What are my absolute favorite productivity books? Find out my top five next.
Hello everyone, Scott Friesen here at Simpletivity, helping you to get more done and enjoy less stress. You know, I've read an awful lot of productivity books, and there's an awful lot of good stuff out there, as well as some that are just okay or not so good.
Well, in today's video, I want to share with you my top five list. These are the five books that have had the biggest impact not only on my life but also on how I view time management and productivity.
Deep Work
The first book on this list is called *Deep Work* by Cal Newport. I read *Deep Work* when it first came out, and it absolutely transformed the way that I work.
One of the big messages in *Deep Work* is that we've lost our ability to focus. Cal Newport takes a look at some of the most prominent thinkers, inventors, and leaders of the past and shows how they spent a great deal of time alone in their thoughts, just focused on maybe one or two problems at a time.
In today's day and age, we've lost that ability. One of the biggest takeaways I got from *Deep Work* was the ability to actually shut down and finish my workday at a particular time.
In fact, Cal Newport shares how he does a routine of closing his laptop lid and saying to himself out loud, "Shutdown complete." Now, I don't do this every single day, but I do find myself doing it from time to time.
It's a great way to remind myself that I'm going to move on to other things and leave my work behind. So if you're looking to increase your focus, be sure to read *Deep Work* by Cal Newport.
The second book on this list is all about goal-setting or, perhaps more specifically, about goal-achieving. In the book *The Four Disciplines of Execution*, author Chris McChesney gives us a four-step template for achieving any goal.
Disciplines of Execution
One of the biggest takeaways I took from this book was having a visible scoreboard or a scorecard—something that I can't ignore, something that I see every single day to see if I'm winning or losing the game of my goal-setting. As Chris McChesney points out, you're either winning or losing.
This is an absolutely fantastic read, whether you want to achieve your own individual goals or if you want to achieve goals with a team or larger organization. So make sure you pick up *The Four Disciplines of Execution* so you can start hitting your goals out of the park.
Next up on this list is one of the few books that I've read multiple times. *The One Thing* by Gary Keller helps us to simplify our work life and helps us pinpoint and focus on our most important tasks.
The One Thing
Much of this book is based around one key question that Gary encourages us to ask ourselves regularly, but it goes so much further than just that one question. One of the biggest takeaways I took from this book was blocking out time in the morning for my most significant tasks.
It may sound pretty outrageous to block out as much as three or four hours for your most important goal. But as Gary Keller points out, if you're not blocking out large chunks of time, when will you find time for your most important work?
So be sure to check out *The One Thing* so you too can achieve extraordinary results. Now, the fourth book on this list may just be the most well-known: *Getting Things Done* by David Allen.
Getting Things Done
This was one of the very first books that I read on the topic of personal productivity or time management, and many of the principles that David Allen outlines in the book are still applicable today. I will admit there's a large portion of *Getting Things Done*—better known as GTD—that I don't agree with.
But one of the things that I think is an absolute staple is the idea of getting things out of your head and putting them into a notebook or a note-taking application. As David has famously said, "Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding on to them."
So if you haven't read *Getting Things Done*, you may want to at the very least browse through it, or you can do a Google search and see some of the other great summaries out there detailing the GTD method. The final book on this list is called *Essentialism* by Greg McKeown.
Essentialism
The reason I selected *Essentialism* to round out this list is that I think its message is very much in line with my message here at Simpletivity. You've probably heard me say in the past that it's not so important that you get everything done.
I care so much more that you're getting the right things done, that you're getting the important things done. Greg McKeown shares a variety of experiences from his own life where he almost missed out on some significant family events because he was trying to get too many things done.
*Essentialism* is an essential read if you're wanting to simplify your life and focus on the most important things. So there you have it—my five favorite productivity books that have had the biggest impact on my life.
Conclusion
What do you think of my top 5 list? How many of these titles would also be on your top 5?
If you have other titles that you'd like to recommend, be sure to include them in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching.
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Remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.
