# Essentialism by Greg McKeown

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Essentialism by Greg McKeown and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for changing how they think about work and life, and for its focus on doing less that they connect to principles like YAGNI. No critics appear in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Changed how people think about work (1 comments): "genuinely changed how I think about work and life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46397439))
- Applies beyond API design, like YAGNI (1 comments): "Very in line with YAGNI - it guides things outside of API design too!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49225525))
- Playfulness is a key essentialist value (1 comments): "one of the key values of the “essentialist” is playfulness" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49059369))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Getting Things Done by David Allen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/getting-things-done.md): 14 recommend
- [Deep Work by Cal Newport](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deep-work.md): 7 recommend
- [Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/four-thousand-weeks.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804137382?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780804137386) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Essentialism by Greg McKeown", https://hackerapproved.com/p/essentialism/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).