Yes, I am finally putting my thoughts onto paper…a thought I had over 20 years ago while I was studying electrical engineering at Clemson University is now coming to fruition. The purpose of my book is to help you get to your best self. It is designed to help you see that, most of the time, what holds you back from being the you that you want to be are the things that you need to discard and do without. The painful disappointments, dealings, and doubts are all weighing on your shoulders and preventing you from standing tall, shaking it all off, and striving forward. With various insights and best practices, along with room to capture your reflections and next steps, this book is designed to be a constant resource that you need to reference/work through on an ongoing basis. I am aiming to wrap it up early this year, but in the meantime, check out these eight self-improvement books used by successful time management experts!
Get It Done, by Dr. Ayelet Fishbach; this 2022 title, written in a warm, engaging tone, is “jam-packed with value,” said Katy Milkman, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Fishbach, a behavioral psychologist who studies motivational science, is “arguably the world’s foremost expert on motivation,” Dr. Milkman said.
Slow Productivity, by Dr. Cal Newport; this book is organized around three principles: 1) do fewer things, 2) work at a more natural pace, and 3) focus on what Dr. Newport calls “impressive quality, rather than performative activity.” “This leads to deeper thinking, increased creativity and innovation, and less stress,” said Kandi Wiens, a workplace researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.
Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman; a line in this 2021 book sets up its premise: “The average human life span is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short,” Mr. Burkeman writes (on average, it is around 4,000 weeks). How, then, should we best use those weeks? As Mr. Burkeman writes, “the real measure of any time-management technique is whether or not it helps you neglect the right things.”
Getting Things Done, by David Allen; this book is useful to keep on your desk and consult “when you’re feeling overwhelmed, especially in today’s world when there’s so many distractions,” said Yollanda London, the chief business development and planning officer at Yale School of Medicine. “It helps me get back and center myself. These skills are, in a sense, sort of logical, but you just need those reminders,” Ms. London said.
When, by Daniel H. Pink; one of the main points in this book explores “how our internal clocks and circadian rhythms significantly impact how productive we are at different times of the day,” said Laura Mae Martin, an executive productivity adviser at Google, adding that the book changed everything for her. “It was the first time I really understood that not all time slots are created equal,” she said.
Get Out of Your Own Way, by Mark Goulston and Philip Goldberg; in this book, “the authors delve into the psychological origins of self-sabotage and explore how early life experiences, cognitive distortions and emotional patterns perpetuate cycles of self-defeat,” Dr. Lindsay said. For those in the field of organizational productivity, he added, “the relevance of ‘Get Out of Your Own Way’ cannot be overstated.”
The Sabbath, by Abraham Joshua Heschel; a classic meditation in which “Heschel argues for the importance of a weekly day of rest — what he calls ‘a palace in time,’” Dr. Newport said. He added that the book emphasizes that “you don’t rest to prepare for more work later, but instead to make sure you haven’t forgotten everything else that makes life sacred and worthwhile.”
Right Kind of Wrong, by Dr. Amy Edmondson; Dr. Sarah Wolfolds, an assistant professor at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, said that fear of failure can trip up her productivity. Dr. Edmondson’s book, which demonstrates how to “fail well,” made Dr. Wolfolds realize that “learning to embrace failure is key to productivity,” she said. That includes “quickly acknowledging and owning” when you have made a mistake.