Great Work
Do What Matters Most Without Sacrificing Everything Else
THIS BOOK SHOWS YOU HOW
What This Book Is About
Great Work is about reclaiming the work that matters most to you and learning how to make steady progress on it without burning yourself out.
Most people who care deeply about their work are not lacking motivation, discipline, or ambition. What they lack is a way to make meaningful progress that fits their real life. When everything feels important, the work that matters most often gets pushed aside, not because it matters less, but because it does not come with deadlines, external pressure, or immediate consequences.
This book helps you recognize your Great Work, understand why it keeps getting crowded out, and build a practical, humane approach to making progress on it alongside the rest of your life.
What Is Great Work?
Great Work is the work that matters most to you.
It may be the work you feel called to do, the contribution you want to make, or the idea that keeps returning no matter how busy you are. It often feels personal, meaningful, and a little intimidating. It stretches you. It asks something of you.
Great Work does not have to be loud, public, or prestigious. It can take many forms, including building a business, writing a book, sharing expertise, raising a family, creating something new, or contributing to a cause you care deeply about.
What makes it Great Work is not its scale, but its significance to you.
Why Great Work Is So Hard to Do
If Great Work matters so much, why is it so hard to make progress on it?
In the book, Dr. Amanda Crowell explains that the problem is rarely laziness or lack of willpower. Instead, Great Work gets sidelined because:
It competes with urgent tasks that feel non-negotiable
It requires energy, creativity, and focus that are already stretched thin
It triggers self-doubt, perfectionism, and procrastination
Traditional productivity systems are not designed for work that is deeply personal and evolving
Without a clear framework, Great Work stays vague, overwhelming, or perpetually postponed, even for people who care about it most.
What Great Work Helps You Do
Great Work provides a clear, research-grounded approach to moving from intention to action.
In this book, you will learn how to:
Identify and clarify your Great Work
Make space for what matters by doing less, not more
Translate big ideas into realistic goals and next steps
Understand how you, specifically, make progress
Navigate procrastination, perfectionism, and burnout
Build momentum through collaboration and support
Rather than offering rigid systems or one-size-fits-all solutions, the book helps you develop self-expertise, the ability to work in ways that align with your energy, values, and real constraints.
A Look Inside Great Work
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![overcome barriers in your life]()
Chapter 1: The Call To Great Work
Recognize and overcome the barriers that prevent you from pursuing fulfilling goals.
Prioritize personal well-being alongside ambitions to avoid the Productivity Roller Coaster of Doom
Key Quote: "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." — Lao Tzu
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Chapter 2: What Is Your Great Work?
Identify what makes work meaningful and fulfilling for you
Create alignment of these personal values with professional goals.
Key Quote: "Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" — Mary Oliver
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![how to do less work]()
Chapter 3: Do Less- Much, Much Less
Learn strategies for managing over-commitments to focus on what truly matters.
Reduces stress while increasing productivity and satisfaction.
Key Quote: "Turns out, when we commit to doing much less and then align our time to our Great Work, good things begin to happen."
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Chapter 4: How to Use The Great Work Method
Learn a structured approach to transforming dreams into achievable goals.
Discover how to be proactive and engage regularly with long-term objectives.
Key Quote: "A vision is exciting, but transformation comes when you do real things in your real life."
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![how to be more productive]()
Chapter 5: Discover How You Specifically Do Great Work
Personalize your productivity and discover what methods suit you best.
Embrace experimentation to develop a unique, effective routine.
Key Quote: "Developing your secret recipe of self-expertise is the focus."
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![finding purpose in life]()
Chapter 6: Exchange Defensive Failure For Productive Failure To Do Great Work
How to reframe failure as a learning experience rather than a setback.
Build resilience and persistence in the pursuit of Great Work.
Key Quote: "When you are doing Great Work, you are going to run into challenges. That’s just how it is.”
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Chapter 7: Unleash Your Great Work With the Magic of Collaboration
Learn how collaboration can expand your Great Work without pulling you off course.
Understand when working alone limits progress, and how intentional collaboration can support momentum, clarity, and sustainability over time.
Key Quote:
“Great Work might begin in solitude, but it rarely flourishes there.” -
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Chapter 8: Your Great Work Is Calling You
Take immediate and regular action on your Great Work.
Realize the transformative power of aligning life with purpose.
Key Quote: "When you are being called from inside yourself to something, then you are meant to do it."
What’s inside the book
Great Work is organized around a clear progression, beginning with how to recognize your Great Work and understand why it gets pushed aside, then moving through mindset, attention, energy, and goal-setting. The book addresses common patterns like procrastination, perfectionism, and burnout, and concludes with how collaboration expands what is possible when you stop trying to do meaningful work alone.
Who This Book Is For
Great Work is for people who care deeply about what they do and want it to matter.
It is especially helpful for:
People who feel pulled toward work that is meaningful but hard to prioritize
Professionals who are successful on paper but feel disconnected from what excites them
Creators, thinkers, and builders who struggle to make consistent progress
Anyone who wants to do important work without sacrificing their health, relationships, or joy
Whether you are just beginning to explore your Great Work or have been circling it for years, this book meets you where you are.
Praise For Great Work
“I am forever changed by Crowell’s insight and inspired by her doable strategies for freeing up time to do meaningful work.”
— AJ Harper, Author of Write a Must-Read
“Dr. Crowell’s strategies have the power to change lives.”
— Joe Theismann, World Champion Quarterback & Entrepreneur
“Great Work helps turn overcommitted, exhausted readers into productive and engaged dream-followers.”
— BookLife Reviews, Publishers Weekly
Frequently Asked Questions
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Great Work explores how to identify the work that matters most to you and make steady progress on it without burning out. It combines cognitive psychology, research on behavior change, and practical frameworks for meaningful work.
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This book is for anyone who cares deeply about how they spend their time and energy and wants their work to reflect what matters most. It is written for a broad audience and does not assume you own a business.
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The book addresses productivity, but its focus is meaning, sustainability, and alignment. It helps you decide what deserves your attention before showing you how to organize your effort.
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No. The book is designed to help you clarify what your Great Work is and understand why it has been hard to protect.
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No. Great Work flows from resilience, not hustle. The book makes the case that meaningful work is sustained through clarity, recovery, and adaptability, not constant urgency or exhaustion. Progress comes from learning how to work in ways you can return to again and again, especially when conditions are challenging.
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Yes. The book introduces frameworks and reflective exercises you can apply immediately to your own work and goals.
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The book helps you clarify what matters and why it is hard to prioritize. The journal helps you apply those ideas day by day through structured reflection and planning.ption
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Yes. The book is written for people who want meaningful progress without adding more pressure or complexity to their lives.
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No. The book can stand on its own, and many people also use it alongside other Great Work offerings.
Still have questions? Contact us.
Get a Free Chapter of Great Work
Curious what Great Work is all about?
Download the Preface, Introduction, and First Chapter—completely free.
You’ll get a sense of the ideas, the tone, and the practical approach that have helped thousands of people reconnect with meaningful work and make real progress.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Dr. Amanda Crowell is a cognitive psychologist, author, and speaker who helps people do meaningful work without burning out.
Her TEDx talk, “Three Reasons You Aren’t Doing What You Say You Will Do,” has been viewed nearly two million times. Her work has been featured by NPR, Al Jazeera, The Wall Street Journal, Quartz, and Thrive Global.
Amanda brings together cognitive psychology, behavior change research, and years of coaching experience to help people make progress on the work that matters most to them.
Share Great Work with Your People
If you are part of a community that would benefit from a shared conversation about meaningful work, bulk orders are available.
Options include signed copies and bonuses that support group discussion and reflection.
