11 Brilliant Books that Elevated Our Productivity and Focus
We compiled a short list of our favorite books on productivity and focus.
I have a confession to make. I don't typically like reading physical books.
Instead, I love listening to audiobooks, probably a little too much.
Paired with Airpods and an Audible subscription, the books on this list have transformed my life. And I think they will do the same for you.
11 Awesome Books for Productivity and Focus
Here is our short list of books. We sincerely believe they can transform your life. Enjoy!
1. The Artist's Way
Author: Julia Cameron
Key Takeaway: Unblock Your Inner Artist to Find Freedom
If you were to ask a room of kindergartners, 'who can draw?', virtually every hand in the room would go up.
However, if you were to ask a group of adults the same question, it's very likely that no hands would go up.
Why is that?
Julia Cameron, the author of The Artist's Way, would argue that it is because we are conditioned through education, society, and loved ones to suppress our inner artists and live an uninspired life.
This conditioning blocks our inner artists, leaving us on a dreadful cycle of climbing corporate ladders, performing at social events, and consuming instead of creating.
The Artists' Way is focused on unblocking your inner artist through a 12-week challenge. The book is full of fun activities designed to remove oppressive conditioning from your life.
"Of the 100 people I’ve given it [The Artist's Way] to, maybe ten of them have actually opened the book and done the exercises. Of those ten, seven have had books, movies, TV shows, and made out successful. It’s incredible."
- Brian Koppelman, Producer & Director
If I could only recommend one book from this list, it would be The Artist’s Way.
2. Eat That Frog
Author: Brian Tracy
Key Takeaway: Focus is the Ultimate Key to Success
After interviewing hundreds of successful people and examining the work habits of organizations Brian Tracy has found the secret to success, focus.
It's focusing on one very specific problem that helps successful people create more results and live their ideal lifestyle.
This one big problem is called a 'Frog'.
It's your goal to tackle that project first thing every day. In short, eat the frog and everything else becomes easier.
3. Everybody Always
Author: Bob Goff
Key Takeaway: Don't Plan, Just Show Up
If I had to pick one word to describe Bob Goff it would be available.
In Everybody Always, Bob encourages us to think of ways to love everybody at every unpredictable turn in our life.
From his office at Disneyland to fighting human trafficking in India, Bob is the embodiment of the courageous friend you hope to be.
The book is a beautiful reminder that it is often the small acts of whimsy and love that lead to unimaginable flourishing. Focus on loving others, not generating results.
4. Atomic Habits
Author: James Clear
Key Takeaway: Create Habit Stacks
Atomic Habits by James Clear is the most practical guide that we've ever seen on creating good habits.
In the book, James shares how breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a tree, while creating a good habit is like cultivating a small little sapling. Through the practical steps outlined in the book like Habit Stacking, Temptation Bundling, and Environment Design, you can create a lifestyle for your ideal self to thrive.
We've also written an entire article on ‘21 Takeaways from Atomic Habits’ with a free book study guide. Check it out if you're serious about creating a good habits.
5. The Four Hour Workweek
Author: Tim Ferriss
Key Takeaway: Most Of Our Work Can Be Outsourced
Most of the work tasks you do are completely pointless. That is the central message in Tim Ferriss' legendary book, The Four-Hour Workweek.
This book shares the power of virtual assistants, testing business ideas, and designing an ideal lifestyle.
Using the techniques outlined in the book, Tim became a golden glove champion, world-class Tango dancer, and best selling author.
All of this happened while other people made him millions.
The book shares very practical ways to change your life, including templates on how to convince your boss to let you work remotely and travel around the world.
The book is shocking, brilliant, and inspiring.
6. The War of Art
Author: Steven Pressfield
Key Takeaway: Remove Resistance to Thrive as an Artist
The War of Art has a clear and compelling message, the world is conspiring to keep you from creating art.
Author Steven Pressfield calls this sabotage resistance, and it is your goal to fight resistance at all costs.
Whether it's friends, family, chores, social media, or the news, everything in life can be resistance designed to keep you from creating.
The book only takes a few hours to read, but it will change your life. Guaranteed.
7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Author: Mark Manson
Key Takeaway: Stop Focusing on Dumb Stuff
What stupid things do you care too much about? A Dream Car? Likes on social media? Impressing your boss?
We are raised to care about such things, but are they even important?
In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson reminds us that a huge key to success is to care more, about less.
Don't focus on time wasters, focus on things that can make a difference in your life and the people around you.
8. The Lean Startup
Author: Eric Ries
Key Takeaway: Test Your Ideas Before Committing to Them
The Lean Startup is specifically written for folks who are interested in starting a business, but the book is actually a good guide-book for succeeding in life.
The central theme of The Lean Startup is simple, knowledge is the greatest asset you can have.
The Lean Startup encourages readers to test every idea through the simplest product possible known as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
By testing your ideas and getting feedback from an audience, you will see if your idea is actually worth pursuing. This can save you precious time and money in the long run.
We found this system to be incredibly helpful when testing and developing the Curious Millionaire program.
9. Extreme Ownership
Author: Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Key Takeaway: Leaders Should Always Own Mistakes
Great leaders own the mistakes of themselves and their teams. Extreme Ownership from Jacko Willink and Leif Babin is an adrenaline filled journey into the leadership strategies of Navy Seals.
The book uses war stories fused with business examples to create a book that will inspire you to go out of your way to own mistakes.
This book helped us look at problems in our life and say 'good', because they give us an opportunity to test what we know.
10. A Complaint Free World
Author: Will Bowen
Key Takeaway: Try a No-Complaint Challenge
The average person complains 15-30 times throughout their day. If you average that out to a lifetime that can equal out to around 800,000 complaints.
In A Complaint Free World, Will Bowen encourages readers to take the 21-day no complaint challenge.
Here's How it Works:
Put a Bracelet on Your Wrist
Every Time You Complain, Move the Bracelet to the Other Wrist
Try to Keep the Bracelet on the Same Wrist for 21 Days
After attempting to complete this challenge for a few months now, we can honestly say that running a marathon might be an easier task to accomplish.
11. Free to Focus
Author: Michael Hyatt
Key Takeaway: Be Passionate and Proficient to Find Success
Michael Hyatt's Free to Focus is a brilliant book with practical insight on how to focus on the most important things in your work and life.
This book is almost like an activity book, with exercises and charts that help you really digest the knowledge inside.
We found this book to be super helpful when paired with the online resource guides.
See Ya' Later Bookworm
We hope you find these books to be a helpful tool on your journey into productivity and flourishing. Cheers!
We prefer the term bibliophile…