5 Productivity Books That Can Change Your Life

Imagine you and I were in a race – a 100m dash. You are a trained athlete. You have been running virtually all your life. You have won many trophies in your career in this 100m category. And me? Well, I’m just an Average Joe. This should be easy, you think to yourself as you set yourself up to start.

But then, just before the race starts, you watch in disbelief as the referee guides me a full 60m down the track to a spring-loaded set of starting blocks before returning to start the countdown.Ready. Set. Go!I, Average Joe Anthony, now have only 40m to run. While you, Smoking Barrel Sam, have the full 100m ahead of you. Oh, and don’t forget the spring-loaded starting blocks. Not even Usain Bolt could beat me in that scenario.

In that metaphor, the authors of great books are the referee. And the starting blocks are the advantage of taking action based on their insights in the great race of life. Now, I know it is unpopular to say life is a race, but my point is not to exalt unhealthy competition with others. It is to illustrate the advantages to you in achieving your goals faster and easier than you would have otherwise. That brings us to today’s article.

The Power in Productivity Books

If there was a way to look into the mind of the most brilliant and successful people and get a snapshot of their best thoughts, would you? What if I told you that, instead of that, these brilliant minds have gone through the trouble for you – clarifying, thinking through and compiling their knowledge – from theirs and the lives of many titans before them - into one coherent body of content? Would you like to have it?

Well, that, my friend, is what a good book written by a good author is. And it is one of the best and most powerful yet inexpensive tools in enlarging, enhancing and transforming yourself into whatever ideal you may imagine.You can enhance your ongoing journey and experience of producing your best work and becoming your best self by taking the time to read a good book on the subject every now and then.

Therefore, in this article, I will share with you 5 productivity books that have made a great impact on me. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in doing more and better with less effort and having a great time in the process. In no particular order, let us begin.

1. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity – David Allen

There are many books out there on productivity and effectiveness. Where David Allen’s book really shines is in its practicality. The book does not just talk about productivity – it provides a clear system for achieving it in your own life. The core principle is that you need a system – and Allen provides a very workable system based on research and many real-life examples from his extensive work as a consultant and coach. It is no wonder the book has become a veritable movement – the GTD (Getting Things Done) movement.If you know what needs to be done and you will only read one productivity book, this is it.

2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey

This book is, in one word, timeless. I mean, who hasn’t at least heard of the late and great Stephen Covey masterwork – “The Seven Habits” – as it is often referred to?This book, as the name implies, goes through 7 habits to incorporate into your life for your life to be, spoiler alert, effective.Dr. Covey makes a powerful distinction between simply doing things and doing the things that matter. It is an important insight. Beyond that, the book helps you determine what those important things are and helps you get to work on them.The 7 Habits is more than a productivity book, it is a book on living a good life. The balanced blend of insight, inspiration and direction this book provides is hard to beat. I suspect we will be talking about it for a long time.As I mentioned earlier, this is a very popular book. It is likely you have already read it. If so, read it again. If not, well, what are you waiting for? 😊

3. The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More With Less – Richard Koch

I appreciate detailed and practical tips as much the next person. But if there is something I may appreciate more, it is principles. This is because principles are easier to adapt and personalize. Richard Koch’s book, the 80/20 Principle expounds upon one of the most powerful and counter-intuitive principles of success – the fact that most of our desired outputs come from a disproportionately small proportion of inputs. Hence the title – about 80% of outputs come from a select 20% of inputs.This one, seemingly simple principle can, by itself, completely transform you. Not just in how you do what you do, but – more importantly – in what you spend time and resources doing in the first place.T

his work outlines and explains many aspects of the 80/20 principle and shows you how you can apply it to create a more fulfilling and effortless personal and professional life. My copy was a gift from my father-in-law. And second to my lovely wife, it is the best gift I have received from him so far. I know you will benefit greatly from reading it.

4. The Power of Full Engagement – Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

This book presents a simple but powerful shift in mindset when it comes to productivity. The concept? You are better off managing your energy than trying to manage your time.Using research and anecdotal evidence from the fields of sports psychology and the corporate world, the authors demonstrate how important it is to work with your energy patterns throughout the day to achieve your best outputs while maintaining sound physical, emotional and mental health.

Among productivity books, this one scores high on practicality, and though heavy on anecdotes and stories at times, they often help illustrate how the methods in the book can be applied in real-life.

The ultimate goal is to help you achieve what the authors call Full Engagement in your activities so that you can derive the most output, benefit and enjoyment from them.

5. Tools of Titans – Tim Ferris

“You were born an original, don’t die a copy” is a popular book by John Mason whose title has gone on to become a popular quotation. The problem is, many people quote this title and take it to the extreme of meaning that we should not copy. Period.What these people fail to understand is that copying can be a quick and effective way of discovering ourselves and what works for us. To do that effectively, though, we need to be copying the right things from the people who have done the things we want to do.In other words, we need to be intelligent copiers. This is what Tim Ferris' excellent book - Tools of Titans, helps you to do. In Tim's words:

Success, however you define it, is achievable if you collect the right field-tested beliefs and habits. – Tim Ferris

In Tools of Titans, best-selling author Tim Ferris interviews some of the highest-achievers of our time to tease out their habits and belief systems in a bid to help his readers discover methods that may work for them in achieving their dreams and aspirations.He also does something that is even perhaps more inspiring and interesting – he shows how even the uber-successful people are flawed human beings doing the best with what they have. It gives the reader hope that if these imperfect humans can make something great and become better versions of themselves, then you can too.

Other good productivity books – honourable mentions

Those are my top 5 picks at the time of publishing this article. But there are many other productivity books that I can recommend. And though they were not included in the top 5, they certainly merit an honourable mention.

Anders Ericsson’s Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise is a brilliant work on the theory and practice of mastering skills.

The Pomodoro Technique: The Acclaimed Time-Management System That Has Transformed How We Work by Francesco Cirillo explains and teaches an effective technique for actually doing work and

Cal Newport’s Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is a thought-provoking exploration into the process of creating work of high value.

As you read any one (or all) of these books, remember to enjoy them, but also to use the wisdom contained in them. And be sure to check back soon for more tips from this blog to help you produce your best work and present your best self. Speaking of presenting your best self, you can check out this article for my list of top 5 books every speaker should read.

Until next time, be your best and do your best.