That’s a good one too.
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I actually am a big fan of The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey, who was a guest on the podcast. I actually own it in both audiobook and physical book because, like with Getting Things Done, there are sections I find useful to revisit (the idea of a “procrastination list” and what to put on that list, for example). I feel the same way about Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith - there are lists of things in those books that continue to be useful.
I also like The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, less from a “This is a Productivity Book” as opposed to “this is why you desperately want a cookie mid-afternoon and how to teach your brain to stop harassing you about eating a cookie”
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I’m with Chris.
GTD - David Allen.
Deep Work - Cal Newport
Let’s me add a little surrounding info, though. I found GTD to help me get a mental model for how to organize my professional life. Whereas I don’t follow his system 100% (I’m maybe at 65% of what he actually suggests) it’s the model that I found value in. I apply that daily. The most important take away for me: get everything out of your head and into a trusted system. Number two is simply reinforcement of breaking things into manageable parts, and doing so ahead of time allows you to just hit the ground running. When I’m not exactly sure what to do next, procrastination hits me hard.
With Deep Work, I needed to hear “step away from the distractions, don’t always be available for Slack and email messages.” You’ll be more efficient this way.
But here’s my caveat: It’s an easy trap to get pulled into these types of books. I enjoy them and could easily always be reading one. But if you’re reading a book like this, you’re displacing either time, or brain power to be doing your next thing. And ultimately, learning is great but doing is the only thing that actually accomplishes anything. So don’t get trapped searching for the answer to become more efficient. Get some background, then learn by doing. (And I’ve not conquered this myself, still working. You’ll never be done, even if you’re successful. Just keep marching in the right direction.)
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A lot of great tips here. I have read and enjoyed many of them. Some have even been implemented in part.
As great books go, one profound life lesson is about Alice and her Adventures in Wonderland. Talk about being ready for anything…
I love this book because it demonstrates how one can remain calm and composed in stressful and unfamiliar situations while treating everything and everyone with respect and kindness. Aiming to be helpful and accommodating without compromising her integrity.
The Caterpillar teaches an important lesson about directon, and the tea party is the perfect preparation for the endless meetings she will need to attend, should she choose to go the corporate route.
Life is unexpected and often chaotic - we just need to learn to enjoy the ride.
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7 Habits (in particular Habits, 1, 2, 3 & 7).
Since then, I have read everything from Allen (and attended a GTD seminar), tried most of Mark Forster’s systems. Own Omnifocus, Things… my wife’s not amused.
But I keep coming back to the depth and breadth of 7 Habits Weekly Planning. Mission --> Roles --> Long Term Goals --> Weekly Planning --> Daily Living
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I read Deep Work - clearly my attention was elsewhere - because I don’t recall the references to Jung.
My official training was in CBT - considered to be the most evidence-based therapy that currently exists. And yet, I didn’t find CBT addressed any foundational problems, and is only moderately effective for symptoms while the client is in therapy. A few weeks post-therapy, symptoms usually return.
So with respect to psychology & science, I prefer the term “clinical observation” to suggest what “works”. As a therapist, who is married to a psychiatrist, this level of scrutiny is fine for me.
@Wolfie @Avrum Is it possible there’s a misunderstanding? I have read Deep Work and went back to look at it and Newport is only talking about Jung’s study habits in the first several pages. He calls Jung “one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century” but then goes on to say that “in this book, however, I am interested in [Jung’s] commitment to the following skill… [proceeds to define deep work.]”
I don’t have my physical copy in front of me but I think Jung is just one of the examples along JK Rowling, Newport himself, etc.
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I practice from a Family Systems orientation - created by Dr. Murray Bowen. While I appreciate the contributions of depth psychologies (Jung, Freud, Kohut, etc), I do not have training in any of them. The gist of my comment had to do with how psychotherapy is measured for efficacy - not with any psychotherapy per se. As I’m sure you’re aware, much of the popular research (in particular - the behavioural research) is now under scrutiny.
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Personally, I didn’t find Deep Work that helpful. I find Newport’s advice helpful for a certain type of person, in a certain type of field.
As well, I’m not sure why people find it so groundbreaking. Time-blocking has been around forever. My hunch is the anti-GTD crowd really took to Newport’s thinking - and found a system that rejects the minutiae of “next action” working. I’m basing that idea on comments and Newport’s own criticisms about GTD (which I share).
Having said that - and as you’ve mentioned - I don’t recall Jung being a large part of Newport’s book. But it’s been a while since I’ve read the book.
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A lot of the same as other people
- Atomic Habits - James Clear (best book on habits - period.)
- 12 Week Year - Brian Moran (key takeaways - track in 12-week blocks, rather than one-year blocks; journal about how well you perform at your goals/tactics).
- Anything by Cal Newport (I’m a data scientist, so he’s very relevant for my field.)
- Getting Things Done - David Allen (the book that started my productivity journey)
- Essentialism - Greg McKeown (I have trouble saying “no” and fear of missing out is a constant battle, so an excellent reminder, this one).
I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. Shoutout to @mikeschmitz and @joebuhlig for their excellent podcast, Bookworm, where they review a different productivity book each fortnight. So good!
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One I love and have given quite a few away is “The Art of Possibility” by the Zander’s. Not so much a “how to” in terms of action but in thinking.
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As an academic, the smart notes book has been pretty deeply transformative: https://www.amazon.com/How-Take-Smart-Notes-Nonfiction-ebook/dp/B06WVYW33Y
…and Deep Work and Getting Things Done.
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I’m about half way through with this one and I’ve been taking some hints from it that I think will help me overall. The idea of trying to focus on maintenance tasks on only specified days is intriguing and there are some other tips I may test out.
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Same here. Read some of them because of the hype and found them, while not wrong, a waste of time. I learned more GTD in the army than from a book. 
I realize this is an ancient thread but Make Time by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky just went on sale for $1.99 on Amazon.
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Really good book, lots of great actionable ideas.
Love seeing Adler there! My wife Lil and I swear by it (in the kitchen).
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I’ll add two I haven’t seen on here:
- Checklist Manifesto (so helpful to prepare my ADHD brain for those repeatable and necessary tasks).
- Turn The Ship Around by L. David Marquet
- this book was great as a leader, which some of my world revolves around for productivity.
Edit: I see Checklist Manifesto mentioned 
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There are a lot of the same books listed in this thread. One that I haven’t seen yet is Subtract by Leidy Klotz. It was just published in 2021 and definitely has some new ideas in it that I am embracing in my work right now as an elementary school principal. I highly recommend it and it is and easy read.
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Thanks for mentioning the book by Adler (An Everlasting Meal). Kindle version is currently on sale at Amazon for $1.99 (so I immediately bought it!). Unfortunately, Make Time is back up to $10.99 on Kindle.