Introduction

In the last three years, I’ve read numerous productivity and time management books to improve my effectiveness in daily life.

With endless distractions constantly vying for our attention, staying focused and completing tasks can be challenging. However, with the proper knowledge, tools, and systems, managing our time doesn’t have to be difficult.

To help you kickstart your productivity journey and master the art of achieving more while doing less, here are my top 10 book recommendations on productivity and time management.

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

One Sentence Summary:

Burkeman explores the limitations of time in human life, urging readers to embrace mortality as a tool for prioritization and to seek fulfillment beyond traditional productivity metrics.

Personal Thoughts:

“Four Thousand Weeks” is not your traditional self-help/time-management book.

Burkeman takes a unique approach, highlighting time’s philosophical and spiritual aspects and how to manage it. The book was equally thought-provoking and redundant; I didn’t love it but didn’t hate it. 

If you want to change your perspective on time, read this book. However, if you want an A-Z guide to better manage your time, this isn’t the book for you.

How to Calm Your Mind by Chris Bailey

One Sentence Summary:

Bailey offers practical strategies for reducing mental clutter and achieving inner calm through mindfulness, focusing on practical techniques to manage stress and increase focus.

Personal Thoughts:

I read this book during a time of severe burnout, stress, and unhappiness, and I remember feeling inspired to allow myself to rest more and not put so much pressure on myself to be a productivity machine.

The ideas in this book aren’t necessarily new or profound (ex., getting adequate sleep and limiting distractions), but they serve as good reminders. 

Automate Your Busywork by Aytekin Tank

One Sentence Summary:

Tank provides insights into automating routine tasks to reclaim time and focus on high-impact activities, advocating for efficiency through technology and delegation.

Personal Thoughts:

I was gifted this book in exchange for collaborating with Tank’s company, Jotform. However, this particular recommendation is not sponsored.

That said, I genuinely enjoyed Automate Your Busywork and think it’s an excellent book for professionals who want to be more efficient.

Tank places a lot of emphasis on hiring and delegating your work to a third party or using tools (like AI, for example) to get more work done quicker and better. Although many of the ideas in this book are best suited for entrepreneurs, business owners, or freelancers, they can also be helpful for virtually anyone in the workforce or school.

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

One Sentence Summary

Csikszentmihalyi explores the psychology of optimal experience, known as flow, where individuals are fully immersed and focused on activities that bring deep satisfaction and fulfillment.

Personal Thoughts

Flow is an incredible book—I recommend it to everyone.

It is written academically, resembling a research paper, so it might not be for everyone. However, Csikszentmihalyi is such an incredible and entertaining writer that it doesn’t feel like you’re reading research but rather having a highly intellectual discussion with an intelligent friend. 

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

One Sentence Summary:

McKeown advocates prioritizing essential tasks and eliminating non-essential ones, enabling individuals to focus on what truly matters and achieve higher levels of contribution and satisfaction.

Personal Thoughts:

When I initially read McKeown’s books Essentialism and Effortless, I enjoyed Effortless more. However, looking back, Essentialism is the best of the two.

Reading Essentialism was a game changer for me and my to-do list. I no longer care to do everything—I only care to do the things with the highest ROI (in my case, ROIs are either intrinsic or extrinsic rewards like joy and social media reach).

Effortless by Greg McKeown

One Sentence Summary:

McKeown offers strategies to simplify tasks and achieve more with less effort, promoting a minimalist approach to productivity and decision-making for greater effectiveness.

Personal Thoughts:

I loved this book. Like Tank’s “Automate Your Busywork,” McKeown emphasizes simplifying our essential tasks.

You don’t need to read the books in a specific order, but I highly recommend reading Essentialism before Effortless since Essentialism was published first. 

Deep Work by Cal Newport

One Sentence Summary:

Newport argues for the importance of deep, focused work in a distracted world, presenting strategies to cultivate undistracted concentration and maximize productivity.

Personal Thoughts:

I LOVE Deep Work. It’s an incredible book that will 10x your ability to produce high-quality work and learn new skills faster.

I make sure to time-block deep and shallow work throughout my day and find that although I’m doing less (thanks to Essentialism), I still achieve more without spending too long on a task since external distractions do not limit me. 

Atomic Habits by James Clear

One Sentence Summary:

Clear provides a framework for building good habits and breaking bad ones through small, incremental changes, emphasizing the power of consistent action for long-term success.

Personal Thoughts:

You’ve probably read or heard countless things about this book, and rightfully so – it’s an exceptional book.

Understanding habits – how they’re formed and how we can learn/unlearn them – is vital for productivity.

The greater our understanding of habits, the better we can identify the habits harming our ability to be effective in school, work, or home. Consequently, when we understand why we have our habits, we can work toward fixing them and changing our lives.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Covey presents a holistic approach to personal and professional effectiveness based on proactivity, prioritization, and continuous improvement, aiming for a balanced, principle-centered life.

Personal Thoughts:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is another book that deserves all the hype (after all, it is a classic).

Not every chapter focuses on time management and productivity. However, the chapters that discuss it offer exceptional advice on strategically planning your to-do list to be more proactive so you can have more time to focus on other essential things like meaningful relationships. 

Getting Things Done by David Allen

One Sentence Summary:

Allen presents a comprehensive method for personal and professional productivity, emphasizing clearing mental clutter through structured task management and achieving stress-free productivity.

Personal Thoughts:

I listened to the audiobook but wasn’t a fan of listening (I prefer to read the book). But I learned a lot of great key takeaways and ideas that I’m slowly implementing into my life. I might actually read the book since I didn’t enjoy the audiobook!

Slow Productivity by Cal Newport

One Sentence Summary:

Newport challenges the culture of constant busyness with a philosophy of deliberate, slow productivity that prioritizes deep work and meaningful output over superficial activity.

Personal Thoughts:

I’m cheating with this recommendation because I haven’t read the book (yet), but it’s a new release, and I plan on reading it, so I’m mentioning it anyway! This book resembles “How To Calm Your Mind” and “Four Thousand Weeks.”

Conclusion

We take on more responsibilities as we age, and managing our time becomes crucial. 

Balancing work, passion projects and social life can be challenging. Still, by learning from various experts and applying their knowledge, we can effectively manage our time and change our perspective. 

If you want to learn how to manage your time better, you can shop the books listed here.