Books, Websites and Podcasts containing the best information on productivity
I was talking with a couple of acquaintances a few days ago, and they asked me about getting started in productivity, as a topic that I am passionate about. David Allen jumped to mind, but I took some time to think about some of the best resources to get people up to speed and as productive as possible in as short a time as required - after all, isn’t that the essence of productivity.
The more I thought about the best resources, the better I felt about a series of books to get started. A book provides the best experience to read, understand, reread, process, and develop a personal system using the tools presented. A video or audiobook would not allow the space to think and be creative when designing your own best practices.
With that, I recommended four books, in a particular order that I feel builds on the habits of productivity systems and would allow a new productivity enthusiast to make progress on their big rock goals. I also recommended a few online resources and podcasts for further listening after completing the books. I hope it will be helpful to these professional acquaintances and also hope that they will be useful to you.
Books
The books I recommend are:
Getting Things Done (2015 edition) by David Allen. The GTD system is one of the most popular methods for collecting, organizing, and executing on tasks and activities that you want to, or need to, focus on. The book and system can be a little prescriptive, and I suggest a version of the system that you are comfortable with (and not necessarily getting bogged down in the weeds. My suggestion is a system for collecting all the to-do items, a way to define what your next actions for each to-do item are, and a method for regular and weekly reviews. There is a lot of strength in adding contexts to your to-do items (such as what resources - computer, phone - you need, or places you need to be - gym, store). I
Atomic Habits by James Clear - this is a recent book and a fantastic read with some great takeaways for building habits to be more productive and meet your goals. Clear builds on the work on Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit) and then goes on to present his findings in a way that are actionable and easily incorporated into your daily activities. In partnership with a basic GTD system, using the tools in this book to help build productive systems and habits for using them will move the needle for you.
Deep Work by Cal Newport - one of the dangers of any productivity system is that you can feel productive by managing your productivity system without making any meaningful gains. Deep Work takes an in-depth look at building the time and focus on the things that are important for you. It is also great for providing a context on distraction and how to schedule the best use of your time.
The 12 Week Year by Brain Moran and Michael Lennington - while not a productivity-based book in itself, the 12 Week Year provides a framework for identifying goals and pushing those into periodic cycles of work. This is very similar to an agile framework in software but focused on personal productivity. This book and system are great for helping you focus on the big picture items that you really want to get accomplished and provide a framework to hold yourself to success.
Other resources:
Asian Efficiency: Time Management and Productivity - Asian Efficiency The crew at Asian Efficiency put out some great resources, including an excellent podcast - The Productivity Show - on their website.
Focused - Relay FM The Focused podcast is a bi-weekly podcast, previously called Free Agents, that has pivoted into the productivity space. David Sparks and Mike Schmitz are both excellent, and the topics they cover are handy and well thought out.
Free GTD® Resources David Allen’s website also has some useful resources for refining your GTD system. Some of them are a little like you need to drink the Kool-aid, but if you can get through those, some of the tips will help you to become more productive.
I hope these resources help. Make sure to schedule time for yourself in the journey, and remember that they are just tools to help you. Each time you read the books listed, you will learn something new that calls out to you at whatever stage of life you are in. And it will likely be different each time.
I am also happy to chat about this stuff if you ever are interested in meeting for a coffee….