Autorentext
Jim VandeHei is co-founder and CEO of Axios and the New York Times bestselling author of Just the Good Stuff and Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less. VandeHei is also co-founder and former CEO of Politico and spent more than a decade as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

Mike Allen is co-founder of Axios and the face of Axios’ three flagship newsletters—Axios AM, PM, and Finish Line—and co-author of the bestselling Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less. He co-founded Politico and is an alumnus of TIME, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Roy Schwartz is co-founder of Axios and Axios HQ, co-author of the bestselling Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less, and executive producer of the Emmy Award–winning Axios on HBO. He previously served as chief revenue officer at Politico.

Klappentext

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • With AI upending work and life, the founders of Axios and bestselling authors of Smart Brevity offer a one-stop survival guide to dramatically improving your life, work, and happiness.

• Toxic complexity clogs our meetings, inboxes, calendars—even in our daily habits. We can do so much more, but first we need to do less.

• Simplify shows you how. It's a step-by-step playbook for spending most of your time doing things that make you feel and perform better.
  This urgent manual lets you take control of what is essential in a world where AI might simplify you out of a job. Maximize success by simplifying every aspect of your life. Ruthlessly distill what really matters to you, then clear the space to focus on what you do best.

• Simplify will help anyone thrive, from interns to CEOs.
  The authors draw on lessons from founding two hot startups—Axios and *Politico—*and their years of experience advising Fortune 500 companies. Simplify is packed with advice from some of the world's most successful people—your handbook for eliminating dreary distractions... so you can focus on what matters.

Leseprobe
Chapter 1

Simplify Rule Number 1: Confront

Annie Dillard, a Pulitzer Prize–­winning writer and poet, nailed it: How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.

The danger isn’t chaos. It’s inertia. Just keepin’ on keepin’ on. Habits that feel harmless quietly steal time, energy, and intention.

Why it matters: Most wasted hours—­at work and at home—­come from doing things without asking why. You need to confront this hourly, daily, forever.

Question . . .

• Why this task?

• Why this meeting?

• Why this report? Will anyone read it, act on it, care?

• Why this fight, this grudge, this conversation, this overflowing drawer?

Too often, the answer is: “I dunno.” Because you never bothered to ask. Or it’s “because it’s essential.” Yet you never bothered to ask if it actually is.

The fix is intentionality. Pause. Ask why. Confront everything. It takes seconds but saves hours, months, years.

Answer honestly: Is this even worth it?

Do this, and you’ll cut out the invisible clutter killing your focus and joy.

The Power of Intentionality

Mike obsesses over intentionality. He’s ruthless about why before he spends time on what.

He noticed his instinct to please others was draining his ability to focus on the people and work he loved most. It was exhausting. So he developed new habits:

• Spot waste in real time. The moment you feel dread or frustration, stop and ask: Why am I doing this?

• Simplify fast. If the answer is thin, stop the task, shorten the meeting, or cut the pattern.

• Shift to value. Replace junk time with something that adds energy—­a project that matters, a walk, a conversation that deepens a relationship.

Think of intentionality (or confronting why you do what you do) as an ongoing conversation with yourself about maximizing joy. Mike is responsible for both a morning and an afternoon newsletter, 365 days a year. But sitting there and typing these newsletters from top to bottom would limit Mike’s joy—­and usefulness. So he’s empowered the editors who work with him to help choose and shape items, and he’s urged them to bring their own generational sensibility to the job. That’s better for the audience . . . and better for Mike.

Here’s a three-­step program for pulling this off:

1. Kill the dread.

• Identify the tasks you dread most.

• Ask: Why do I do this? What happens if I stop or change it?

• Options: Stop it, do it less often, delegate it, or simplify the process.

2. Run a routine scan.

• List everything you do daily.

• Mark what gives energy vs. what drains energy.

• Replace one low-­value task with one high-­value delight.

3. Apply the one-­month lens. When stuck on a bigger decision, zoom out: In one month, will I be glad I did this? If the answer is no, stop treating it like it’s life-­or-­death. Move on.

Your Simplify Plan

You can save months or years with one simple word: Why?

• What are three things in your life you know deep down make no sense yet you do them, often?

Chapter 2

Simplify Rule Number 2: Delete

Let’s simplify with two free, easy, repeatable superhabits: no and delete.

• The most important button on your keyboard is delete. Use it with abandon.

• The most important word in your vocabulary is no. Say it loudly and proudly—­and way more frequently.

These twin tools are the chief instruments of simplicity. Both slash obligations, slice away wasted time, sand down complexity, and surge sanity and productivity.

This approach runs counter to our instincts. We tend to equate longer notes—­or memos, or term papers, or books—­with gravitas. We’re taught from school days that more words and pages is better. How often were you told to write the shortest, smartest thing possible? Um, never. We tend to think longer meetings with more people around the table matter most.

Same thing with no. We’re conditioned to believe it’s right and polite to say yes to invites, requests, followers, more work, or more dessert. We’re taught no is the language of the stubborn, or lazy, or malcontent.

We’re here to liberate you from these false assumptions. You need to use both—­no and delete—­a lot more.

• Say no to wasting time on useless work tasks (at least until you discuss it with your boss).

• Delete emails you don’t need to send. (Remember that most emails you send will get a response, which will compel a response from you . . .)

• Delete any words beyond the absolute minimum needed. (Our first book, Smart Brevity, shows very actionable ways to pare down your prose.)

• Delete those meetings you take out of habit, not need.

• Say no to social “obligations” you wouldn’t miss.

• Say no to people who want to hang out but aren’t in your close circle of true loved ones.

A great example of the power of deletion is how kids learn to ride a bike.

For decades, training wheels were the norm. It was for Mike and Jim. We learned pedaling first, balancing later. Seemed safe. Seemed logical. But many kids struggled to transition off training wheels. They grew too reliant and freaked out when the training wheels were pulled off.

• And it turns out the hard part is balancing. So why put it off? Along came balance bikes, …