Essentialism
Essentialism by Greg McKeownby Greg McKeown
Ranked 4 of 4 productivity books by recommenders
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.
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.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Changed how people think about work
“genuinely changed how I think about work and life”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” Applies beyond API design, like YAGNI
“Very in line with YAGNI - it guides things outside of API design too!”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “Carl's Required Reading” Playfulness is a key essentialist value
“one of the key values of the “essentialist” is playfulness”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “The New AI Superpowers: Focus and Followthrough”
Other productivity books people recommend
The three most recommended other productivity books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Getting Things Doneby David Allen | 14 | 4 | 78% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Deep Workby Cal Newport | 7 | 1 | 88% | 7 | — | — |
| Four Thousand Weeksby Oliver Burkeman | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| Essentialismby Greg McKeownThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Very in line with YAGNI - it guides things outside of API design too!”
“one of the key values of the “essentialist” is playfulness”
“genuinely changed how I think about work and life”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.