5 Best Productivity Books to Help You Stay Focused and Get Things Done
With excellent time management, you get more time to live out your life. You get more time for the people and the things you love doing. And you only get to do this if you free yourself from “being busy”. Being busy, however, doesn’t always mean you’re productive. So if you’re always struggling to keep your focus to get things done quickly and efficiently, here are 5 productivity books you might want to read.
How did productivity books help me?
Productivity books have tremendously helped me more than I can imagine. I usually get easily distracted to finish the things I have started but after applying the core concepts of these productivity books, especially the first book I’m about to discuss, I became more productive and is now able to get more things done in a day more than I did a few years ago.
Here are a few of the habits I formed that made me more productive:
- Get up the bed early in the morning
- Do daily exercise
- Meditate before getting myself drowned in tasks
- Pour my focus on my most important tasks during my most effective hours (usually from 7pm-10pm)
- Eliminate distractions
- Have a social media detox
- Listen to a podcast while doing house chores
If you’re like me, I highly suggest reading even just the first two books I’m about to mention.
5 Best Productivity Books You Should Read Right Now
1. Eat That Frog!
by Brian Tracy
This is one of my top favorites that really helped me get the most difficult tasks done when I need to. In the best-selling book Eat That Frog, Brian talks about that certain frog that you don’t want to eat. And this frog is the most difficult task you don’t want to do but you have to.
So instead of waiting for the heavens to pour motivation and energy on you, you have to tick the most difficult task you have on your list first hour of your day because this is the time that you still have enough energy to get it done. Like a battery, your energy drains throughout the day so you have to give your best, energetic self to that most important task that you hate doing.
Key Takeaways from Eat That Frog
- Your frog is your most important task. The one that you’re most likely to procrastinate on. If you’re not going to do something about it to get it done, you’re only prolonging your agony to the next day or until who knows when.
- Start your day with the hardest and biggest task. Push yourself to really get into it until the task is complete so you can proceed with other smaller tasks or have the rest of the day to relax and enjoy.
- Take action immediately. Don’t wait for motivation to kick your butt. Start munching a small portion of that major task and motivation will follow.
- If you have developed the habit of successfully accomplishing difficult tasks, it becomes a positive addiction which could help boost that confidence. Eventually, you’ll want more and more of it.
- There’s really no shortcut to getting yourself used to the taste of the frog. So keep practicing and remember that your mind is like a muscle. It grows stronger and more capable with use.
My topmost favorite quotes from Eat That Frog
2. Atomic Habits
by James Clear
I read this book during the most dysfunctional phase of my life and it taught me that I do not necessarily have to have the motivation and the willpower to get things done.
Atomic Habits helped me understand that changing my environment in such a way that good habits become easier and more enticing to do than the bad ones can make a huge difference.
Key Takeaways from Atomic Habits
- Building habits is not more about motivation or willpower but more about the environment and system that you create for yourself.
- You get more productive by focusing on your systems and sticking to them instead of relying on sheer motivation to get things done.
- Design your systems in a way that good habits become the easiest option to do than the bad ones.
My topmost favorite quotes from Atomic Habits
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
by Stephen Covey
The most important lesson I took from the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is the ability to shape my own reality by focusing on things I can control and letting go of the things I cannot. Life doesn’t just happen. Life is about making choices and in every situation that requires me to make a decision, there is an opportunity to make a better choice, thus leading to a life that I always wanted to have. If life gives me the upper hand to run the show, then I have to give it the best I can.
Still, it’s okay not to be in control all the time as there are always things that are out of our control. But just because I cannot control it, doesn’t mean I can’t do anything about it. I can always choose how to respond and react as things come to heel.
Key Takeaways from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- Be proactive. Stop complaining about the things you can’t control and start focusing on things you have control over and take responsibility of whatever consequences of the choices you have made.
- Begin with an end in mind. Make a conscious effort of mapping out where you want to end up in life. Otherwise, you will just run around a loophole with no means of escape since you have no destination to begin with.
- Put first things first. Determine the things that are most important to you and focus your energy on what really matters.
- Think win-win. In order to create healthy relationships with others, you have to work on having an abundance mindset. There is plenty for all.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood. For you to understand someone, you have to listen to them, not the other way around. So before you judge, listen. And listen with the intent to understand, and not just the intent to reply.
- Synergy. All of us think and do things differently. Learn to accept differences and if there’s something that you need to disagree, then do it with respect.
- Sharpen the saw. Always aim for continuous improvement. But in order to do it effectively, you must first focus on being the kind of person who is open for improvements.
My topmost favorite quotes from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
4. The 4-Hour Workweek
by Timothy Ferriss
Escape 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich. Sounds like a pipe dream, isn’t it? For most of us, yes, but Tim was able to pull this off. In fact, in his book The 4-Hour Workweek, he mentioned how he went from $40,000 per year while working 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month with only 4 hours per week. He attributed this success to two core ethics: ELIMINATION and OUTSOURCING.
In this book, Tim discussed a few methods for doing more in less time. These concepts are greatly inspired by the two laws of productivity:
- Pareto’s Law: Majority of results come from a few efforts.
- Parkinson’s Law: Work expands or contracts according to the time you allot for it.
Key Takeaways from The 4-Hour Workweek
- Things really don’t take that much time as you think they should. More often, we tend to mistake activity for productivity. Being busy doesn’t always mean you’re productive. We just usually end up doing work just for work’s sake.
- Most things you waste your energy on don’t really matter and what matters most needs less time than you think it needs. This is why you produce more results if you’re under time pressure compared to the procrastination you do weeks before the deadline.
My topmost favorite quotes from The 4-Hour Workweek
5. How to Stop Procrastinating
by Steve Scott
If you’re the type of person who procrastinates because you usually find difficult tasks too overwhelming, this book is definitely for you. In the book How to Stop Procrastinating, Steve laid a straightforward and systematic framework for building an action-oriented habit.
Key Takeaways from How to Stop Procrastinating
- Procrastination is a limiting belief that could greatly affect the overall quality of your life, including your success.
- The more you procrastinate, the more you become inactive. So get yourself moving and try to gain momentum from accomplishing small things. That sense of accomplishment will give you the confidence to do your huge tasks.
- There are many ways on how to keep your focus and increase productivity but that doesn’t mean you have to do them all. You just have to pick one that best suits you and your work ethic.
My topmost favorite quotes from How to Stop Procrastinating
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Sheila
Sheila is a civil engineer by profession but has switched careers to become a copywriter. She loves making sales through stories that are relatable to the average person. She's also a sucker for memes and thinks she’s the funniest person in the world (even though she knows that’s not true). Her favorite drink is Kopiko Brown coffee, but she'll also take tea or beer if it's offered.
18 Comments
Jojisilia Villamor
The book Eat that Frog reminds me of office management. Where I work, they already have people in mind who they can force feed the ugliest and biggest frogs. Unfortunately (?), I am one of those people that have to eat the unappetizing meals. So, I have learned to cope by using my imagination and resourcefullness 🙂
Sheila
Because you’re one big asset Ms Joji! And I really love how you took every challenge with grace!
Jullian Robin Sibi
I sometimes think that I don’t have time to read any kind of productivity book. Maybe that’s because I’d rather do something that actually contributes to my personal creative goals, I guess. I hope to get some audiobooks of these though!
Sheila
Hahahahaha yes Jullian, that actually makes sense! The very goals of these books after all. In fact, I can hear them say “Hey, fcknut! Just do your thing! Just do it. NOW!” hahahah
GJ Perino
Oh my! I need to read that Frog
Book because just Like a battery, my energy drains throughout the day so I have to give my best, energetic self to that most important task that I hate the most
Sheila
You should GJ! Such a great book!
Reck Adventures
These are the books that I need. I always procrastinate things which I am not proud of.
I often have this problem – “Begin with an end in mind.” I didn’t practice this! Huhu I agree most of my task especially the vlogs. I tend to procrastinate in editing my vlogs. I often ask myself if only I have editors but nada! Haha I often end up filming another vlogs. Now, I have almost a hundred pending vlogs. I’ll start working on that soon. I will! huhu
Sheila
I have so much respect for vloggers like you Reck! The work is indeed more dreadful than blogging. But maybe when you can already afford it, try to scale up and delegate some of the tasks instead.
Julius Malaza
I find these books interesting. Recently, I’ve been busy that I don’t have time reading even a single book. I need some motivation that would help me start cultivating reading habits. That Eat That Frog is appealing!
Sheila
I don’t think you need these books Juls. You’re already killing it! hahahaha
Charisma Sevilla
No.3 7 habits of highly effective people is one of my life-changing books. I’ve read it again and again to be reminded of the 7 powerful tools that helped me especially on how to handle and understand other people. and yes if there’s one book I would highly recommend others to read this would be it!
Sheila
Yeees that’s one of my favorites too!
Armie Garde
I love Brian Tracy but I haven’t read his Eat That Frog book yet. I also couldn’t agree more on this – “Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.” Thank you for this list, Sheila.
Sheila
When I procrastinate, I usually find myself seeking for nonsense memes hahahahhahah
Anjville - Travel Blogs and More
Among these four books, what really shaped me is the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to read some more books nowadays, and for sure those you recommended are really worth the read. I know I can pick a lot of learning from them.
Sheila
That’s actually one of the books that really shaped me today. Thanks Anj!
Roneth Hezel Politud
I’ve been looking for the book: The 4-Hour Workweek. I couldn’t find one. I think I need to buy it online. Thank you for sharing these wonderful list. I already listed these books in my to-buy list!
Sheila
I tried to look for that in the bookstores as well, but I could hardly find one. Welcome, Ron!