Google “productivity books” and it gives a handful list of books. As an avid productivity explorer, I read a good amount of them, and most of them definitely deliver useful messages to the audience. If I have to pick 3 books that most people can apply to their daily work and lives, it narrows down the following 3 books that have practical methods and approaches to tackle our personal and work lives.
Please keep in mind that these books are not labeled as the BEST productivity books. I considered them as a decent practical knowledge shared by authors, built on their own personal experience and learning to master the techniques.
Please keep in mind that these books are not labeled as the BEST productivity books. I considered them as a decent practical knowledge shared by authors, built on their own personal experience and learning to master the techniques.
GRIP - The Art of Working Smart
I never think too much about how we should organize our work, from daily task planning to mega-project management. It’s more about personal preference and copying each other at work without consideration of how things should be done effectively. This book dives into the resources and concepts of how we can tackle tasks systematically in today digital workforce. If you have to pick ONLY 1 book, I recommend this book 100%.
The bottom line of the book is that we should learn how to organize and work as a class in school, and this book fulfills that knowledge gap, at least for me.
Building a 2nd Brain
I never gave serious consideration to taking notes and capturing information before I read this book. A hint of the idea of 2nd brain is mentioned briefly in GRIP by Rick Pastoor to reflect that hoarding information and tasks in your head distracts us from focusing on productivity. Tiago Forte discovers the systematic approach of note taking to build our personal backup brain and focus on the execution of tasks at hand.
Tiago Forte runs a great YouTube channel with all the tips and extracts from his book. His 2nd brain tour brings in creators’ adaptations of their productivity systems and their insights on 2nd brain concept. Check it out!
Make Time
The authors of the book clearly mentioned that the book is not about boosting productivity. The book covers the ideology of finding balance in a chaotic world and how to manage our work and lives loosely. The concept of finding a sweet spot between our daily robotic default plans and long-term goals to find a “highlight” makes sense for our sanity check.
Personal Insights
There is no ideal system for anyone. Our lives and the drives that made us move forward are different. In my opinion, the best approach is to discover and reflect on what works for us and adjust it with the techniques and principles we learned from a variety of resources. OK..you might think when we know the system is working. The fact that you are happier, have more free time for yourself and your family, have less mental stress, and get things done will be the KPIs to measure the system that is working for us.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. We just need to pay attention to find the best solution for our lives. As Ramit Sethi’s well-known financial advice called “Rich Life”, the same applies when it comes down to productivity. It’s about what’s working, making us move, and reaching our goals.