Top Productivity books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Productivity books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Productivity

Understanding the concepts of Productivity starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Deep Work

“Deep work” was coined by Cal Newport in his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. It refers to the capacity for concentrated, high-quality cognitive activities demanding deep focus, creativity, and problem-solving.

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Zen to Done: The Ultimate Simple Productivity System

Zen To Done is a simple system to get you more organized and productive, and keep your life saner and less stressed, with a set of habits. ZTD teaches you: * The key habits needed to be productive, organized, and simplified... and no more than that. * How to implement these key habits... tips on forming a habit. * How to organize these habits into a simple system that will keep everything in y…

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Feel-Good Productivity

Feel-Good Productivity (2021) by Ali Abdaal is a book that explores how to maximize productivity without sacrificing happiness and well-being.

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23 Anti-Procrastination Habits: How to Stop Being Lazy and Get Results in Your Life S. J. Scott

In the book "23 Anti-Procrastination Habits", you will discover a catalog of ideas to help you overcome procrastination on a daily basis. Whereas many books provide a simple list of tips, you'll learn why a specific strategy works, what limiting belief it eliminates and how it can be immediately applied to your life.

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Work Less, Do More: Designing the 4-Day Week Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

A must read for anyone interested in the 4-day week' - Heejung Chung, professor at the University of Kent and author of The Flexibility Paradox'This invaluable book offers a clear way we don't need to burn ourselves out, we can work less and get more done' - Rebecca Seal, author of How To Work Alone (And Not Lose Your Mind)The 4-day week is no longer just an idea. Following successful trials i…

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Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Jeff Sutherland discloses to the non-tech world the elegantly simple process that programmers and web developers have been using since he invented Scrum, showing how a small, empowered, and dedicated team can deliver significantly higher quality work at a faster pace through introspection, iteration, and adaptation.”

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Additional Productivity Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Productivity, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

The One Thing (book)

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is a productivity book that argues that by prioritizing and focusing on one important task at a time, we can achieve extraordinary results and build momentum towards our ultimate goals.

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The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit (2012) unveils the science behind habit formation and change, making it a valuable read. Key highlights include: The book uncovers the psychology and neuroscience behind our daily routines. It presents practical strategies for replacing bad habits with positive ones.

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Free to Focus

"Free to Focus" by Michael Hyatt is a productivity book that helps readers identify and eliminate distractions in order to focus on meaningful work. It offers practical advice and tools for achieving greater efficiency and effectiveness in both work and life.

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The Checklist Manifesto

What is The Checklist Manifesto about? Drawing from his experience as a general surgeon, Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto (2009) reveals startling evidence on how using a simple checklist can significantly reduce human error in complex professions such as aviation, engineering and medicine.

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Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours

With Extreme Productivity, Pozen explains how individuals can maximize their time and energy by determining and focusing on their highest priorities. He also provides a toolkit of practical tips and techniques to help professionals at all stages of their careers maximize their time at work.

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The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy

Chris Bailey turned down lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream—to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the pursuit of productivity, a subject he had been enamored with since he was a teenager. After obtaining his business degree, he created a blog to chronicle a year-long series of productivity experiments he conducted on himself, where he also continued his research a…

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This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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