Do you struggle with time management? It can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to tackling your mountains of tasks and responsibilities. You might be actively searching for solutions by searching online, watching videos, or reading books about time management.
I confess I love books. And I have quite a collection of personal development and business books. These books are my personal resource library. They've helped me develop better work habits and create my program frameworks and improve personal and professional skills. This is especially the case for time management.
There are some amazing books out there written by people who have dedicated their lives to figuring out the best time management techniques. Instead of reinventing the wheel, why not take advantage of their expertise?
If you're not sure where to start, here's a list of five awesome books about time management. Get ready to beat overwhelm and boost your productivity.
Books About Time Management
There are so many great self-development books out there that focus on productivity and time management.
But choosing which ones to read can become overwhelming in and of itself. The following are five that I recommend, so choose the one that speaks to you and get reading!
Eat That Frog
Procrastination is one of the great enemies of productivity and massively messes with your time management. One of the best books to help defeat the procrastination monster is Eat That Frog by self-development expert Brian Tracy. If you're a solopreneur, this is a must-read.
If your big issue is procrastination, Eat That Frog by self-development expert Brian Tracy is a must-read. Click To Tweet.Mark Twain once said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” This is the anaolgy that makes up the premise of this book. The idea is to complete your most difficult task at the beginning of each day, making anything else you have to do for the rest of the day easier.
In his book about time management, Tracy shows you how to figure out what this most challenging task is and how to most effectively structure your time.
This book is broken down into 21 simple principles. It is an easy read and will help you start increasing your productivity, fast.
Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done — or simply, GTD — is more than just a book. It’s a way of life.
I find it particularly useful when it comes to managing incoming emails. It can be applied to pretty much any type of information or task you need to process throughout the day.
The GTD process can be broken down into five main steps:
- Capture — Note down all the tasks taking up valuable space in your brain
- Clarify — Go through your list and decide what you can do right now, and how you should deal with the rest (for instance, delegate them)
- Organize — Prioritize and schedule your tasks by level of urgency
- Reflect — Make sure to regularly check-in and review your to-do list
- Engage — Actually clear stuff off your list!
If you’re looking for a simple roadmap to help you get organized and beat overwhelm, definitely give this book a read!
How to Stop Procrastinating
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I really need to stop procrastinating”…and then promptly procrastinated your way out of it?
If so, stop whatever you’re doing, and go read How To Stop Procrastinating: A Simple Guide to Mastering Difficult Tasks!
As I mentioned earlier, procrastination is a great enemy of productivity and time management. It's a significant roadblock for many solopreneurs. Unfortunately, simply telling yourself to buckle down often isn’t enough.
By employing Steve Scott's practical tips and strategies, you can stop dreading your to-do list, and instead, feel confident in focusing on the core goals you’ve decided to work on. Everything you can just forget about.
The 4-Hour Workweek
OK, so this is an oldie, but it's still a goodie. The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss is a must-read and a must-have for your professional library.
Sure, working just four hours each week isn’t realistic for most business owners. However, this book still contains a ton of valuable, actionable tips for increasing your productivity, working fewer hours, and making more money. Who doesn’t want all of these?!
One of the core ideas of the book is to become laser-focused on the stuff that really matters and forget the rest. And if you've been following me at all, you know that one of my mantras is to do what matters so you can win your day.
In this book about time management, Ferriss writes, “Doing something unimportant well does not make it important”. Embracing this concept and getting clear on the work that is unimportant to your success will help you save time. And having more time will make time management easier.
For those of you who struggle with perfectionism, it can be tough to learn that you don’t have to excel at every single task in your business. But it can be learned. This book will help.
Instead, we would be better served to decide what’s really important, and then channel our perfectionism and energies into those tasks alone. Click To TweetThe Checklist Manifesto
I firmly believe that business owners, especially solo entrepreneurs, tend to overcomplicate things.
You think that in order to be more productive you must create complex flow charts and manuals in order to get stuff done. Creating and following such complicated plans, can feel overwhelming. That can lead to you bumbling along without a plan at all, which leads to a different set of challenges.
In The Checklist Manifesto, surgeon Atul Gawande discusses how simple, concise checklists can help us not only become more productive, but more effective.
A simple, but effective checklist could be the key to finally getting yourself organized and moving forward. Don't stress yourself out trying to follow complex rules and workflows, instead start simply. There will always be time to create more intricate systems as you need them. Got that? Simple first, sophisticated later!
Final Thoughts
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unproductive, there is no shame in turning to self-help books.
The five books about time management above will get you off to a great start, giving you the motivation and skills to help you get more done, in less time. Remember, as with any tactics and strategies you learn about, it's most important to take the parts and pieces that fit best with your values and work practices and implement them as best you can. You've got this!
Looking for more ways to get – and stay – organized? Check out my recent post, The Best Daily Planners to Maximize Your Productivity in 2022.
What’s your favorite time management book? Let me know in the comments below!
