Whether running a solo enterprise or a larger business, 'getting things done' is often seen as a crucial skill.
But what does this look like on a personal level?
How do I know if those 'things' are the right 'things'?
And how the heck do we find focus in our 'always on' world?
These are some of the books that have helped me to explore those questions, so far.....
Books on running your (work) life.
Productivity is rightly quite a toxic word in some contexts. But David Allen's central aim in the 'old, but gold' GTD, isn't actually about 'getting things done' or 'productivity'. It's about achieving a 'mind like water' – a "A mental and emotional state in which your head is clear, able to create and respond freely, unencumbered with distractions and split focus." As a methodology to achieve this across all levels of your life, I believe GTD it is deep, and unsurpassed. Whether you go 'all in' (as I have) to run your life 'through' GTD, or a calmer and lighter version, GTD is 'old, and gold'.
Nugget:
”Things rarely get stuck because of lack of time. They get stuck because the doing of them has not been defined.”
See also:
Building A Second Brain ➜
You might have noticed an explosion in 'mindful productivity' advice over the last few years. I had this book by Michael several years before we became friends and worked together on Do Breathe. Simple is complicated, but Michael does a wonderful job of distilling a 'welldoing' framework centred around the three areas of being, doing and direction – to help you calm your mind, find focus and get stuff done.
Nugget:
”Awareness of our breath connects us to the way we move, the way we think and the way we feel. The way we breathe reflects the way we live.”
See also:
Flow ➜
Cal argues that to do anything meaningful in life, we must cultivate our ability to do 'deep work'. And that our ability to find depth and produce 'output' of meaning is ever more important in a world that is driving itself into distraction. He puts forward several arguments, studies and tools to help us cultivate our ability to focus deeply, rather than staying in the shallows.
Nugget:
”High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus).”
See also:
Daily Rituals ➜
Do you feel that you ability to pay attention is more compromised than at any previous time? Johann Hari's stirring read brings to life some of the business models in tech that mine our attention and break our focus (see also The Social Dilemma and the incredible podcast Your Undivided Attention). He goes deep into this, to raise awareness and inspire ways to recover our own agency.
Nugget:
”The growth machine has pushed humans beyond the limits of our minds–but it is also pushing the planet beyond its ecological limits. And these two crises, I was coming to believe, are intertwined.”
See also:
The Social Dilemma ➜
On the face of it Oliver Burkemann's new book is very sobering. From the outset he introduces the concept of finitude – that our lives are ridiculously short – typically around 4,000 weeks. But he then spends the rest of the book helping you to frame this in a positive way, and how most productivity advice and 'hacks' often end up making things worse. Ultimately, it's a more profound guide to time management and 'getting things done'.
Nugget:
”The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it’s the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder.”
See also:
Man’s Search for Meaning ➜
There is so much good out there in terms of positive role models of leadership. But there are also lots of toxic representations of powerful, extroverted, confident (and mostly male) leaders. I love this book – it should be compulsory reading for every leader. It may just help you inhabit your own unique style of leadership, making it more enjoyable and more effective in the process.
Nugget:
”A useful personality characteristic: quiet persistence.”