Simplify: Do 50 Percent More with 50 Percent Less

by Jim Vandehei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz

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.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2026

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Dan]

This book is an easy to digest, how-to guide for the reader to simplify their life across all aspects. Short chapters, practical advice allow the reader to go to sections that matter to them. The authors also end each chapter with a “simplify plan” that lists out actions you can immediately take.

I liked the thoughts around confront, delete, and amplify to simplify key things in your life. It really makes the concept real when you are trying to drive clarity.

My only change to the book I would make is focusing on simplifying self first before work and organizations. I feel that often times we don’t focus on our selves and thus make our work and organizations more complex. Great book to reference throughout your professional journey to ensure you are seeking clarity in your life.

[Debbie]

Pretty useful stuff, great reminders and new tips for all life’s challenges. Thank you to the authors. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

[Jeremy Slater]

Quite simple, really.