​Top 12 Best Time Management Books to Help You Become Amazingly Productive

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One of my favorite quotes about time management.
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“What are the best time management books?”

I get this question at least once a week. Figuring I teach time management to financial advisors, other people want to know any recommendations that I have for them.

Fortunately, the best time management books can help you whether you’re a financial advisor, a dentist, a stay-at-home mom, or a salaried employee. It doesn’t matter. The principles in the best time managements are sound and can help you get more done in less time.

Without further ado, here are my favorites (in particular order):

1. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen


​This is the mack-daddy of all productivity books. It’s sold truckloads of copies and it’s touted as the favorite time management book of several productivity gurus out there.

To be honest, I bought this book and didn't read it for several months. I guess I didn’t have time to read it, right? However, when I finally sat down and forced myself to go through this book, I was blown away.

One of the most profound ideas from this book is to get everything out of your head and onto paper (or your phone, tablet, computer, etc.). You want to clear your mind so you can focus on your tasks and goals, not the million different things you have to do at any given time.

This book is jam-packed full of actionable insights. It’s one of the best-selling time management books on the planet for a reason.

Rating: 4.4/5

2. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

​The first book I read by Cal Newport was So Good They Can’t Ignore You and I really enjoyed it, so I figured I would read some of his other books, including Deep Work. What I found was a book that gave me some advice on how to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.

Before this book, something like writing an article (such as this one) would’ve take a long time. I would get distracted by the other different things going on around me and I would abandon my primary task. Now I can buckle down and get work done.

Cal Newport makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will result in massive benefits. He then gives you a rigorous training regimen to foster and support this skill. If you’re willing to put in the work to transform your life, this book will help you.

Rating: 4.6/5

3. Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done In Less Time by Brian Tracy

​I should start off by saying that I’m a big Brian Tracy fan. His book about goal-setting helped me get focused on what I wanted to do with my life and his book Maximum Achievement is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

That’s why when I saw that Brian Tracy had a book about time management, I picked it up immediately. I was not disappointed. Just as the title says, Tracy delivers 21 great ways to get more done in less time. Even if you only implement one or two of these tips consistently, the book can pay for itself many times over.

I’ve given this book as a gift to several of my friends and they’ve told me that it’s helped them get out of ruts and focus on the important things. If you read this book and it doesn’t change your life, read it again.  

Rating: 4.6/5

4. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

​I got this book as a recommendation from one of my entrepreneur friends who said that it was the best book he’s read in a long time. Even though McKeown says that what he teaches isn’t a time management technique, it’s definitely helped me become more productive.

He calls it The Way of the Essentialist, and it’s about getting the right things done. It’s about figuring out what is absolutely essential and then eliminating everything that isn’t, so you can make the highest possible contribution to the things that really matter. It’s kind of like the 80/20 rule taken up a notch or two.

One of my biggest takeaways from this book was that if you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. This book will get you to take a hard look at all the things that you’re doing and prioritize them in the way that best serves your needs.

Rating: 4.6/5

5. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink

​As with several authors on this list, Daniel Pink has written several awesome books. I started reading his work with books like Drive and To Sell Is Human. When someone told me that this book was one of their favorite time management books, I had to get it.

Pink talks about how we can best use the hidden patterns in our day to build the ideal schedule. For example, did you know that taking certain breaks can dramatically improve student test scores? That’s just one example of why timing is so powerful. This book distills cutting-edge research and data on timing to give you several stories and takeaways of how you can use it to improve your life.

Rating: 4.5/5

6. The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

​At only 112 pages, this is a short book but it packs a powerful punch. It talks about three practical secrets: One Minute Goals, One Minute Praises, and One Minute Re-Directs. All of these can and should be tools in a manager’s toolbox.

The reason I’ve included this in a list of the best time management books is because it gives you three secrets that can help you become a better leader in a short amount of time. When you become more effective, you become more productive. This book will help you stay focused on what matters. It can improve not only your professional life, but your personal life as well.

Rating: 4.6/5

7. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

​I’ll be the first to admit - I LOVE checklists. I write checklists out on paper, on my phone, and even on fancy project-management software. I’ve found that a good checklist can help streamline everything from a to-do list to a goal to get in better shape. However, I didn’t realize how little I knew about checklists (and how to use them) until I read this book.

The big idea behind this book is that a checklist should be used to make sure that you get things right each and every time. Think of an airplane crew checking the plane before takeoff - do they haphazardly check things? No. They use a checklist to make sure that they don’t miss anything important. The same thinking can be applied to your life. A simple checklist can help even the greatest genius.

Rating: 4.5/5

8. Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness by SJ Scott

​If you aren’t familiar with the term “habit stacking”, it’s the concept that the quickest way to build a new habit into your life is by stacking it on top of a current habit. With this concept, you could start every morning with small actions that create a chain reaction of other positive actions throughout your day. This book is based on that concept.

It’s not easy to start a new habit, but it’s significantly easier to build a new routine. SJ Scott talks about taking small changes and building a ritual that you follow on a daily basis. This book isn’t meant as something that spoon-feeds you exactly what to do. Instead, it gives you 127 examples of small habits divided by area (health, career, etc.) that you should use to create your own stacks.

Rating: 4.4/5

9. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

​Larry Bossidy is one of the world’s most acclaimed CEOs. He was the CEO of AlliedSignal, which eventually became Honeywell. He has also spent more than 30 years rising into executive power at General Electric, so he’s definitely the type of person I want to learn from.

Bossidy understood that putting in an execution culture is hard, but it’s well worth the effort. Execution is the primal ingredient of success because it’s the one thing that gets things done. It seems like so many of today’s managers are in love with strategy that they forget to put it into practice. This book will help you get off your butt and make things happen.

Rating: 4.2/5

10. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice The Work In Half The Time by Jeff Sutherland

​I saw the title of this book and was like, “You don’t have to tell me twice!” I’m always on the lookout for ways to get more done in less time and this time management book seemed like it was right up my alley. Let me tell you - it didn’t disappoint!
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This book was an easy read. It flowed well and told the history of scrum, as well as what the best practices are. This book will get you up to speed on scrum. However, I do want to point out that while many scrum books discuss the “how”, this book discusses the “why”. In any case, I think it’s more important to understand the “why” before diving into the “how”.

Rating: 4.5/5

11. The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

​I remember a few years ago this book was at the front of every bookstore and it seemed like every podcasT I listened to couldn’t stop raving about this book. I decided to get a copy and check it out for myself and was blown away by the big idea inside.

Here it is: you should focus on the ONE thing that gets you where you want to go. You can start with a small action which eventually snowballs into a much larger effect. If this seems simple enough, you should still read the book because it’s an entertaining read that will give you the motivation to go out there and accomplish your goals.

Rating: 4.7/5

12. Busy: How to Thrive In a World of Too Much by Tony Crabbe

​If you think that you’re always busy and that you don’t have any time to slow down, this book was written for you. The author has a unique three-step approach to one of modern life’s greatest problems: being too darn busy.

After reading dozens of time management books over the years, I’m happy to include this on my list. It’s packed with tons of useful advice, explained in a clear and compelling way. It also has an extensive list of scientific studies to back up everything Crabbe talks about. If there’s one book that can help you get out from underneath the burden of being busy, it’s this one.

Rating: 4.7/5
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