blogs and websites out there to give you what you need in one page, not a hundred.

Here's a tip for e-mail, for example. IMHO more practical than Babauta's limiting to twice a day, or write less. Read e-mail when you need to, but follow this procedure:

1. Delete without reading (based on From: or Subject:)
2. Read and delete
3. Read and file
4. Read and respond

Feeling overwhelmed? This book is the perfect prescription. It is written in a very approachable, simple, yet engaging style. Therein lies its effectiveness. Most of us feel in some type of undertow of to do lists and should have's. Some books of lifestyle advice are so thick they become yet another unfinished task on our to do list. Leo's writing style makes the book not just quick to grasp but also to implement. His recommendations are step wise enough to be easily incorporated into our over-busy lives, and therefore the steps have a chance to take hold and actually be leveraged upon for true change. This is one you'll want to buy for other people after you read it - you won't want to loan your copy out!

The Power of Less has some powerful, counter-intuitive ideas that could lead to a significant change in your productivity, and a reasonable volume of fluff that will be helpful to very few.

For examples of fluff, you could review the "20 ideas to help you maintain your motivation." A few examples are "think of the benefits" and "get excited again." Some of the author's own simplicity principles could have been profitably applied to chapters such as this one.

The powerful ideas, however, justify the purchase price and will yield significant productivity improvements if you can implement them. For example, Babauta suggests that you pick three projects that are most important to you, and complete all three before you work on any other project. This may sound extreme, but Babauta's own personal example suggests the power in the approach. (He has lost weight, quit smoking, become a world-famous blogger, etc, etc, following his own principles.)

What follows is a summary of the book with most of the key points. This ought to help you decide if the book is worth your time:

Introduction:
The Power of Less Principles:
1. Set limitations
2. Choose the essential
3. Simplify
4. Focus
5. Create habits
6. Start small
Simplicity can be powerful
Achieve goals one at a time

Part 1: The Principles

Chapter 1: Why less is powerful
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.
How to choose the tasks that have the most impact? Two options:
1. Examine your task list and ask yourself the following questions:
a. Will this have an impact that will last beyond this week or this year?
b. How will this change my career, my life?
c. How will this further a long term goal of mine?
2. Start with your goals: plan tasks each day that will lead to accomplishing the goals.
What are the things one can apply limits to? Any aspect of your life. E.g.,
The number of possessions that I have
The information that I receive
The number of emails I respond to per day
The number of times I check email per day

Chapter 2: The art of Setting Limits
What to set limits on:
Email, daily tasks, number of projects, number of blogs you subscribe to, amount of time spent reading on the Internet
How to set limits:
1. Analyze current usage levels, pick a lower level limit
2. Test it for a week
3. If it doesn't work, adjust and test again
4. Continue to adjust and then make it a habit

Chapter 3: Choosing the Essential, and Simplifying
Questions to help determine what is essential
* What are your values?
* What are your goals?
* What do you love?
* What is important to you?
* What has the biggest impact?
* What has the most long-term impact?
* Needs vs. wants
* Eliminate the non-essential
* Continual editing process
Ways to apply the questions about essentials:
Life commitments
Yearly goals
Work projects and tasks
E-mails
Finances
Clutter
Regular review
Principle 3 - Simplifying - Eliminating the Nonessential.
Learn to say "No."

Chapter 4 - Simple focus
Principle 4: Focus is your most important tool in becoming more effective
How to use focus to improve your life
Focus on a goal
Focus on now
Focus on the task at hand. Single-tasking is more efficient than multi-tasking because you don't waste time switching gears.
Focus on the positive
How to single-task:
1. First thing in the morning, focus on the Most Important Task
2. Turn off all other distractions while working on the Most Important Task
3. If tempted to check email, pause, breathe deeply, and resist the urge
4. If other things come in, make a note of them, and keep focusing
5. Process email and inbox at regular intervals
6. Take breaks, stretch, move, get outside
How to focus on the present:
1. When you eat, just eat. Experience the food, the taste. Really experience it.
2. Be aware.
3. Be gentle. Don't beat yourself up if you start thinking about past or future.
4. Exercise. Focus on your body, breathing, etc while exercising, not the MP3 player.
5. Daily routines. When you walk, focus on walking.
6. Put up reminders to focus on the present
7. There is no failure
8. Keep practicing

Chapter 5 - Create New Habits, and the Power of Less Challenge
Principle 5 - Create new habits to make long-lasting improvements
1. Select one habit for the challenge
2. Write down your plan
3. Post your goal publicly
4. Report on progress daily
5. Celebrate your new habit
Why it works
* Commitment
* Accountability
* Encouragement
* Inspiration
The Rules
* Do only one habit at a time
* Choose an easy goal
* Choose something measurable
* Be consistent
* Report daily
* Keep a positive attitude
12 Key Habits to Start with
1. Set your 3 Most Important Tasks each morning
2. Single task
3. Process your in-box to empty
4. Check email just twice a day
5. Exercise five to ten minutes a day
6. Work while disconnected, with no distractions
7. Follow a morning routine
8. Eat more fruits and veggies every day
9. Keep your desk decluttered
10. Say no to commitments and requests that aren't on your Short List
11. Declutter your house for fifteen minutes every day
12. Stick to a five-sentence limit for emails

Chapter 6 - Start Small
Principle 6 - Start new habits in small increments to ensure success
Why starting small works
It narrows your focus
It keeps your energy and enthusiasm going for longer
It's easier to handle
You ensure success
Gradual change is longer-lasting
How to apply starting small
Exercise - start with 5-10 minutes per day
Waking early - start by waking 15 minutes earlier
Productivity - Start by focusing on task at hand for 15 minutes at a time
Email effectiveness - start by reducing the frequency of checking email to fewer times per day but not all the way to 2 or 3 times per day
Healthy eating - start with just one change to the diet
Decluttering - start with just one drawer
Part Two - In Practice

Chapter 7 - Simple Goals and Projects
The "One Goal System" - focus on one goal at a time
1. Choose a goal
2. Break it down to a sub-goal
3. Weekly goal
4. Daily action
The Simple Projects List
Make a list of all the projects going on in your life. Anything that takes a day or more to complete.
Now choose just three projects from the list. This list of three is the Simple Projects List. Everything else is on hold until you complete the three projects that you've chosen. You don't get to work on other projects until all three projects are completed. Then you add three new projects to the Simple Projects List.
Tips to focus on completion:
* Have an outcome in mind - what will the project look like when you are done?
* Move from projects to tasks - list all the tasks required to achieve the outcome
* Each day, choose a task to move you toward completion
* Reassess your progress

Chapter 8 - Simple Tasks
Choose only three Most Important Tasks that will be the focus of your day. No matter what else, make sure you get the three MITs done each day. At least one of the MITs should be related to your goals.
Set these MITs the first thing in the morning. Focus on accomplishing these above everything else. Do them early in the day, before distractions. Break things down into small tasks.

Chapter 9 - Simple Time Management.
Batch processing - group together similar tasks

Chapter 10 - Simple E-mail
Limit the number of inboxes - list all the ways you receive information, evaluate each to see if it gives you value, and find ways to combine or eliminate in-boxes
Limit your time with email: Limit the number of times per day you check email; don't check email first thing in the morning, turn off email notifications
Reduce your incoming stream: Create filters to send notifications directly to a folder outside the Inbox; stop the flow of joke emails
Process to empty: Temporary folder of to be filed; have an external to-do system; process quickly; Delete key; Process to done; write less

Chapter 11 - Simple Internet
Awareness - track your usage:
[...]
[...]
[...]
Consciousness: Make a Plan
Set limits and have a purpose to your usage
Focus: Learning to work while disconnected - disconnect from the Internet when you want to focus and get something done.
Set a timer and focus on the task at hand.
When you think of something you need to do on the Internet, write it down and do it later.
Discipline: How to stay away from distractions

Chapter 12 - Simple Filing
1. Reduce before organizaing
2. Simple filing - alphabetical; manila folders,
3. File immediately
4. Have materials on hand
5. Reduce your needs over time
a. Store reference material on line
b. Reduce incoming paper
c. Stop printing stuff
Home paperwork tips
1. Create one mail center in your home for dealing with your mail and incoming paperwork
2. Home in-box - all incoming papers
3. Pay bills immediately
4. Enter stuff into your to-do lists or calendar
5. File immediately

Chapter 13 - Simple Commitments
Take inventory of commitments: work, side work (freelance assignments), family, kids, civic, religious, hobbies, home, online
Make a short list: Does this give my life value? How would it affect my life if I dropped out? Cut down your list to 4 or 5 things
Begin eliminating the nonessential
1. Start with something small
2. Call or email to send your regrets
3. Eliminate the commitment from your appointment
4. Repeat
Learn to say no
Making the time for what we love
1. Make a list of what you truly love to do
2. Eliminate as much of the other stuff from your life as possible
3. Schedule free time so that you're doing the things on your short list
Tips for simplifying your personal life
* What's important?
* Examine your commitments
* Do less during your days
* Leave space between tasks and appointments
* Eliminate as much as possible from your to-do list
* Slow down and enjoy every task
* Single-task
* Eliminate stress
* Create time for solitude
* Do nothing
* Sprinkle simple pleasures throughout your day
* Practice being present
* Free up time

Chapter 14 - Simple Daily Routine
Helps prepare for your day, time to set goals, get exercise, do something enjoyable
Choose 4-6 activities for a morning routine, e.g.
Have coffee, watch the sunrise, exercise, shower, do yoga, meditate, write, read, review goals, write the Most Important Tasks
Evening routine:
Prepare for the next day, unwind, review day, keep house clean, calm yourself, write, exercise
1. Focus on the routines
2. Make them rewarding
3. Log your progress

Chapter 15 - Declutter your work space
Benefits: allows you to focus; provides sense of calm
1. Set aside time
2. Take all the paperwork off your desk and put in a big pile
3. Clear everything off desk except computer, phone
4. Start with pile of papers
Getting down to the essentials
What do you really need to do your job?
Get rid of distracting knickknacks, posters, etc.
Empty entire shelf or drawer at a time
Be ruthless with papers
Keep things decluttered:
1. Keep an in-box for incoming papers
2. Once per day, process the in-box to empty
3. Have a place for each item and type of paper
A simple home: less stressful, more appealing, easier to clean
Thirty-day list: anytime you want to buy something, put it on the list with the date you added it

Chapter 16 - Slow Down
Slow attention:
Pick a simple task to start with
Practice this method throughout the day
Try meditation
Slow working
1. Choose work you love
2. Choose an important task
3. Make sure it's challenging, but not too hard
4. Find your quiet, peak time
5. Clear away distractions, and focus
6. Enjoy yourself
7. Keep practicing
8. Reap the rewards
Slow eating
Take smaller bites, chew each bite longer, enjoy the meal longer.
It takes twenty minutes for our brains to register that we are full.
1. Lose weight
2. Enjoy food
3. Better digestion
4. Less stress
5. Rebel against fast food and fast life
Slow driving
Benefits
1. Save gas
2. Save lives
3. Save time
4. Save your sanity
5. Simplify your life

Chapter 17 - Simple Health and Fitness
Step 1 - forming the exercise habit: Start light. Just 5-10 minutes per day at first. Schedule workout time. Don't allow yourself to miss a day. Don't give up. Get a partner if you can. Be accountable to others. Keep a strict workout and eating log, and make it public. Let the light shine. Enjoy yourself.
Step 2 - Making gradual healthy diet changes
Eat when you are lightly hungry, not ravenous. Eat light foods. Create meal plans with healthy foods. Eat slowly. Eat until lightly full, not stuffed.
Step 3 - Continuation, short-term goals, and accountability.
Continue to gradually increase exercise, adding variety. Continue to eat healthier. Set short-term goals. Hold yourself accountable - log eating and exercise daily.

Chapter 18 - On Motivation
8 ways to motivate yourself from the beginning:
1. Start small
2. One goal
3. Examine your motivation - know your reasons, write them down
4. Really, really want it - must be something you are passionate about
5. Commit publicly
6. Get excited - visualize what it will be like to be successful
7. Build anticipation
8. Print it out, post it up. Make the goal just a few words long.
Ways to sustain motivation when you're struggling
* Hold yourself back at first
* Just start - get the running shoes on and go outside
* Stay accountable - report back daily
* Replace negative thoughts with positive ones
* Think about the benefits
* Get excited again
* Read about it
* Find like-minded friends
* Read inspiring stories
* Build on your successes
* Just get through the low points
* Get help
* Chart your progress
* Reward yourself often
* Go for mini-goals
* Get a coach or take a class
* Never skip two days in a row
* Use visualization
* Be aware of your urges to quit, and overcome them
* Find pleasure again

A constant stream of emails. Instant messages. Notes, files, phone calls, news, requests. Is this really how we want to spend our lives?

"We are drinking from a fire hose of information, with no idea of how to reduce the flow," says author Leo Babauta in his new book, The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life.

Here's the good news: It's indeed possible to find calm in the chaos, according to Babauta, that middle ground where we can enjoy access to the information we want, instant communication when we want it, and the ability to accomplish what we need to.

Discovering what matters
It all comes down to choices, as The Power of Less describes a two-step process for simplicity: Identify the essential, and eliminate the rest by applying limitations to every aspect of your life.

Babauta uses the structure of haiku poetry to illustrate his point. The poet must carefully choose only the essential words and images needed to convey his or her idea. By applying limitations in order to force choices, some of the world's most powerful and beautiful poetry is created.

If an area of your life is currently overwhelming you, says Babauta, try applying limitations. Too many emails? Limit yourself to checking your inbox twice a day, and responding to just five emails each time. Like the haiku writer, you'll be forced to work more effectively.

The art of setting limits
The Power of Less effectively makes the case for limitations as the key to a more tranquil, productive existence. Here are just a few of the benefits of setting limits in one or more areas of your life:

* Focuses your energy
* Helps you achieve more
* Makes you more effective
* Sends a message to others that your time is important

Besides email, Babauta suggests setting limits on tasks like the time you spend on the phone, the number of projects on your plate, and what's currently on top of your desk. First, analyze your current usage, then pick a lower limit and test it out for one week. Adjust as needed, then continue to reinforce your new behavior until it becomes a habit.

The idea of setting limitations is the first of Babauta's six "power of less principles," which also include:

* Choosing the essential
* Simplifying
* Focusing
* Creating habits
* Starting small

The Power of Less reviews each of the six principle in detail, then explores practical tips for implementing these principles in the quest for a simpler, more rewarding professional and personal life.

The scourge of multi-tasking
The Power of Less advocates what Babauta calls "single-tasking" -- focusing on one thing at a time and working as simply as possible to preserve your mental health and improve your effectiveness. By doing less, you are actually becoming more powerful and more effective.

Some other tips for discovering the power of less:

Batch processing -- Group together similar small tasks and tackle them all at once. Ideal tasks for batch processing include returning phone calls, running errands, conducting research, and processing paperwork.

Working offline -- Disconnect from the internet when you need a block of seriously focused, uninterrupted time.

Personal peak time -- Identify the time of day in which you are at your best, and plan to handle important tasks during this period.

Simply put, the advice in the book is practical and down to earth. There is nothing earth shattering or new here, but it is a nice collection of simplifying your life advice. Plus I like the authors style of writing. Its easy to read quickly and it flows smoothly. I felt as if the author really thought out his words and logic of the books flow. Well done!

i cant speak english, so ive read this book with a dictionary. Just one goal: improve my english.

in spanish: sentido común embotellado listo para consumir

The book is good, especially the way the author tells his story and how he changed. He is giving concrete (detailed) examples of how you can do more with less.

The thing I didn't like about the repetition overall the book, Its dancing around the same concept (and around the same examples) through all the chapters

Didn't find anything that is in the book and NOT in the blog.

Its a good read

This book just didn't cut it in my opinion.

I was "captivated" by the title, and thought the book would deliver on it's promise...

When I received it, I started reading.

Yawn. It was a boring read, and didn't deliver on the title's promise at all.

In fairness to the author, the author's blog has solid content which you can read for free...and pay much "less."

With all of the technological advances that have come out lately---usually something to do with phones or some messaging system---I feel like I'm the only person in the world who doesn't care about this stuff at all. Well, maybe Leo Babauta feels the same way.

I really enjoyed his book; his revelations are based on good old fashioned common sense, and that's a rare commodity these days. I've long since given up trying to multi-task, and think using your phone to Twitter is ridiculous; texting's bad enough. If you can't wait to get to your p.c. to post a tweet, you've got issues; by all means read this book.

If you've already managed to ground yourself in a simple philosophy of sticking only to what really matters in your life, this book may not provide anything earth shattering. However, knowing that you're doing the right thing with your time is nice; positive affirmation is good.

I read Power of Less by Leo Babauta at the recommendation of a life coach I respect greatly (and still do despite this book). Who isn't attracted to the notion that we can simplify our life and still be more productive? Unfortunately, that temptation is merely that -- a temptation with no substance at least from this book. I'm glad I borrowed it from the library, rather than purchased it. Here's the summary:

To do less and still get more done, cut to the most essential. Author can't tell you what those essentials are; you have to figure that out. End of book.

Babauta suggests picking no more than 3 goals at a time and then sticking to them till they are all done, as opposed to adding a goal once just 1 is done. That intrigued me for the logistical possibilities but otherwise I wasn't sure why that would work. Babauta also advises to take small steps (exercise first just 10 minutes rather than 30) but that's been advised in numerous other books.

The best I can say about Power of Less is that it's a fast read and a good reminder to simplify, even if it doesn't offer any suggestions on how.

This was a good book - short chapters, very good flow, and some down to earth advice.

I did, in fact, come away with some things to focus on.

Books like Covey's 7 Habits, Pat Lencioni's leadership fables, and Canfield's The Power of Focus are life changing titles -- The Power of Less is not.

Babauta gives a lot of bite-sized morsels that, added together, can make a significant change in one's life. None of them are "oh-wow's" -- they're all very practical, with the author's addition of WHY you should be doing them.

I would have given this only 3 stars, but added the fourth becuase I am awful at finishing books and the flow of Babauta's book was very, very good to the point that someone like me (always starting several books, finishing very few) can get through it in a couple of sessions.

Definitely worth a star for marketing! Toss around words, "Zen," "power," "less," "happiness" and "more," results in a winning combo of the what the today's consumer is aching for. Perhaps other "minimalists" also find the material in this book redundant, obvious and un-original? Though Mr. Babauta's marketing to his built-in target audience is superb. Agree with the reviewer who suggested this is good PUBLIC library material. After all, borrowing books rather than conspicuously consuming them is a very "Zen Habit," non?

First, let me say that the BIG ideas in this book - about single-tasking, focusing on completion, not taking on too many projects at once - are simple yet brilliant and very helpful. However, when Babauta gets down to specifics and his "system," things fall apart a bit. Ironically, this philosophy, based on simplicity, gets a bit convoluted, complicated, and at times doesn't seem completely thought-through. For example, the book prescribes that we focus on one habit at a time, focus on one goal at a time, focus on 3 projects a time, and work on only 3 tasks per day. That's a lot of confusion and multi-focus for a single-tasking book. Also, his strategies seem to fit better for someone, like him, who is self-employed and can work how and when he likes. As a teacher, I cannot focus on three projects at any one time, as I have 35 kids on my caseload with a multitude of needs. Not everything fits neatly into "projects" when you are not a free-lance writer. So, all in all, good ideals, not so great strategies.

It's not often that I'm impressed with a book like this. I read alot in the genre but feel that the simplicity of the message is one that all of us need to hear and put into practice. I am determined to live my life "outside of the email inbox" from now on in order to achieve more with alot less stress and strain. I highly recommend this book!

Imagine being able to do less, but at the same time, getting
more done . . . that's the premise behind THE POWER OF
LESS, a short but powerful book by Leo Babaura.

Its subtitle tells you that this is possible when you learn
THE FINE ART OF OF LIMITING YOURSELF . . . IN BUISNESS
AND IN LIFE.

As the author points out:

* The simplicity I seek in my life is simplicity in what I do. . . . it
[simplicity] boils down to two steps:

1. Identify the essential.
2. Eliminate the rest.

Babaura then proceeds to show how he actually did this by
concentrating on one goal and at a time--and not trying
to accomplish everything at once . . . this simple technique
enabled him to train for and run two marathons, complete
two triathlons, start a successful blog, completely eliminate
his debt, lose 44 pounds, write and sell two successful ebooks,
write the first draft of a novel, and many other things--all within the
span of the past several years . . . in addition, he raised and
made time for his six wonderful kids.

To do anything even remotely similar, you must first be able to
beat the procrastination hurdle . . . here's how:

* Anytime you find yourself procrastinating on an important task,
see if you can break it into something smaller. Then just get
started. Don't procrastinate, but just get started. Once you've
gotten started, you will gain momentum, and will have broken
through the initial resistance barrier, and you'll be much more
likely to continue to the next small task and the next one until
the large task is completed.

Of perhaps the greatest value was the advice on handling email, one
of my biggest problems:

* How many times you check email per day is a function of the kind
of work you do. If you can get away with checking email just once
per day, that would be ideal--you'd have very few e-mail interruptions,
and your email habits would be most efficient. However, for many people,
twice a day is probably more realistic. Others, who need to be able
to get email more often because their job orders are sent through
email (customer service, for example), might want to limit their email
checking to once per hour (perhaps ten minutes at the top of the hour).
Still others might be able to get away with checking e-mail less than
once a day--every other day, twice a week or ever once a week. If you
can count yourself among these people, take advantage of this and limit
yourself to the bare minimum.

I'd write more about this fine book . . . however, if less is truly more, it is
now time for me to devote my attention to some other task that will
help move me closer to one of my weekly or yearly goals.

I am very cautious when I read a self-help book. I am consistently questioning what I read, making sure strategies being presented are implemented with the information in the book.

Leo does an excellent job doing what he is teaching: keeping it simple, keeingp it efficient, and keeping it quick. Within the first six pages you get Leo's 2 steps which are the backbone of the Power of Less. The rest of the book gives tips and strategies, in order of importance, to explain and help the reader implement the steps.

The information is well organized and the strategies are simple to implement.

You may be able to find this information on Leo's blog, but not in such a clear concise manner where you can easily refer back to it, as presented in the book.

Leo Babauta's "The Power of Less" is one self-help book I highly recommend.

A lot of the ideas in this book are just common sense but so many of us need to be reminded of these points! This book was helpful to me in getting my life priorities a little better aligned.

This book provides a lot of good insight on how to eliminate the clutter that can take over our lives. Many of its principles, however, can be found in a lot of similar books; and so some of the concepts aren't new, but they do serve as good reminders. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels he or she isn't getting enough done during the day.

Regarding "The Power of Less" by Leo Babauta, the methodology presented therein is one of the best I have come across. It makes living a life of integrity so much easier for once one defines what is essential in one's life and applies the techniques presented, everything seems to fall into place. Bravo, Leo Babauta.

Like some other reviewers, I was expecting a little "more" from "The Power of Less". While it's not a bad book, it might be too simple for its own good.

When Leo Babauta is on, he's on. One of his better tips is to simplify your life by checking e-mail only twice a day. It's deceptively simple advice that can lead to greater productivity as focus in increased on meaningful tasks vs. wasted responding to "mini-crises" throughout the day. Other business tips--such as using to-do lists and scheduling appts on a calendar--are tips that have withstood the test of time. They work, but haven't we heard it all before...?

And that's where the problem lies. The rest of the book sounds vaguely like every other productivity/self-help/motivational book on the market. "Set small goals, increase those goals over time...tiny steps add up...keep a positive attitude..." When the book moves into exercise tips ("workout five days a week...reward yourself...start out small"), I lost the motivation to continue reading.

Every year I dutifully make a list of New Year's Resolutions. At the end of every year, I review my resolutions and realize that I am no further in realizing them than I was when I resolved them initially!

My big problem: Overcomplicating the process. I've read every time management, goal management, productivity resource out there (or so it seems) starting with Alan Laekin in college through Dave Allen and Stephen Covey more recently. Each has added value to my life, but having read so many resources I want to employ every tip and task management strategy.

Leo's book simplifies the two halves of accomplishing one's "big" goals and daily tasks which keep life operating semi-smoothly: goal defining and time management.

Defining one's goal and values is a valuable process, but is nothing more than an emotional/intellectual exercise if it doesn't turn into action. Managing one's time through processes and tools creates a sense of purpose and accomplishment, but frequently becomes merely a way of creating the illusion of progress though endless busyness.

Leo's book simply describes how to achieve both...defining one's goals and structuring one's time to achieve those goals.

Yes, it isn't a big, complicated book with recommendations for further expenditures on fancy file folders, software, special "management tools." And, that is the beauty of it. You can start now and following a few exceptionally simple steps make progress towards your goals every day. So simple...but not so easy. Yet, so worth it.

Thank you, Leo. I look forward to reviewing my New Year's Resolutions at year's end and being able to check many of them off as realized.

This book is helpful but not a solution by itself .
Without repeating the basis of this book, which I am sure you have read, let me simply tell you that wen you buy this book read it over and think about it .
read it again and take notes then do yourself a favor and apply as much of it to your life as you can .
It is not easy to make a paradigm shift in a mindset or a way of living read , think read think and do .......less.
best of luck on this most personal journey

The Power of Less is a practical book and stands out in a world of self-help books. Babauta knows that people are not perfect in setting and achieving our goals despite our intentions or desires to do otherwise. He wants the reader to understand that achieving optimum performance in our lives comes from making personal time for ourselves. Learning to take that time and live with less, he argues, can lead to more personal satisfaction and contentment. In a world of continuous interruption and obligation, the Power of Less is about focusing on what is truly necessary and the keys to fulfilling personal goals. In addition to the book, which is a short and concise read (the power that less is more, perhaps?), I would recommend his blog as well, which tackles several topics not mentioned in the book, such as marriage, hobbies and spending more time with family. In all, this is a worthwhile book for anyone looking to improve him or herself. I know that it has motivated me to begin waking up earlier as I am no longer accomplishing as much in the evening as I used to due to increased work and family demands. I am on my way to learning to focus on less and thereby weed out the unnecessary and wasteful.

What an insipid, trite rip-off! The author's suggestions are so lame--check your e-mail only twice a day, keep a positive attitude!, get some exercise (regularly)--that you're left feeling stupid for paying the cover price plus s&h. Totally unnecessary bit of publishing.

I'm still not perfect. I'm still less organized then I would like to be. But this author's ideas on time management really helped me. Some of his ideas are unusable for me - for example, I need to constantly check my email for work so disconnecting from the Internet and only checking my email twice a day is not an option for me. Some of his ideas just work better for people who work at home. But over all, this book got me to rethink how I use my time, and I feel better about how I am living my life after reading this book.

For years I have been reading Leo's blog. When I ordered his book I wasnt disappointed!

Leo really walks the talk. He writes in clear and systematic ways and makes it easy to implement.

Goodness knows how he does it, he has about 10,000 children.

I am so pleased that his book is doing well as he provides free information to us all daily on his blog and he deserves all the success in the world.

I am a mother of two children, I work Part Time, I am committed to yoga and trying to balance my life in what can be a mad and crazy world.

The part I found really useful is called: Choosing the Essential (pg 18): Its a series of 9 questions, which make you really think about what and why you are doing some things. Its kind of like stepping back and getting a good look at things.

Thank you Leo. You rock.

The information on the Zen Habits blog is worth exactly what I paid for it: zero. This rehash of the same pablum falls into the same category: insipid triteness.

I was annoyed by the obviousness of it all. Do we really need someone to tell us this stuff? Even worse, do we really need someone making stuff up and telling us about it?

I'm sure that Leo Babauta is a nice guy and a swell father; I applaud his gutsiness in supporting his family with his writing. But the fact is that he's giving life advice based on what, exactly? He didn't discover any secrets through field research or testing, but from thinking about stuff and trying it himself. In other words, common sense and trial and error. In my life, those are two commodities I get for free.

Looking at specifics, is this really something you need to pay money to be told?

* p. 26: "If you can maintain your focus on a goal or habit, you will more often than not achieve that goal or create that habit. If you can't maintain your focus, you won't achieve the goal, unless it's such an easy goal that it would have happened anyway."

* Nearly 150 pages later (p. 163), it hasn't moved forward much, but we at least have some "specific advice," though I doubt it is the kind of thing you need to be told: "Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long... and post it on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and at work. Put it on your computer desktop."

* Or there's the section about the benefits of driving slowly. Not a bad idea, and look!, he even gives some revolutionary tips to help you get started. They include "ignore other drivers," "leave early," and "keep to the right."

If you're looking for a book that tells you that by leaving early you can drive more slowly, by all means buy this book. If you need the kind of help to teach you to move to the right when you drive slowly, please buy this book (and buy it from Amazon! Stay off the road!). If these ideas seem trite, obvious, or pointless, know that there's a whole book full of 'em right here.

Look, I've now done the work for you -- read through the book -- and I'm telling you to save your time and money. If you want a book on living, time management, and life skills that has some research and years of work to back it up, try Neil Fiore's _The Now Habit_. If you'd rather keep the amateur's perspective, but want something that's practical and filled with less intuitive but still surprisingly useful stuff, try Mark Forster's _Do It Tomorrow_. Sadly, Leo Babauta's _Power of Less_ is one that libraries were made for, where you can do what I did: read it quickly, shake your head at the vapid waste of ink and paper, and then return it, glad to have saved your money for more worthwhile things.

Nothing new, interesting, or helpful. He constantly repeats the same things throughout the book, all of which have been said before.
Clear The Clutter With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston Or Eckhart Tolle MUCH BETTER.

I received this book on Tuesday and read it in a day and today (Thursday) my email inbox went from 2000+ emails to under 200! My new mantra -- 10 and 4, archive or delete. If you want advice that you can implement TODAY, get this book. It was a borrowed copy so I am getting my own for my library. I really feel that this book is a treasure that you can pass on to your children :)

What a bunch of dribble from the most self-absorbed excuse for a writer I have ever had the displeasure to read. However, if you really like to be bored, talked down to and have the same mundane crap repeated over and over until you want to send writer Leo Babauta a box of crayons to alleviate his juvenile need to make senseless noise then this is your book. Otherwise, I would suggest an afternoon of watching paint dry - much more rewarding.

First, where you interested in his style you could get it for free in his site. However, I am not moved, interested, or intrigued by his tone. I'm over people who claim to be zone yet spread negativity through sarcasm. He has chosen to go off radar living in Guam! Talk about living with less in a Zen-like state amongst the rest of the population. I find him hypocritical and with no credentials to back him up.

Sorry. Not worth the money, especially when you go back to my first point!

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 your life. His strategy for restoring order is based on six productivity principles, starting with setting limits, since it's impossible to do everything. If you examine your core beliefs, values and goals, Babauta says you can begin trimming away things that complicate your life and focus on what's really important (even if a three-item main project list seems a little short to you). Although the author does not break new ground, getAbstract believes his suggestions and ideas are reassuring and helpful. Plus, it's nice to know that not everyone is crazy.

I've been a fan of Zen Habits for a long time and was so happy to get Leo's book. Been through it several times for his down to earth, simple suggestions for simplifying life and business. I keep it closeby on my desk for easy reference. Highly recommended!

Excellent book. Very clear, effective instructions on how to structure an effective, fulfilling life. I strongly recommended it.

The Internet, including this website, is awash with people who have ways to help us get things done. In both its upper and lower-case manifestations, getting things done in many cases seems to involve special tools, dedicated software programs or tweaks, hours-long seminars, or other complex arrangements that are less "tools" than they are proprietary lifestyles. Maybe those arrangements are necessary. The simple elegance of "The Power of Less," however, suggests maybe they're not.

For reasons I'm not really sure about now, I expected this book to take a more overtly philosophical approach to goal-achievement and life-management issues. The Zen behind the Zen Habits, so to speak. In fact, though, while the underlying philosophy becomes clear soon enough, "The Power of Less" is in fact an eminently practical book, full of tactics, check lists, and hands-on applications that can get readers started on the changes they want to make quickly and easily. (That's not to say that achieving the goals will itself become easier: the author can't change how much effort it takes to write a book, or start a business, or drop 30 pounds. But I contend "The Power of Less" approach of getting from where you are to where you want to be is a very good one.)

The key insight of "The Power of Less" -- and where this book becomes revolutionarily different than most of those others -- is instead of trying to do more in less time, we should ... do less: slow down, do (read, consume, work, email, panic) less, do the fewer things you do better than you did before. The first time I "read" this book I actually listened to the audiobook. But I soon found myself going back to the volume itself to re-read and make notes. For a reader seriously interested in getting more, not only out of her to-do list, but also of her life, "The Power of Less" and the blog associated with it are tools worth returning to.

I have been a follower of the Zen Habits blog for some time now and know first hand the power of Mr. Babauta's advice. This book added to my successes. Sure, it's true that many of his tips are available on his website, however I didn't mind reading them again and having them in hardback form as a reminder to set and follow my own routines, etc.

Like most who are buying this book, my life is stressful. For years I was able to balance this stress and move on to my next challenge without much concern. Then after I got married, the stress was too much and that wonderful zen like state people saw in me came crumbling down. Why? It just took a few extra stressers (I was a neat freak, my husband... not so much... at all... for example) to push me over the edge. It didn't take long before I was unable to reverse the damage. It was actually an accident that I stumbled upon zen habits and while the changes aren't immediate it is quality advice such as what is found in The Power of Less that has actually improved my life and reduced my stress. His advice works!

In the book, The Power of Less, Leo Babauta discusses and outlines his modified system of getting things done. In part one: the principles, he talks about how "less" is a powerful principle. By setting limits we must choose the essential areas of focus in our life, which allows us to create a greater impact , maximizing our time and energy. We start small and create new habits that with time will allow us to be more productive. In part two: in practice, he gives examples of simplifying one's goals and projects to limit our stress and wastefulness.

Practical tips, like how to simplify e-mail, are used to inspire and motivate the reader. For example, limiting your inboxes, spending less time answering e-mails, reducing your incoming stream, processing your box to empty, and writing less, are discussed and encouraged.

I liked this book and while reading it I referred to the his website located at ZenHabits.net. There are many recourses on the website that are also discussed in the book. For a nice introduction, check out his beginners guided tour on his website.

I give this book 3 stars because I enjoyed reading, but will probably not refer to it again. Many of the ideas were very repetitive, and halfway through the book, my interest started to wane. I found that I actually read more on the website rather in the book about topics that I found interesting. I would suggest this book to anyone who has tried the Getting Things Done method and found it not to their liking. Also be sure to check out the website Zen Habits for more great tips.

I was disappointed when I realized that most of the book's content is taken from Leo's public blog. Why would I buy a book that I could read on-line for free?

Leo has the rare ability to take abstract concepts, and condense them down to an idea so simple, and with so much clarity, that you find yourself saying "Oh, NOW I get it!"

It's always nice, when you read a book from your field of expertise, and walk away knowing that you have truly learned something valuable. That does not happen with every book I read in this area; it DID however, happens with this one. Leo has made a remarkable contribution to the art and science of time management and productivity.

This book has helped change my perspective on how I live my life and what I do with my time. It offers lots of practical advice for improving productivity, time management, and an array of other vital areas of one's personal and professional life. I would heartily recommend it to anyone whose life is as chaotic as mine!

This book may be the one that works for me. It breaks down into small doable steps...how to focus on priorities, ways to not be distracted by lesser or inessential priorites, and how to create a short list of daily tasks that help meet life goals. Slowly building healthy habits to replace not-so-healthy habits is a main focus.

"The power of less" is one of those books that I've bought and thought to give me more information on living well with less things. There is nothing new for me and I'm very upset of its content because the examples are far from my life. Probably it is because my life at this moment is already simple enough. I'm not so email person, I have no cell phone, I don't watch TV so often, .... Neither the book gives me any encouragement because the content is not really new. It is good for the beginners who have a lot of emails and spend a lot of their time in surfing internet. If only I had read its review with one star (less stars), I wouldn't have bought it. I would have had fewer books. Next time before buying other books, I'll read the one star reviews. They are more likely true. That's the power of less.

Leo Babauta's latest thought provoking book, Power of Less, is more about the action of simplicity and it's incredible ability to clarify and catapult productivity in life -- business and personal. Small business owners and marketers should pay attention to the power of simplicity, beyond personal lives.

To be honest, I haven't finished the book. I agree to a point with the other reviewers. There are some sensible ideas presented, and the book is easily digested. I probably could have read it in one sitting, if I'd felt the desire. But I didn't. The reason is that I feel that, while he has some interesting and fairly important points and ideas, it's a bit simplistic or perhaps unrealistic for everyone. I, for example, am a single mother who works full time in middle management. My lists of things to do are based, to an extent, on other people's needs (my children) and other people's demands (my supervisors and my clients). When new tasks are presented to me, I cannot just put them in my "in box" to wait till I'm done with what I'm working on. I think perhaps the ideas presented in the book work for people who are running their own businesses, entrepreneurs etc. who aren't needing to respond to the needs of others on an ongoing basis, and might I add (at the risk of sounding gender biased) most probably male. You can't let certain things wait in my world, I do get interrupted and I need to be responsive to those interruptions. I think as the author says that less is more, we can fill our lives with fewer demands, but in my world what that frequently means is shortchanging myself, because the demands of others can't be chosen. It's just a fact of my job and home life. My clients have their needs to which I must respond or I risk losing them and running the business into the ground, my supervisor has things she wants me to do which I must do or risk losing my job, and my children need dinner on the table and clean clothes in their drawers or I get reported to protective services. So if I'm going to have a rich and fulfilled life, I need to fit in the things that are personally fulfilling in between the things that I must do, and that means at times having too much in my life. I feel the idea is perhaps too luxurious for most people working to live.

First I have been working diligently on de cluttering my personal and business life. I have read so many simplifying and de-cluttering and efficiency books I almost have a clutter problem with all the books on the subject. (Cured that recently too with the Kindle 2.)
I run three business. One brick and morter and two online. I was getting over four hundred emails a day and was drowning in mail and spam. So I utilized ideas / suggestions from several sources to cure my problems. From the Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss we started using detailed faq's lists on our websites and an auto-responder that answered many questions so we would no longer have to reply to as many emails. For the ones we do answer the questions are predictable and we saved the answers as email drafts that way we just cut and paste and all done.
For the Spam we ran our eight email accounts into one google mail as they have the best spam filters and you can reply from the email address to which the mail was sent so they dont know that anything is happening. And suggestions from the life hacker Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better by Gina Tripani has some interesting ideas for sure.
Keeping your inbox empty we use suggestions from Stress Less and Zen to Done by Leo Babauta and you would not believe how much better you feel when things are under control. But it is you who must Work the system or you will be overwhelmed again.
A much more detailed program is used in Getting Things Done David Allen book, but the above is kind of the simplified version that I currently prefer.
And for just getting rid of all the clutter in your life any of the books from Peter Walsh, How to Organize (Just About) Everything, and Enough Already, are great even though they tend to recover some of the material from his other books somewhat but thats not a big deal since the info is worth repeating. Another good author but she covers pretty much the same thing is Julie Morgenstern. The books by Koch on the 80/20 principle are also worth looking into. For the paper clutter in my life I have a digital sender scanner and have scanned over four full file cabinets into Adobe PDF computer files. I have done this with pictures too as you can also save them info Jpeg and Jiff files. While there are tons more books out there and I seem to have most of them, these are the best to get things under control and to get you the time to do the things that matter to you.

I am relatively new to the ZenHabits blog so I picked this book up to fill me in on some of the topics Leo writes about, namely living a reduced stress life, de-cluttering your home and office, enjoying and loving the simple things in life.

I found this to be a good book and given the fact Leo has come from being an over weight, over worked, stressed out person to a person with true clarity, who exercises everyday, developed a blog with a hundred thousand subscribers all while working from home and raising six kids!

Leo focusing on the importance of setting limits in everything your do but he has remarkable self discipline and self motivation to execute his goals.

I got a lot out of this book and have already started de-cluttering and thinking about my goals and how I plan to achieve them.

It's a relatively quick read and the strategy is pretty straightforward. I enjoyed the book and recommend if you want tips on setting priorities and discussion on identifying your goals and limiting your time spent on activities. Focus on the stuff with the most potential for payback and eliminate the rest!

This is the best book I have read in a very long time. It is a lot of stuff you probably already know but you need to be reminded of. It also asks some tough questions that you must ask yourself in an effort to get your priorities straight. I bought this book for my mom and my brother after I read it and would highly recommend it to everyone I know.

Leo Babauta does exactly what he recommends: his book is focused on what it is supposed to be focused, and he goes directly to the point. Do not expect long theories or complex methods of applying the recommendations.

Sometimes short and direct comments/instructions are extremely useful: this is one of these times. The book is very worthy its price.

If you care to simplify your life and relax your mind, this book is your guiding light. Simple words from Leo convey a powerful message. A must read (if you do not follow his blog already).

This book is mainly targeted at people that are new to Leo's work and busy people. For people who have regularly read his blog, the book is a bit to simplistic, and common knowledge from being a ZenHabits reader. Overall, it was well written and enjoyable!