The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
Written by Chris Bailey
Narrated by Chris Bailey
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
For readers who made David Allen's Getting Things Done a perennial bestseller, a fresh and entertaining exploration of a topic that concerns just about everyone over the course of their careers: how to be more productive at work, and in every facet of our lives.
After earning his business degree, Chris Bailey turned down several lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream-to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the subject of productivity. Bailey had been fascinated with productivity since he was a young teenager, when he began researching every paper and every book available on the topic. After graduating college, he created a blog to chronicle his year long series of productivity experiments on himself, and well as his continuing research and interviews with some of the world's foremost experts, from Charles Duhigg to David Allen. Among the experiments that he attempted: Bailey went several weeks with getting by on little to no sleep; he cut out caffeine and sugar; he lived in total isolation for 10 days; he stretched his work week to 90 hours; a late riser, he got up at 5:30 every morning for a month, all the while monitoring the impact of his experiments on the quality and quantity of his work.
This book-The Productivity Project-and the lessons Chris learned-are the result of that year-long journey. Among the many counterintuitive insights Chris discovered that had the biggest impact on his productivity: shrinking or eliminating the unimportant; the rule of three; striving for imperfection; scheduling less time for important tasks; the 20 second rule to distract yourself from distractions; and the concept of productive procrastination. Bailey offers over 30 best practices that will help every one of us to accomplish more.
Editor's Note
Work from home…
Get more done in a day — and maintain healthy boundaries between office and house — by incorporating these findings on productivity into your routine.
Chris Bailey
Chris Bailey ran a year-long productivity project where he conducted intensive research, as well as dozens of productivity experiments on himself, to discover how to become as productive as possible. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject and has garnered coverage in the media as diverse as the New York Times, Huffington Post, New York magazine, Harvard Business Review, TED, Fast Company and Lifehacker. The author of The Productivity Project, Chris lives in Ottawa, Ontario, in Canada.
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Reviews for The Productivity Project
207 ratings20 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Many good ideas to move into action
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Some good ideas, but not amazing. A bit too heavy on the self-promotion for my taste.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very insightful on how to get through the mundane to produce your goals
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book and easy to listen. Very well set up and researched. I haven't tried any of the experiments yet, so I can't say anything to if it has improved my productivity.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I’ve procrastinated reading this book for a while (ironic I know) but finally got around to it. It’s a pretty mediocre read. It feels like a very long blog post series rather than a book. Maybe when it was originally published it was more groundbreaking, but it now feels like any other book on productivity with the same advice.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really love this book , recommend it . Thanks
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was an amazing book! I loved it! I have seen an huge improvement in my productivity.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was fantastic. Extremely thorough and engaging. I have begun applying some of the recommendations and they seem to be effective. I might even give this a second listen. If you’re looking for a way to reframe your view on productivity this is worth listening to!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good tips but felt a little information overload was going on to focus and process one technique at a time. Ended up purchasing the book to read some of the passages vs listening to them again.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A fabulous book that delivers on its promise outlined on the cover. The topics and Chris’s reflections on the experiments he conducted within each topic was transformative for me. I note have put in place a number of the suggestions he makes and find myself now able to follow through on my intentions.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience the energizing feeling of accomplishing what you set out to do. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I’m a senior in college about to graduate in two weeks! I wished I could have heard this book at the beginning of my career. Would have saved from a lot of sleepless nights and poor habits. I will definitely include some of the habits into my life as I pursued dental school. It’s a must-read!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I’m so happy I finished this audiobook! I learned so much, thank you ❤️
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It’ s really a great audiobook, really helpful & motivational!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it! The information was useful, and I always enjoy books that are read by ther author. It felt very personable.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I believe that this book, along with books like Atomic Habits, could absolutely change your life if you're willing to put in the effort. Also, Chris was simply a pleasure to listen to.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Every college student should listen to, or read, this book. In fact, I am going to make it part of the curricula of a university that I'm developing!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well written account of a year the author spent conducting extensive research into the productivity literature and trying different experiments to determine the effect on his productivity. Some very surprising findings. Many of the chapters end with a challange to conduct your own productivity experiment to see the impact it can have in your own life.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5By far this has been the most candid and the most helpful, inspiring but practical book on the subject on productivity I have ever read. Chris Bailey's research of the issues and his animation brought it home for me! I am very grateful for his wisdom and for those who supported him on this journey for you all collectively have not only helped me but also the people I associate with and for future generations beyond myself!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Everyone wants to be more productive, right? So while I don't often pick up nonfiction books for the blog, I decided I would give this one a try. If nothing else, I figured it might help me stay on top of the blog work (as well as my work everywhere else)!
What we get here is kind of a mixed bag. Chris Bailey presents a way of thinking about productivity that goes beyond what we get done. It focuses on time, energy, and attention as the things that impact productivity. He also encourages readers to think about focusing on high-impact tasks and being aware of their energy levels throughout the day. There are many tactics and strategies presented in the book that can help in isolation or combination. And while it doesn't seem too novel or profound, as I've thought about it some more, I am starting to think about the ways I work a bit differently.
The key things that the author provides are brief challenges to put some of the tactics in practice. While he says early on there are only a few of these, almost every chapter has one. I did many of them, but there were some that I just read and internalized rather than actually practicing them as I went along.
The book does provide some great food for thought, even if it's not a total game changer. I also encourage readers to get past the beginning to get into the actual substance of the book. I was a little put off by what appeared to be the author's need to assert his heterosexuality (mentions of attractive women, relaying Mila Kunis fantasies, and more than one reference to having a girlfriend). The mentions seemed unnecessary, but it was easy to set them aside as completely irrelevant to the text.
[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.] - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm not a big fan of productivity so curiosity drew me to this book more than anything. I've been managing my time very well for years, using simple techniques and good dose of common sense. Contrarily to most North Americans, I've espoused my European roots of knowing when to say no. So I was rather pleasantly surprised when I started reading this book. Bailey has a very sound approach to work-life balance, placing emphasis on energy, time and productivity. His perspective on mindfulness, meditation and working for results (rather than hours worked) makes a lot of sense and should be looked at seriously by corporations. I even enjoyed the foibles of the book such as estimated time to read a chapter and the fun factor of an exercise.There were also a few tiresome aspects: the poor quality of the writing, verging on slang, gave the impression that the book was rushed with little attention to detail. The first-person journalism of eccentric experiments is also a trick to master and was sometimes more confusing than helpful. Luckily this was salvaged by a good dose of humour and some zany stories.I'd recommend this book and will definitely give food for thought.
1 person found this helpful