productivity Book Summaries

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is about becoming more effective at reaching our goals and leading others. Stephen Covey says his teachings are based on timeless principles like personal responsibility, empathetic listening, and treating others with fairness.

The 5AM Club is about learning to wake up at 5 a.m. and follow a morning routine, so we can become more self-disciplined, productive, and happy. Robin Sharma wrote this self-help book as a story, with a Billionaire mentoring an Entrepreneur and Artist, who were struggling with distraction and procrastination.

The 4-Hour Workweek is about building a passive income business so we can escape the usual 40-hour workweek, and design our ideal lifestyle. Tim Ferris also shows how we can improve our productivity by following the 80/20 rule and a 'low information diet.'

The War of Art explains how you can do more creative work and overcome your procrastination, distraction, and paralysis. Steven Pressfield says inside all of us is Resistance, a tricky enemy that sabotages our dreams, and it is the source of our fears, doubts, excuses, and poor habits.

Deep Work is about focusing deeply so you can thrive in your professional career. Cal Newport says reducing distractions and increasing our ability to concentrate will allow us to learn new skills faster and produce higher quality work.

Atomic Habits is a guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones. James Clear says all our habits follow a 4-Step Habit Loop which includes: cue, craving, response and reward. He explains practical techniques to "hack" each step so we can achieve lasting personal change.

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big is about the hilarious wisdom and many business failures of Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert. He shares pragmatic strategies for increasing our odds of success—by using systems over goals, building a talent stack and repeating (mysteriously powerful) affirmations.

Getting Things Done is a system to help us be more organized and productive. It basically turned into a popular movement during the early 2000's. David Allen says we can feel in control of our busy work lives, simply by learning to manage our daily tasks effectively.